Skeinspotting

Short Row Experiments

These are experiments I carried out using 5mm needles and some white yarn so I could examine each effect really carefully.

Over the past few weeks I had used a number of methods, all slightly different, and became very confused about which ones worked without leaving holes, which ones actually matched on both sides of the sock.

I realised that not only could you hide a wrap, but you could leave the wraps on the right side if you wanted, as a feature. Did you ever look at a photo of someone else’s short row heel and wonder why they got those neat little lines when all you got were holes or a criss-crossing of yarns?

Anyway, these are the ways in which I have picked up wraps and knitted them on the short row heel samples. Why am I interested in so many different ways of doing the same thing? I feel that as a designer and someone who writes patterns for publications, I should be able to use any method as a design choice, or as a tutorial within a pattern. You can try one or two of these and then when you are happy just stick to what works. Hopefully, my experiments will throw up slight variations that can make all the difference to your happiness with short rows. Without any method at all, a knitter will have to knit a reverse heel flap, and different way of making a toe.

I have not varied the method of wrapping and turning which is this:

Knit to just before stitch you wish to wrap
Bring Yarn fwd between needles
Slip stitch to be wrapped p-wise from L needle to R needle
Take yarn back between needles
Slip stitch to be wrapped p-wise back onto L needle
Turn

P back to the next stitch on the other side you wish to wrap
Take yarn back between needles
Slip stitch to be wrapped p-wise from L needle to R needle
Bring yarn fwd between needles
Slip stitch to be wrapped p-wise back onto L needle
Turn

I will take photos soon, but for the moment this is the description of the methods and the results.

A note on picking up wraps. In the following few methods, I have favoured slipping the wrap stitch and picking up wraps with the left needle and then slipping the wrapped stitch back. This can help those people who become confused by directions of putting the right needle through the wrap then through the stitch at the same time.

Remember, there is not really a right way of doing this, just different methods and as I am trying them all, I am explaining the differences between them and the results so you can make a choice.

Double wrap and Knit through the back loops

This is my favourite method, but it does leave those little dashes of horizontal bars along the diagonal where the wrap shows

Wrap and turn as normal. Then when all necessary stitches are wrapped:

1. On RS knit to first wrapped stitch

2. Slip stitch p-wise to R needle to hold out of the way

3. Put tip of L needle under wrap and pick up

4. Slip wrapped stitch back to L needle again

5. Knit wrap and slipped stitch together through the back of loops

6. Wrap next stitch (so now is wrapped twice) and turn

7. Now on WS P to first wrapped stitch

8. Slip stitch p-wise to R needle to hold out of the way

9. Put tip of L needle under wrap and pick up

10. Slip wrapped stitch back to L needle again

11. Purl wrap & slipped stitch together, as normal i.e WS of work

12. Wrap next stitch (so now is wrapped twice) and turn

Now repeat from 1, to pick up the next wrapped stitch, but remember this stitch is wrapped twice so pick up both wraps and knit together with the stitch. Same goes for picking up the next wrapped stitch on the other side, on the WS repeat from 7 but pick up 2 wraps and P tog with stitch.

This means that you have been securely knitting your wraps and stitches together, you won’t have visible holes not even decorative ones, but along the diagonal line you will have one dash/horizontal line at beg of toe, and then double dashes/horizontal lines along the whole diagonal of the toe. I like this, it is neat and decorative and works well with variegated yarns where hiding a wrap does not work because it might show through the gaps of a lighter yarn on top.

Single wrap and Knit through the back loops

If you repeated the above steps, but omitted to wrap stitches at all from the picking up stage, i.e. only wrap once, you will get some small single dashes but quite lacy holes where stitches are not held together. If you like the idea of having a slightly lacy effect, then what I did which looked quite nice, was to slip the first stitch of every row after turning when picking up at steps 1 and 7.

Double wrap and Knit through front loops

It is possible to go through all steps, but at step 5 you would knit through the front of the loops, and at step 11 you would need to Purl through back of loop, i.e you would be placing the tip of your R needle under the wraps and stitch at front of work and purling together instead of purling as normal. This did hide wraps, but there was a certain amount of criss-crossing of stitches that would look fine in a small gauge on a solid coloured yarn, but would not look quite so good on a variegated yarn.

There are more experiments to come; methods of picking up the wrap can vary from above as well as methods of knitting together. There is also the possibility of not wrapping at all, which means picking up stitches between the needles, or in some methods making a YO, then knitting those YO’s together. I will try these and list them here.

Watch this space.............................................