Adding Short Rows to your Sweater
Hi, Knitters,
As promised, here is a recipe for adding short rows to your sweater!
Adding Short Rows to the Lower Back of a Sweater
A General Recipe for You
You know how a sweater can ride up in the back sometimes and it needs a constant tug to keep it down? By adding a few short rows into the backside of the sweater and just above the bottom edging you can remedy this issue. Adding short rows can be done on a top-down or bottom-up sweater. And this same technique can be used at the back of the neck, as well.
I am not using any specific numbers but instead just giving a general recipe that could be used on any sweater pattern. This is exactly how I added the short rows to the lower back of my Branches & Buds sweater (shown in the photos), designed by Carrie Bostick Hoge. Branches & Buds is worked from the top-down.
I added the short rows just before the bottom ribbing started. You can see in the photo how the sweater swoops down slightly on the lower back. I worked down to the start of the rib and began the short rows. If you add short rows to a bottom-up sweater you would begin the short rows right after the bottom ribbing is finished.
I added 6 short rows into my sweater which turns out to be about an inch of added length. You can add fewer or more rows depending on how much length you want to add to the backside.
Steps for Lower Back Short Rows:
- Place stitch markers at each side to mark the front and the back of the sweater.
- Begin the first short row by working across the back of the sweater to the stitch marker. Knit 10 stitches past the stitch marker. Wrap & Turn (or do any short row method of your choice).
- Purl across the back to the stitch marker. Purl 10 stitches past the stitch marker. Wrap & Turn (or use method of choice).
- Knit across the back to the stitch marker. Knit 5 stitches past the stitch marker. Wrap & Turn (or use method of choice).
- Purl across the back to the stitch marker. Purl 5 stitches past the stitch marker. Wrap & Turn (or use method of choice).
- Knit across the back to the stitch marker. Wrap & Turn (or use method of choice).
- Purl across the back to the stitch marker. Wrap & Turn (or use method of choice).
Work one more round in knit and tidy up all wraps as you come to them.
Then begin the lower edging for the sweater. In the Branches & Buds I continued on with the ribbing.
If you need help with how to do the actual wrap & turn, or how to tidy up the wraps, or if you want to check out some different short row techniques here are some good links for you:
Carol Feller’s Free Craftsy Class on Short Rows:
https://www.craftsy.com/knitting/classes/short-rows/35255
Eunny Jang showing 4 Ways to Wrap Short Rows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiyz8aClRWU
Carol Sunday’s Sunday Short Rows (I like this technique a lot!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xchFAYH0c_8
German Short Rows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GM4guKpUJs
I hope this helps! I really like the finished look of the sweater with the added length on the lower back.
Best,
Susan
Thank you for this very helpful information. A friend suggested I make the back of my sweater longer and I was pleasantly surprised to see it was the Branches and Buds sweater as well!
I have a question, I am working on a sweater bottom up, would I just reverse the order of the steps?
Yes, I have the stitch markers at the side seams. Yes, you are knitting onto the fronts. You don’t have to do this, you could work up to the side marker and go from there. I feel like I added 6 short rows, but it may have been 4:)
Are you placing your markers at the side seams? Or at least the place where there could be a side seam. So when you “knit 10 sts past the marker” you’re actually knitting 10 sts on the front of the piece at one side, then purl back across the back the other way and past the marker on the opposite side by 10 sts, and onto the front of the sweater again on the opposite side. Am I understanding you correctly? Do you add them in only one area? Is it 4 short rows you’ve added? Thank you. I do get the general idea.