Knitting Help - Proactive Lifelines

[@TheGraberFamily]

Oh my goodness! I have been knitting for a decade and can't even believe I never knew about this. I feel like my life is changed forever! THANK YOU!!!!!

[@paulapovirk3322]

There is one lace pattern that gives me fits every single time I try it. I remembered you showing this lifeline technique and used it. Game changer! No more white knuckle knitting or anxiety. I have just started to knit again and you have taught me so much. Thank you, Staci!

[@murtri]

Honestly, you have the best instruction videos I’ve ever seen on any topic, and you are my “go to” for every knitting “how to.” Thank you so much!

[@karolinakv]

Your videos are so lovely to watch. They make me a happy knitter. 🌞 Thanks! 🌻

[@tracygoode3037]

Because I am new to making socks, and because I have such a hard time with the toes and then the heels, I decided to put lifelines in right after finishing the toe, and then, before starting the heel. This way, I'm not ripping back and starting over again. This has helped IMMENSELY. Now, I'm almost through my third ever sock and it's only taken me a day--instead of the week and a half each of the first two took me. I'm so delighted I've told my kids I want more yarn for more socks for my birthday.

[@ndawn90]

Tracy Goode the next thing you should try is knitting your socks two at a time! It seems terrifying and complicated at first, but it is actually just like knitting one sock, but when you bind off you have your perfect, matching pair ready to go! Stacey has some great tutorials on this technique - she shows the cast on for both toe up and cuff down -, and if you are enjoying sock knitting you will really enjoy knitting two at a time!

[@tracygoode3037]

NaRhea Dawn: I plan to; I just have to get the right sized needles--and yarn. I've learned a lot from Stacey; in fact, the sock pattern I'm using I got from her. With her videos, I was brave enough to jump in with both feet (pun not intended) and learn knitting by making socks. Can't wait to get to work with actual sock weight yarn next.

[@typhoidmary5061]

Staci, thank you so much for your instructions. As always, they are easy to follow and improve my knitting skills by adding more tools to my mental knitting bag. ❤

[@itsallaboutlight]

Also, I've learned the hard way, don't thread through stitch markers and make lifeline long enough on both ends so that when you do the next row it doesn't tug out on the ends. Thanks for the video!

[@tarynwyatt8731]

Omg thank you, I totally would have threaded through a SM not thinking about it!

[@JennySimon206]

@@tarynwyatt8731 yes

[@CindyKinney]

I have heard of lifelines but never knew what it meant. What an awesome concept that I will forever be grateful for.

[@Becci517]

I just want to thank you for this video! I have been having a horrible go at a hat with simple lace and have frogged it twice because I couldn't save my stitches when I've made a mistake. With this technique I feel so much more confident about finally getting this hat done!

[@penzer2010]

As you were ripping that out, I was sad, so much so, that when you said:"Is this breaking your heart?" I answered out loud a definite YES, because I am such a slow knitter and your stitches were so pretty. :-)

[@marciacharles-mo2396]

Great video. Doing this now before turning a heel. I have recommended your channel to my friends who I am teaching to knit!

[@kelpburger]

Thanks for this video, Staci. Any time I need knitting help, I look for Very Pink-- the best. And the tune at the beginning always makes me happy!

[@sandygrogg1203]

Second time I’ve watched this great video. I can’t believe I have been forgetting to use lifelines... It would have saved me so much grief! I’m so glad I finally realized that there is a way to knit without tears... I have restarted too many easy projects, just because I did nit have a lifeline. Never again. The first method makes sense to me, as I have vision issues that make threading... and using...very thin threads hard. Thanks.

[@joschaumloffel3305]

This could not have been more timely. Wish I had known about the PRO part first but you saved me. Your videos, especially the "how to knit socks" have helped me be such a better knitter! Kind of like that ALL I NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN, insert 'knitting' for LIFE and 'your sock videos' for KINDERGARTEN.

[@kristopherwithakmichaels6549]

I use the hole in the cord method but I use the crochet thread not dental floss. I just put it into the hole. Lifelines are a lifesaver. Love your post by the way, you have taught me so much, thank you!!

[@diannariley8430]

Staci, you're an amazing person! I just love watching your instructional videos! They've saved me a ton of headaches! Keep up the great work!

[@lindac7146]

I'm grateful to learn both methods. Thank you.

[@zaramughal2578]

Thanks a ton for this tip. Am a beginner and i rip my 1st scarf 4 times the whole. Now i start my new project fearlessly.

[@lorrainebrotherston6935]

This comment has nothing to do with the video, but just wanted to thank you for showing the knit picks short needle set. I just received the set I ordered today and they are wonderful! I have learned so much from watching your videos. I started learning to knit last year.

