Knitting Lifelines

RJ asked in the comments about lifelines used in knitting; though I answered in the comments, it's a page or two back so I thought I'd also post it here.

RJ asked: "...dental floss for lifelines??- am very new at knitting and wondered what are lifelines & why would you use dental floss..."

To which I answer:

Lifelines make it easy to frog back to a known 'good point', such as when you start a new row pattern repeat, without having to rip the whole project out. On the stole pattern there are too many rows in each pattern repeat for just one lifeline per repeat, but I have my pattern marked where I insert the lifelines - I insert lifelines in 3 seperate spots within the pattern repeat.

I thread a yarn needle with dental floss and just run it underneath the stitches on the needle. They truly are lifesavers if you are knitting lace! You need to use something thin and preferably slippery; dental floss works really well for this. Make sure you don't knit the lifeline into the next row though - otherwise you will need to cut it out instead of just pulling on one end. Also use a contrasting color to make it easier to see.

If you find a mistake past your lifeline, just frog back to the lifeline, re-insert your needle, and start the section or repeat over again. This way you don't have to start the entire project over!