Missing Bees

Knitting mistakes can be a good indicator of a knitter's perfectionist tendencies.  I'll be the first to admit that I make knitting mistakes. Sometimes I even spot them before I bind off.  

Then I go through a series of questions in my head.  
~ Can I live with that mistake?  I always tell my knitting students if you don't point out a mistake, chances are no one else will even notice it.  
~ If I can't live with it, how am I going to fix it?  
~ Do I have to rip back?
~ Can I somehow manipulate the stitches on the needle to fix the problem?

I was working along on my Beekeeper Cowl when I noticed a glaring mistake.  Or at least it was glaring to me. 

See the empty space below the marker.  There should be another bee in there.  This cowl has two more panels just like this one.  In my defense, I was consistent and omitted the bee in the other panels too. Three missing bees.

I was tempted to pull the needle out, rip back twelve rows and re-knit them with the correct number of bees.  Never underestimate the therapeutic value of pulling on a strand of yarn to erase mistakes. 

Instead I took a moment.  I set the project aside and started to visualize how the bee stitch is made.  Could I drop down and recreate it without frogging twelve rows in the process.  I decided to give it a try. If it didn't work, then I would rip back.

I marked the row I was ripping back to.

Then I dropped the stitch twelve rows.

I made the bee stitch and used a crochet hook to work the stitch back to the top.

Success.  I knew I couldn't live with this mistake.  I'm just thrilled I could fix it without a lot of extra time and effort.  Now back to making more bees . . .