Quickie

So now, from the last class I taught, I have a small baby sweater pattern which is really quick to knit. Yay!

I am doing a test knit so I can show you the short rows and what they can do. First I cast on stitches for the neckband and worked a garter stitch neckband with the first buttonhole in it. The short rows begin here. When you work short rows you don't work across all of the stitches on the row. You turn part way across the row, turn and leave some stitches on the needle unworked.

I am now at the end of the second set of short rows. At this point I have turned and am ready to do a knit row leaving the 7 sts at the end of that row unworked (on the right of photo). Every time you turn in the middle of a row you create a gap. The last time I turned is indicated by the guitar pick on the left. On the next short row I will work past the gap indicated, close the gap as I pass by it, turn again a little further along, leaving only 5 sts unworked.

I have worked to the second last short row here. On the left, I have worked all the way to the end of the row (the hole you see on the left near the end of the row is the buttonhole in the neckband). I am going to put my camera down, turn my work to the wrong side and work the last purl short row which will close the gap indicated by the guitar pick and work to the end of that row.All done. You can see that across the Back (top of the photo) you have 8 rows of knitting. At the Front edge of the sweater I have 2 rows next to the neckband. More rows across the back of the neck than at the Front edge means the Front will be lower than the Back and in this case form a V neck like in the red sweater above. Aren't short rows the most amazing things?

I got all that done with my first coffee, I told you it was quick. Have a great weekend.

-Deb