The Garter Stitch Problem
Garter stitch — every row knitted, or alternating knit and purl rounds in circular knitting — produces that distinctive ridged fabric that looks the same on both sides. It is forgiving, stretchy, and wonderfully simple to knit. Fixing a dropped stitch in it, however, is slightly more complex than in stockinette, and many knitters do not realize why until they have already made the mistake.
In stockinette, the right side is all knit stitches and the wrong side is all purl stitches. When you pick up a dropped stitch in stockinette, you always work from the right side, and every bar becomes a knit stitch. Simple.
In garter stitch, every row is knitted — but from the right side, alternate rows are knit and purl because you are turning the work each time. Row 1 is knit from the right side (knit stitches showing). Row 2 is knit from the wrong side (but from the right side perspective, those stitches appear as purls). Row 3 is knit from the right side again. And so on.
This means the bars in a garter stitch ladder alternate between needing to be worked as knits and needing to be worked as purls — even though every original stitch was worked as a knit on its respective row.
Counting Rows Before You Start
Before picking up the dropped stitch, count how many rows it has dropped. This is important because it tells you two things: how many bars you need to pick up, and which bar needs to be worked which way.
In garter stitch, the ridges are easy to count. Each ridge represents two rows of knitting. If your dropped stitch has passed through 3 ridges, it has dropped 6 rows, and you need to pick up 6 bars — alternating knit and purl as you go.
To know whether the bottom bar should be a knit or a purl: look at the live stitches on your needle at the top of the dropped column. If the stitch just above where the ladder ends should be worked as a knit on the next row you knit, then the topmost bar you pick up (the one closest to the live stitches) should be a purl. Work backwards from there, alternating.
A simpler rule: start from the bottom of the ladder and pick up the first bar as a knit. Then alternate — purl, knit, purl, knit — working up toward the needle. Check against the live stitches when you reach the top.
The Crochet Hook Technique for Garter Stitch
You will need a crochet hook in approximately the same size as your working needles. Work with the right side of the fabric facing you.
For a knit bar:
- Insert the crochet hook into the dropped loop from front to back.
- Catch the horizontal bar that sits in front of the ladder (between the two columns of fabric).
- Pull the bar through the loop toward you.
- The new loop on your hook is a knit stitch.
For a purl bar:
- Insert the crochet hook into the dropped loop from back to front.
- Catch the horizontal bar from above, pulling it through the loop away from you.
- The new loop on your hook is a purl stitch (viewed from the right side).
Alternate between these two techniques for each bar as you work up the ladder. The alternation is strict — no two consecutive bars should be worked the same way.
A Helpful Visual Check
As you work up the ladder, the bars in garter stitch are visually distinct from those in stockinette. In stockinette, the bars are fairly uniform. In garter stitch, you will notice the bars alternate between sitting slightly in front of the fabric and slightly behind it — this is the visual signal for which technique to use.
Bar sitting in front of the fabric: work it as a purl (insert hook from back to front).
Bar sitting behind the fabric: work it as a knit (insert hook from front to back).
This visual cue is the same one that applies to ribbing, because the underlying principle is the same: the position of each bar reflects the original yarn position when the stitch was worked.
What the Finished Fix Should Look Like
Once you have picked up all the bars and placed the stitch back on the needle, look at the repaired column. In garter stitch, stitches alternate between right-side and wrong-side orientation, which produces those characteristic ridges. Your repaired column should show the same ridge pattern as the columns on either side.
If the repaired column looks like a strip of stockinette (smooth on one side, bumpy on the other) instead of garter ridges, you have picked up all the bars the same way rather than alternating. You will need to drop the stitch again and redo the repair, this time alternating techniques for each bar.
If the column looks correct but the tension is slightly uneven, block the piece after finishing. Blocking is particularly effective at evening out garter stitch, which has a lot of natural give and responds well to a wash and gentle stretch.
Can You Use a Knitting Needle Instead of a Crochet Hook?
Yes, though it is less efficient. You can pick up the dropped stitch with a spare needle and then manually work each bar by transferring it to the working needle. The crochet hook is faster and gives you better control over tension. If you do not have a crochet hook, use the pointy tip of a needle and work slowly.
For very fine yarns — lace weight or fingering weight — a fine crochet hook (1.5–2mm) is significantly easier than a needle. For chunky yarns, a larger hook (6–8mm) gives you more room to manoeuvre.
Preventing Future Drops
Garter stitch is particularly prone to dropped stitches at the ends of rows, where the first stitch can easily slide off the needle when you turn the work. If this happens to you repeatedly, try slipping the first stitch of every row purlwise — this creates a neat chain edge and keeps edge stitches secure. The slipped edge stitch requires a slightly different fixing technique if it ever drops, but it drops far less often.