Short Rows tend to strike fear into the hearts of the uninitiated, but, like all knitting, there's really nothing so mysterious about it.

Short Rows are used to create triangles or wedges within your knitting. They shape everything from bust darts to ear flaps. Basically, a Short Row is just that: a row that you don't knit to the end of the needle. Instead, you work part of the way across the row, do something called a "wrap and turn", and then work back the other way, sometimes to the end and sometimes to another wrap and turn.

This tutorial comes from our LINEN TUNIC project and happens to illustrate shoulder shaping, but it's applicable to all your short row needs!

Wrap and Turn on the Knit Side

1. Keeping the yarn in back, slip the next stitch purlwise from the left needle to the right needle.

2. Bring the yarn forward as if to purl.

3. Slip the stitch from the right needle back to the left needle.

4. Bring the yarn to the back of the work as if to knit.

5. Turn the work so the purl side is facing you, ready to purl.

Wrap and Turn on the Purl Side

1. Keeping the yarn in front, slip the next stitch purlwise from the left needle to the right needle.

2. Bring the yarn back as if to knit.

3. Slip the stitch from the right needle back to the left needle.

4. Bring the yarn to the front of the work as if to purl.

5. Turn the work so the knit side is facing you, ready to knit.

Once you've completed your Short Rows, you'll notice gaps in the knitting where you wrapped the stitches. To rectify this, you work across the entire row, closing the gaps by "picking up the wrapped stitches". 

Picking up the Wrapped Stitch on the Knit Side

1. Pick up the wrap with the right needle from front to back.

2. Then insert the right needle into the stitch that is wrapped.

3. Knit the wrap and the stitch together.

Picking up the Wrapped Stitch on the Purl Side 

1. Pick up the wrap with the right needle from back to front.

2. Place the wrap onto the left needle.

3. Purl together the wrap and the stitch that is wrapped.

That's Short Rows! Not so scary!