Shorting Out

Short rows make my brain hurt. Really.  I have worked them before, but every time is like a new weird. Depending on where and how you use them, they can produce a very different effect (bust shaping, sleeve cap, shawl collar width etc.). I mean, basically, they add width or length or shape to one's garment without adding to the overall row count. But that's a complicated concept when you actually start applying it.

I finally conceded that I would not be able to figure out the sleeve short row instructions on my own. Good call, as it happens, because when I went to my LYS for help (thanks to Laura at Lettuce Knit), I was amazed by how off I actually was. It's like, in reading the language of Knitting, I am only occasionally fluent.

The happy news is that I managed to create a sleeve cap with short rows. It took 90 minutes of constant work. In that span, while I short rowed MANY times, I actually only completed one actual sleeve row. (Again, the concept is so whack!)

In my travels, I have found some excellent info about short rows. Sadly, none of the sources (below) could help me to understand my actual pattern instructions. What I will say is that the wrap and turn method is in no way difficult to perform. And it works. For me though, when I can't understand exactly what outcome I'm trying to achieve - and when the pattern comes with next to no useful technical drawings and spells things out in 15 words (all of them abbreviated) - it's very challenging. Note: In my brief experience of knitting patterns, they're pretty well all like that.

At any rate, you really should bookmark these:

• TechKnitting is an awesome new-to-me blog. The writer knows her shit! She's like a structural engineer of knitting. Really, for one brief moment, I actually understood what I was doing and why. Of course, it was merely a brief glimpse at the other side...

• Knitting Help is always an excellent source of technique videos. 

•  LunaKnits does a great video showing 3 different styles of short rowing. Wrap and turn is merely one way of achieving the goal.

• If you want to go all out and change up your sleeve pattern to include short rows (let's just say I see this as a distant possibility), Knitty can help.

• Knotions provides the only short row tutorial that actually shows you how to create and position short rows for bust shaping (in a pull over sweater). This is very useful info for those of us with tits who need to shape a simple shell.

• Finally, Fit Your Knits, an awesome Craftsy course taught by Stefanie Japel, goes through a module that expands on the Knotions link above. Among numerous other fitting techniques, it provides a bonus module to show you how to measure yourself to determine where exactly to insert your short rows - and how big to make them. I believe there's even information about how to short-row bust-shape on a cardigan. This course is not free but it's entirely worth the money. (I only hope that the new Craftsy platform facilitates using the course without video streaming delays.)

You're going to need them some day. Why not get a head start?