Knitting Lifelines

Knitting lifelines are a must for tricky or cumbersome patterns. Named so because they save your project from being frogged out of frustration, lifelines are a simple preventive measure that preserves your progress.

What Are Lifelines?

A knitting lifeline is a piece of thread that is pulled through every loop of one row (or round) of a knitting project.

In short, lifelines are barriers. They prevent you from frogging back too far when you realize you need to rework a row or section.

They also prevent dropped stitches from running down the fabric, so future mistakes can be more easily repaired in place. Imagine realizing you’ve dropped a stitch and only needing to tink back 5 rows instead of 20!

You can also use a knitting lifeline if you are working with over-sized or slick needles that are prone to slipping out of your project, have children or pets who frequently pull your stitches off the needles, or simply want to mark a row.

Materials Needed

finishing needle
thread

How to Use a Lifeline

Once you’ve worked a portion of your project completely, it’s time for a lifeline! If it’s quite complex or you’re working with a large number of stitches, you may decide to add one after every third or fourth row. For smaller, simpler projects, every tenth or twelfth row would work.

When you’re ready to add your lifeline, snip a piece of thread that is several inches longer than your work is wide and thread your finishing needle. You can also use twine, scrap yarn, or dental floss.

If you have them, circular needles that are several sizes smaller than your working needles also work very well and eliminate the need for a finishing needle.

Using your finishing needle, follow the path of your knitting needle through the stitches. Take care not to split your yarn!

A Word About Stitch Markers

Do not thread your finishing needle through the stitch markers!

While they are a wonderful tool for marking your place in complicated patterns, they will be a complete pain if they end up on a lifeline. Simply move them to the side and work past them.

The Summer Stitch Sampler Knit Along

This post was developed to support the knitters of the Summer Stitch Sampler Knit Along, a project that nearly 200 knitters have begun since June 2020!

If you’re interested in joining us and expanding your knitting skills, you can start with the first week of the pattern and visit our Facebook group for camaraderie and support. We hope to see you there!

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