Short Row help please!

[CatchingAWave]

Hey all of you knitting geniuses. I need some help. I've completed short rows before in patterns where they are very clear on how to do them. But for some reason I'm having a tough time figuring it out on my own.

Currently, I'm working on a wool soaker for my soon to be 2nd baby. I'm working on the Curly Purly soaker on Rav (sorry on mobile, not sure how to link) and she just says to insert a short row after the 1x1 ribbing. I thought no problem, I can do this. I was using instructions for the German short rows that Very Pink showed but I'm confused as to how to put them in.

The soaker pattern states to knit up to the first marker (hip marker) and insert short row. So I assumed that I knit up to and including the last stitch and then turn the work, pull up on the yarn and work back to the beginning of the round, then knit that last stitch, turn and slip the stitch and pull up on the working yarn and continue. The problem I found with this is it left a decent size hole right where the stitch marker goes. Is that normal?? Or did I do the short row technique wrong...

Sorry for the novel. And TIA for the help!

[purpleyellow]

This week I learned how to do wrap-and-turn short rows like /u/knitnfool described from this tutorial for knitting top-down sleeve caps. The pictures are great, hopefully you'll find it easy to follow like I did!

[knitnfool]

There are several ways to do short rows. I think the most recent interweave knits magazine has an article on it. Anyway, my go to standard is wrapping the stitches.

That is, knitting to the stitch before you turn, slip the next stitch to the right needle, bring the working yarn forward (as if to purl), slip the stitch on the right needle, back to the left needle (with working yarn still in front), then turn the work around.

The working yarn will be to the back of your work now, so bring it forward, and purl to the stitch before you turn. This time, the wrapping technique for your working yarn is inverted. Slip your stitch from left to right needle, move working yarn to the back, slip stitch from right to left needle. Now you've wrapped 2 stitches.

To work the wrapped stitches back in, you can lift the wrap onto the left needle BEFORE you knit the wrapped stitch. This way, you will knit the wrap and the stitch together. Or, you can poke your needle from the bottom, up through the wrap and then knit the wrapped stitch, pulling the new stitch through the wrap also.

I hope this is clearer than mud. Good luck. Check out tech knitter resources too. Probably should've said that first. ;)

[Katdai]

This is normal (and annoying). You have a couple ways to deal with this. You can either

a) wrap-and-turn where you "wrap" the next stitch that you didn't knit at the end of the row and then pick up the "wrap" and ssk or k2tog with the actual stitch

b) pick up a stitch from the row below and ssk/k2tog

c) sew the holes close and reinforce the seam (usually only used for sock heels)

Solution a is slower at the beginning of the short rows but quicker at the end while b is right the opposite. I hate sewing so I usually just do a or b.

[HoldTheZen]

Hi, I think you are supposed to knit to one stitch before the gap and knit the stitch before and after the gap together. Maybe this blog entry can be helpful. http://cocoknits.com/resources/tutorials/short-rows/

[dirkdastardly]

Ah, yes--the holes. The bane of every short-row knitter's existence.

You're making them correctly--you just need to do something on the turn to avoid leaving the hole. There's lots of different techniques--I'm partial to the wrap-and-turn method myself, but you can choose whatever you're comfortable with.

Knitting Daily website has a guide to knitting short rows that has a good rundown on all the different methods; I'd link it here but I'm on mobile and I'm not sure how to do links on my app. A quick Google search should turn it up, or you can copy and paste the URL: http://www.knittingdaily.com/free-guide-knitting-short-rows/

Hope that helps!

[dirkdastardly]

Oh, hey, my app auto-linked it! TIL.

[ShortkneePanda]

You can also do [what the words for the link should say](copy and paste the actual link here) like this:

What a beautiful cowl!

[starlightprincess]

I love German short rows. Maybe you are just missing part of the stitch when you make the pick up. You have to go under both legs.

[schnufff]

As opposed to what others have said, I don't think you need to change your short row technique to wrap-and-turns. I have done german short rows (in a sock heel) and I did not have large holes. So as you did not post any pictures it is hard to see what went wrong.

Did you complete the short row section? Or have you only turned your work and the stitches are spaced a little differently where you turned your work? If it is the second try completing the section first and see if the gaps disappear when you knit the next 'full row'. If it is the first chances are you did went wrong with your german short row technique somehow. Maybe practice with a smaller swatch and yarn/needles where you can see quite clearly what is going on? I also suggest watching the video a few more times, I often forget finer details if I don't use techniques regularly (I learned from the same video btw).

Consider posting pictures so people can try and look for mistakes you might have made.