Originally Posted by repechage

Way back there was a cheap bike here and there that would come into the shop where all the last crosses were not laced, it works. There is a small change in how the wheel will behave but it is so minor that you could probably get away with it. A small hole at the spoke reveal will not be great unless you reinforce it after with like nylon reinforced packing tape or something else. If it is on the drive side of the rear wheel I would change it right away, as it will be proud of the others, for any other location it will just bug you till you fix it. When changing one spoke, (for a stripped nipple for example) I locked up the wheel on the truing stand, clamped the rim to deflect the rim from the side to reduce tension on the offending spoke, do the exchange and retention, do it right and you don't even have to true the wheel after, you DO have to keep track of the location just in case and count your turns upon removal and wind back the same amount.