[@RosyPosy1970]

Thank you so much ♥️ This has been a great insurance policy as I knit my first hat in Fisherman’s Rib. I have found it helpful to place the lifeline very loosely so that it stretches with the fabric, and also to be very careful when knitting the first round after the lifeline to ensure the line doesn’t get knitted in with the stitch, otherwise it’s much harder to remove 😃

[@maryannmcnees2464]

Glad to see actual tutorials on this site again!

[@beckmit]

After seeing this video, I started a completely unfamiliar pattern. After knitting about two inches, I decided to try the lifeline and I'm so glad I did! I think I tore my work out three times before I finally knitted the pattern correctly. This is the first project I've tried with my ChaioGoo red cable interchangeables and I love that they have a hole for a lifeline already in the needle.

[@lisamcdonnell]

I recently had to look up your reactive lifeline because I messed up and I was so grateful. You've introduced me to do many things. Thank you!

[@sherrydevine9391]

Love your videos, so easy to understand! I learned something new about Lifelines!

[@somethingfaded0212]

this video comes at the perfect time, i'm about to start my most ambitious project to date. i was just saying to myself "i should learn how to do lifelines" hahah

[@colleenvanoverbeek4929]

This is very helpful for my complicated lacy cable knit blanket I am currently working on and that particular pattern you are demonstrating is very cute!

[@stephaniedrown203]

Thank you!☺ it was brilliant that you actually unravelled the work. ☺

[@katibere1966]

This is a great technique...very useful!! Thank you!

[@katelinwalker4668]

Oh my god thank you so much you have no idea how hard I’m working to start an Etsy shop on my own at 15 and when I come home I like to knitt as a stress reliever but it stresses me out so much more when I drop a stitch.thank you so much I can’t wait to try this our

[@kathryngrace9038]

Great video! I love lifelines. Makes me feel so much better about working difficult lace and cable patterns.

[@laurieluden6470]

Total light bulb moment! Thank you

[@smartypantswastaken]

For anyone wanting to thread the interchangeable needle cord, as shown in the last part of the video, I recommend looking into floss threaders (e.g. by GUM). I use those things to thread my serger when sewing and they're awesome, because they're no-effort threading and the tip is thin and stiff-yet-flexible enough to thread tiny eyes.

[@annotlewski1104]

Great idea!

[@bikrgran]

I use the second method, and the "safety pin" stitch markers. I use crochet thread (or sometimes "ravel cord" (nylon) from my knitting machines. Thanks for this demo, and for adding the 2nd method, as I was about to remind you.

[@eunicecracknell841]

I sold my knitting machine many years ago, but kept that nylon thread, just in case I could use it one day. Finally, 40 years later I've found a use! Thank you.

[@rachellovesyarn9106]

Important note about using the "thread interchangable needle hole with dental floss" method: if you have stitch markers placed, they will end up trapped on your life-line instead of moving along your rows with you! That's why I don't use this method for lace, the stitch markers are more useful that dragging along a thread with my knitting, I just place the life-line after I'm done the row.

[@verypinkknits]

That's a really good point! I really think it's just easier to use a tapestry needle...makes it easier to keep your stitch markers out of the lifeline! Thank you for that reminder.

[@LeahLaushway]

@marzipandamonium You're right. You can use locking stitch markers on your needles so that you can just take them off the lifeline on the next row/round.

[@vrto3961]

@@LeahLaushway Yes, I agree - but if you have 400 stitches on that row, and 40 stitch markers, removing and replacing them is very tedious. Ask me how I know!! :) I'll use a tapestry needle from now on!

[@tica_crafts1448]

Wow, my heart sunk as soon you started frogging. Thanks for the demonstration and it is a ​great tool for me to use soon in a project.

[@woolandthegang]

SUCH a good thing to do. Great video :)

[@gallosilvia585]

Thanks so much this is super helpful I'm learning everyday 😊

[@stitchy_linn]

I'd never heard the term proactive lifelines before so had to check it out. I insert mine the same way with needle and leftover yarn of Aunt Lydia's crochet cotton Size 10 or 20. I also tie the ends together on large projects. I think lifelines no matter what method you choose to use are proactive. 😉

[@margotjeanhardy4246]

Genius! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Thank you 🤩

[@tarynwyatt8731]

Super helpful, thank you! Looking at a set of addi needles and trying to decide if I care about space for a lifeline, turns out I don't!

[@Karanodom]

it did break my heart! thanks for making it easier.

[@JulieJSchmidt]

I have started using lifelines regularly. I almost always miss one stitch with it, but it does help when I have to rip some out. I had heard with KnitterKnitters pride there was a way to just knit across, and tried it with crochet thread. That didn't work! Thanks for the tip. Dental Floss!

[@evelynnewman952]

Oh wow! Thank you, thank you. A lifeline for sure!

[@JesusJoy77805]

Never knee that. Biy how helpful that would have been, especially when I had 300 stitches on a needle when I made a mistake. Woukd have been less stressful. Thank you for the tip.👍🏼👍🏼🧶

[@sharonmarquardt6058]

Thank you again, I really need to do this. Lately, I have been Mrs. Error

[@rkjain8054]

Whenever i use lifeline i thank you and bless you.

[@elizabethadams3744]

Great tutorial!! Thx. Side note: what is the stitch in the lavender swatch?!

[@everettedl]

I forgot about the hole in the needle cord for lifelines. That seems easiest, but both methods are super easy. Thanks!

[@vadec5909]

thank you so much I am going to use this tonight on a sweater back!!

[@kathyrusche901]

I use lifelines often, but I have made the mistake of not picking up every stitch from the lifeline after ripping back. I didn’t realize it and at the end of the project when I pulled out all the lifelines there was a hole from a dropped stitch. I’m a beginner knitter and I’m afraid I did this several times. I would find these dropped stitches way back in the work and I couldn’t figure out how it kept happening then I realized it was from not picking up every stitch from the life line. Now I check and double check myself. It’s easy to do especially with dental floss or very thin thread as the lifeline.

[@barbarawest1205]

One thing that helps me when I go back through the held stitches is to use a circular of a smaller gauge than the one I'll use when I actually start knitting the next row. The thinner needle slips through more easily so I'm less likely to struggle picking up the loops on the lifeline. But oh my goodness, I wish I had known about the PRO-active lifeline years ago!

[@PermaPen]

If I have lots of stitches to save, I use thread and a tiny triangle of masking/painters tape: I stick the tip of the thread down on the needle just behind the last stitch (tape perfectly smooth, stitches bunched up a little) then pull the stitches down over the thread and peel off the tape.

[@pamalojo]

What a great idea! I am going to try it!

[@batya7]

Make sure to use a thread / cord that is more slippery than your yarn. Embroidery floss works well, too.

[@belindacafaro2770]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing.

[@txnightowl73]

Speaking from experience, the second method is not a good idea if you have solid stitch markers in your work. The lifeline will trap them and you'll have to get out more stitch markers to continue.

[@joylouise5417]

But you will need the markers right where they are if you are doing a complicated pattern and need to go back, just leave them and add more in next row. And, yes, I do have some plastic stitch markers that have been cut and are still usable. 🙃

[@txnightowl73]

Joy Louise my stitch markers are small metal discs so I couldn't cut them without risking them snagging on the yarn. The pattern I was working on had 28 repeats in the round and every time I ran a lifeline through I had to get out more markers. I eventually ran out and started pulling the old lifelines out to free up some markers. I was also running out of dental floss--a 6-foot diameter shawl has a circumference of nearly 20 feet!

[@janetdavis1732]

I use lifelines for heel location for afterthought heels in socks. They are very handy and make picking up the stitches a snap.

[@reflexology52welsh48]

Swear to god, every time I use a lifeline, I never need it, when I don’t use one, I screw up!

[@yvonnasun]

Reflexology52 Welsh I just always pick up the stitches with my knitting needles (instead of the small needles) like this shows after I screw up 😁. Try that next time

[@beesandyarn]

Reflexology52 Welsh YES!! it is a mental thing 😜

[@diannariley8430]

Reflexology52 Welsh me too! I knitted a hat with a lifeline and didn't even drop a stitch! The one before that, I didn't use one and I had to rip everything out!

[@monicalarose7980]

Yup - I guess it's worth using lifelines just to prevent the mistakes in the first place ;)

[@carolag.6417]

Really good trick with dental floss!!! 😃😃 Thank you

[@cathygilbert8262]

Love you so much thank you for this !!!😊

[@Veronica-go9xy]

Hi Staci, I love your videos and have used a lifeline. Thank goodness I have. However I didn't add one to my recent project and missed a yarn over, tried to fix it, but not coming out so well. So decided to frog it but I'm adding a lifeline after the fact, BUT which bar on a yarn over do you put the lifeline through??

[@vrto3961]

It would be on the bar that's actually over the needle. However, a lifeline is best used on a wrong side row (and there are USUALLY not any YOs on a wrong side row) so that if you have to rip back to that point, you'll be starting on the RIGHT side row.

[@Rather_be_in_Whoville]

Fabulous! Thank you!

[@christineclemmer7310]

I am knitting 1X1 ribbing in the round with magic loop on interchangeable needles and tried the techniques of threading floss through the hole but something went terribly wrong! Help please?

[@cheetahsdimples-1]

I am so sorry i am missing all your Great Tutorials......:(

[@mariwhitmer5377]

Thank you for this tutorial!

[@patwong4304]

My problem is when I put in a lifeline, when I work the next row, I tend to pick up the lifeline. Any suggestions to prevent this?

