Quick fix: Bring your hook from back to front through the live loop, hook the lowest ladder strand from behind, and pull it through toward the back. Repeat upward for each row.
What you are seeing
A V-shaped bump is missing from your purl fabric. There is a hanging loop below a gap with horizontal ladder strands above it. In reverse stockinette or the purl side of your work, the break looks like a sunken column where a bump should be.
Why it happens
- The stitch slipped off the needle tip when you picked up or repositioned your work.
- You knit past the drop without noticing, especially easy on purl rows where attention wanders.
- Purl tension is often looser than knit tension, making stitches more likely to slide off.
Fix it now
- Bring the yarn to the front of your work (as if to purl).
- Insert the crochet hook back-to-front through the live loop — the hook enters from the back and exits toward you.
- Hook the lowest ladder strand from the back of the work.
- Pull the strand through the loop toward the back — the purl bump should now face you.
- Check orientation: the purl bump must face the right side; if the stitch looks twisted, drop it and re-work from the back.
- Repeat steps 2–5 for each ladder strand, working upward.
- Place the final stitch back on the left needle with its leading leg at the front.
Prevent it next time
- Count stitches at the end of every row — purl drops are easier to spot early.
- Use needle point protectors when setting work down; purl rows especially benefit from this.
- Hold the yarn slightly firmer around your index finger on purl rows to reduce loose tension.