Ask the Experts: Why Short-Rows?

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Jennifer is a fairly new knitter and is knitting her first sweater. She chose a top-down pullover pattern, and she writes: “Right after the neckband, the pattern tells me to knit some short-rows. I can follow the instructions, but I don’t really understand what I’m doing. What’s the deal with short-rows? Why am I using them?”

Above: Short-row neck shaping. The sweater shown is Sandi’s own design; no pattern is available. Sorry!

Good question! We’ve shown you how to work short-rows, but we don’t always show you why. In this article I’ll teach you the why of short-rows and we’ll talk about some of the places they are used most often.

What are Short-rows?

Short-rows are exactly what they sound like: rows of knitting that don’t go all the way to the end of a row or round. Before you reach the end of the row or round, you turn around and knit in the other direction.

This clever little knitting maneuver lets you shape the fabric you’re knitting to better conform to your 3-dimensional body. By working short-rows, you make a portion of your fabric longer than the rest. Let’s see why that might be useful.

Where to Use Short-Rows

Neck Shaping

Our necks do not sit squarely on our shoulders. The base of your neck is higher in the back, lower in the front. Most of us are more comfortable if the neckline on our sweaters is scooped out so the front is an inch or more lower than the back.

Let’s take a closer look at the sweater you saw in the lead image for this article:

The front of the sweater is to the right of the photo; the back is to the left. See how the solid band of light blue gets wider as it moves toward the back? That’s short-rows in action! This band of solid blue is 10 rows longer at the back of the sweater than it is in the front.

The shortest of the short-rows reach about half-way around the neck—to where the shoulder seams would be if there were seams. With each subsequent short-row, the turning point is a little farther toward the center front. This effectively moves the neck hole toward the front of the sweater, giving us the scooped-out front neck we’re looking for.

Shoulder Shaping

Our shoulders slope downward from the neck to the arm. If we don’t replicate this slope in our sweaters (or fill in the slope with a shoulder pad), we end up with excess fabric down around the underarm.

Traditionally, the shoulder slope was created with a stepped or sloped bind-off. As the use of short-rows has become more popular, many contemporary patterns use them to shape shoulders.

As you can see in this diagram, for shoulder shaping on a sweater worked from the bottom up, the first short-row turn happens closest to the armhole edge. Each subsequent turning point is a little closer to the neck, so the short-rows get progressively shorter.

Shirt-tail Hem Shaping

I love the look of a sweater where the lower back edge dips down to cover my behind. Short-rows make it easy to get this look, even when the piece is finished with ribbing.

This diagram assumes you’re working from the bottom up. Once your ribbing is complete, you begin the short-rows. The first short-row is the shortest, with every subsequent turning point coming closer to the side edge. This makes a graceful curve along the lower edge without disturbing the ribbing. You can also use this shaping for sweater bodies worked in the round. Just place markers where the side “seams” would be and work your short-rows on the back between the markers.

And So Much More . . .

These are just a few of the most common uses. Clever designers are exploring new ways to use short-rows every day. If you’re new to short-rows, I recommend you spend some time swatching the different methods to see which best suits your knitting style. Whether you choose wrap & turn short-rows, German short-rows, yarn over short-rows, or some other method, becoming familiar with short rows will make you a better knitter.

Has a Technique Left You in the Dark?

I’d love to help you turn on the lights. Send an email to knitting@goldenpeakmedia.com and put “Ask the Experts” in the subject line. You might see your question answered in an upcoming newsletter!

Sandi Rosner
Technical Content Editor, Yarn

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Put your short-row skills to use with these great designs: