Dropping ladders in stockinette fabric, an excerpt (pinpoint cite)

 DIRECTION OF DROP


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Usually, ladders are dropped in stockinette top-to-bottom, rather than bottom-to-top.  If you are having a hard time telling which is which, you will see that there is an odd sort of half-stitch at the very edge of the bottom, which is absent at the top. In the illustration below, the half stitch is shown--it is the little extra purple stitch peering around the left side of the "real" blue edge stitch.



However, if you can't tell top from bottom, it really isn't all that important:  Stockinette is essentially reversible, being only one-half column off between top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top (which is why, just like when you unzip a provisional cast on, you may find that you get one less stitch working "up" (top needle) than working "down" (bottom needle) . Whichever way you run out the column of stitches, though, you will get a ladder.

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