Fixing knitting mistakes like mis-crossed cables

My sweater knitting is well underway. The back and front pieces are complete, I'm over halfway done with the sleeves and then I'll finish with the hood. But before I get ahead of myself, I'd like to mention that as I was knitting the fronts, things were clicking along nicely until I looked down and realized one of my cables was mis-crossed.

I know a lot of knitters aren't bothered by little mistakes. Heck, there are even times when I'll overlook a small knitting error or consider it a maker's mark that proves the item was hand crafted and not manufactured. However, this little cable is on the front of my sweater. It will bother me every time I wear the sweater and look in the mirror. I won't be able to unsee it, so I take the time to fix it.

My Fixing Options

I didn't notice the mis-cross until I had knit 8 rows. Since it happened on the front of my cardigan (which is essentially 1/4 of my body circumference) ripping out and re-knitting 79 stitches across 8 rows wouldn't be the end of the world. Or, I can focus on the 5 stitches where the error occurred and just rip out the 8 rows across those 5 sts and rework them. I'm confident this will be quicker so it's the approach I choose.

I knit across my sweater to the section I will be laddering down. If this is a new-to-you skill or you are working with dark yarn, I highly recommend doing repair work on a well-lit, flat surface rather than your lap.

I use pins to keep my needles from flopping around. Then, I pin each "ladder rung" to keep them separated as I unravel each row.
After I've pulled out all of the stitches down to my error, I re-insert a knitting needle, and correct the mis-crossed stitches.
I find using a smaller right-hand needle makes it easier to manipulate the yarn as I work my way back up the ladder.
Within 10 minutes (which also included photographing the process) my mis-crossed cable is fixed.

Now I can happily get back to my regularly scheduled knitting and this mis-crossed cable will be our little secret.

🧶
If you want to revisit any of the previous steps in my design process, they are available on the website in the DIY Sweater Project section.

Yarn and needle support provided by

Skacel
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