This method is a fusion of two basic ways to add short-row shaping to our knits – yarn over short rows and turn and slip short rows.
When used separately, each way has its drawbacks – loose stitches or visible holes. Combined and enhanced by a few adjustments, these methods form practically invisible short-row shaping.
Let’s see how it happens step by step.
SHORT ROW ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE FABRIC
1.1. Work to a spot where you want to add shaping by turning the work.
1.2. Turn the work. It can’t get easier than that, right?
1.3. Make a yarn over by bringing the yarn to the front, over the tip of the right needle and to the back of the work. Then bring the yarn to the front of the work to set up the scene for the next step.
1.4. With the yarn in front of the work, insert the tip of the right needle from right to left into the first stitch on the left needle (the last stitch of the previous short row), and ease the left needle out, slipping this stitch purlwise to the right needle.
1.5. Pull the working yarn a bit to tighten the yarn over formed in step 1.3.
Work in pattern until you get to the next turning point.
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SHORT ROW ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE FABRIC
2.1. Work to a spot where you plan to turn the work.
2.2. Turn the work.
2.3. Make a reverse yarn over by bringing the yarn to the back, over the tip of the right needle, and to the front of the work. Then bring the yarn to the back of the work to get ready for the next step.
2.4. With the yarn at the back of the work, slip the first stitch from the tip of the left needle to the right needle. Do it purlwise, without twisting the stitch.
2.5. Pull the working yarn a bit to remove the unnecessary slack from the yarn over.
Continue to work in pattern to the end of the row, or to the next turning point if you plan to add more shaping to your project.
Repeat these short rows for as long as you need. I made two sets of short rows in my swatch to add a gentle curve to the fabric.
When the short-row shaping is finished, it is time to close the gaps that formed every time we turned the work. We do it in closing rows.
CLOSING ROW ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE FABRIC
3.1. Work to the stitch in front of the yarn over. This is the stitch that we slipped in step 1.4 when we formed a short row on the knit side of the project.
3.2. Knit that stitch. No tricks here. Simply knit it as usual.
3.3. Now we have a yarn over and a stitch sitting across the gap. To close the gap, we’ll knit these two stitches together.
To do that, insert the tip of the right needle from left to right into the stitch and the yarn over.
Wrap the tip of the right needle with the yarn, pull this wrap through and slip the knitted duo off the left needle.
Repeat these steps to close all gaps at the left-hand side of the short-row shaping, then work in pattern to the end of the row.
As you see, the stitches flow in neat columns as if there is no short-row shaping around them, there are no loose stitches (thanks to the tug we did in step 1.5), and there is no gap in sight.
Now let’s see how we can get the same result of the other side of the short-row shaping.
CLOSING ROW ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE FABRIC
Closing the gap on this side is the work is a bit finicky, but, hey, the result is well worth it.
4.1. Work to the stitch in front of the yarn over. It is the stitch that we slipped in step 2.4.
4.2. Purl that stitch.
Now we have a yarn over at one side of the gap, and the rest of the stitches at the other side of the gap.
We can close the gap by purling the yarn over together with the next stitch, but this will form a crooked stitch on the right side of the fabric. If we want to make the short-row shaping invisible, we should act smarter.
4.3. With the yarn in front of the work, insert the tip of the right needle from right to left into the yarn over, then ease the left needle out, slipping the yarn over purlwise to the right needle.
4.4. Keep the yarn in front of the work as you insert the tip of the right needle from left to right into the first stitch on the left needle, and then ease the left needle out, slipping this stitch to the right needle knitwise.
4.5. Return the slipped stitch + yarn over duo to the left needle. Do it purlwise, without twisting these stitches.
4.6. Finally, insert the tip of the right needle from left to right under the back legs of these stitches.
Wrap the tip of the right needle with the yarn and pull this wrap through, purling the stitch and yarn over together through the back loop.
Repeat these steps to close all gaps you encounter. Then finish the row and enjoy the impeccable look of the neat short-row shaping on the right side of the fabric.
CLOSING ROUND
Things get easier when we add these short rows to a project worked in the round.
We form the short rows in exactly the same way as we do when we work back and forth (see steps 1.1 – 1.5 and 2.1 – 2.5), but when the time comes to close the gaps, we do it in a slightly different manner.
The first gaps we come across are the gaps at the left-hand side of the short-row shaping. We close them the same way as we do in the closing row at the right side of the work. Simply follow steps 3.1 – 3.3 every time you get to a gap at this side of the shaping.
Then we work in pattern until we get to the gaps at the right-hand side of the short-row shaping.
5.1. Stop one stitch before the gap.
5.2. With the yarn at the back of the work, insert the tip of the right needle from left to right into the first stitch on the left needle. Ease the left needle out, slipping this stitch knitwise to the right needle.
5.3. Return the slipped stitch back to the left needle. Do it purlwise, without twisting the stitch.
5.4. Insert the right needle from right to left into the first stitch on the left needle (the “slipped-reslipped” one) and into the yarn over that comes after that stitch.
Wrap the tip of the right needle with the yarn and pull this wrap through, knitting the stitch + yarn over duo together through the back loop.
Repeat these steps every time you need to close the gap at this side of the shaping.
Because we tighten the yarn overs, they don’t add almost any extra bulk, and there are no loose stitches both at the front and at the back of the fabric. The short rows flow seamlessly without disrupting the texture of the project.
SAVE IT FOR LATER
This and 26 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #9.
