
So, there you are, humming along, row after glorious row of Tunisian Crochet colourwork tumbling off your hook, and you pause for a moment to admire your progress.
And that’s when you notice it.
“Oh god. I have a stitch out of place”.
Worse still, it didn’t just happen. It was the result of a momentary lapse in concentration two days ago! ack!
And you’re left with an unenviable question; “Do I frog, or do I live with it?”
Neither option is very satisfying is it?
But luckily, my Mam taught me a third option when I was barely old enough to hold a pair of knitting needles. She called it “Swiss Darning”, which I think sounds elegant and fancy. I’ve heard it more commonly called “Duplicate stitch” these days, which has the virtue of being clear and descriptive.
Whatever you chose to call it, trust me, you’ll be singing its praises.
Here’s how it works:
Thread a blunt needle (a bodkin) with a strand of the yarn you’re using.
Pro Tip: If you can’t find a blunt needle, use a regular sharp darning needle and sew backwards with it. Be careful not to jab yourself, though!
Getting Started
Secure your yarn at the back of your work. This will save you from accidentally sewing through your tail and making a mess of the wrong side of your fabric.
I repeated the process on the next two horizontal lines above, and then I got to fixing the missing white stitches on the left side of the work, too.
Far better than all that frogging and cursing, am I right?
Oh, hey! And, this also works for knitting, too.
In fact, it was originally developed to add small colourowork detail to stocking stitch knitted fabric… so if you’re a knitter with basic skills, you’ve now learnt a fantastic way of sprucing up your knit stitches too!
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Genius fix! The old ways are sometimes the best.
Absolutely agree, Marion.
I remember watching my Mam Swiss Darn a picture of Zuppy (remember him? Zig and Zag’s blue puppy) on a hand knit jumper for my little sister, and I was enthralled at her skill.
To this day getting the opportunity to Swiss Darn gets me giddy thinking back on that first encounter with the technique in the 80’s.