[@kt1pl2]

I have just had to tear a cable knit sweater 2X out because 1) no lifeline 2) once I thought I knew where I was at in the cabling I wasn't and couldn't figure it out (even after I watched vids on how to tell). So a lifeline would have been a huge help.

[@sandygrogg1203]

Thank you, I knit lots of charity hats, and sometimes the crown shaping goes haywire... This will save me time and yarn,

[@cheetahsdimples-1]

I think I like your way better than Dental Floss, which I need in the mornings and evening.....:)

[@crazybooklady2104]

Pretty stitch pattern.

[@jeanninetaylor_kawarthanow]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[@maryharvey724]

Like a life jacket on a boat in the middle of the ocean🏊‍♀️

[@somiamamgbo6618]

It really was breaking my heart as you took out the stitches

[@verypinkknits]

Yes, please read the video description field for more info on everything you see in the video.

[@PaulaLoveless-sf8sj]

brilliant! :)

[@NickyMercado]

Lifesaver, I would say.

[@rhondakehrberg7724]

This is timely for me because I forget to place lifelines as I went on a brioche project and had to rip back several rows! 😖 when I get squared away I am definitely getting my lifelines in my work again

[@verypinkknits]

Brioche is especially tricky to fix without lifelines! I haven't worked a brioche project in a while, but when I do, I insert lifelines frequently!

[@marycampbell5423]

Have you any details on that pattern you used in that swatch -

[@lorimurphy889]

This sounds pretty simple. I have 1 question. If I am using a fine fingerings weight yarn what weight yarn would I use for my lifeline

[@verypinkknits]

Same weight of yarn, or lighter.

[@lorimurphy889]

@@verypinkknits thought so but just wanted to be sure I love your videos and use them all the time to learn new techniques.

[@cyndidaves5313]

Hi, I'm looking for your tutorial on calculating CO sts by multiplying and dividing for the change of needle size and yarn. can you direct me to your video? Thank you

[@hnyce]

can I put a lifeline in every row? asking for a friend 😬

[@vivienneclarke2421]

Since this is an older video,you may not see this comment,but I'm thinking the needle probably drags bc the dental floss is waxed. I bet if done with UNwaxxed dental floss that problem wouldn't be a problem~!! I'm going to give it a try and see if that works~!!

[@verypinkknits]

I see all comments! I used Glide unwaxed floss.

[@2tinytreasures]

Thank u!

[@alexisb.8965]

I wish I had seen this video before I messed up the raglan increases on my sweater 😅😂😭

[@robflynn9198]

I put a life line in a scarf that I was working on in brioche stitch (using worsted weight yarn). I used a slightly lighter yarn for the life line. Unfortunately, it left quite a visible line in the work that I only discovered after I had already knit a good bit. I tried blocking to see if that would take care of the line, but it didn't. It lessened it a little, but it's still there. I decided to abandon it. I need the lifelines, but I don't want to ruin the piece. What is the best material for life lines? Does cotton crochet thread come in different weights? Or would anything labeled as cotton crochet thread work? Thanks in advance for advice.

[@kaileygreenwood4909]

Rob Flynn I would use dental floss! I think the crochet cotton is probably lace weight :) you could also use embroidery floss/thread

[@robflynn9198]

Kailey Greenwood Thanks for the info & advice. :-)

[@maryharvey724]

Of course you know the life lines pull out when you’re finished. Just checking.

[@SuperAustin1234567]

How do you remove the lifeline once done? It doesn't really pull out smoothly

[@verypinkknits]

It should pull out smoothly...you may need to use a smoother yarn with no fuzz to get stuck, and make sure you aren't knitting into the lifeline on the following row.

[@flowerplant6870]

🤩💯

[@jackievargas8457]

Are we gonna talk about the fact that Elizabeth Moss here teaches knitting in between filming “The Handmaids Tale?”

[@Dixiered03]

The later only if you aren’t using stitch markers

[@elvirakoncz1314]

Great thank you

[@pamelamarin9745]

Hi I have a question is not about lifelines is about what means in a knitting pattern rib 4 m 1 can you explained please thank you

[@verypinkknits]

"M1" usually means "Make 1": kzbin.info/www/bejne/f52zgnWej5hkeJY , a one-stitch increase. If you're still confused, I recommend contacting the pattern designer directly for help, Ravelry message is usually a good way to do that.

[@rebeccaknudsen6190]

You trap your stitch markers if you do thread through the hole in your interchangable method.

[@verypinkknits]

Yes - not a good method when you're using ring markers!

[@chrissym8789]

you gotta be careful not to get the dental floss caught in a stitch marker when you use the last method shown!

[@amyweinstein1740]

thankyou

[@CristinaNogueiraAlves]

I use another method: I rip one row before the mistake and unravel that row one stitch at a time to my needles

[@monajamieson2083]

Great idea