Author: Pam

New England native, Florida resident. Blogging about boating, beach-combing, gardening, camping, and knitting. Work for Zazzle as a designer since 2008.

Understanding Knitting Short Rows on a Pullover Sweater

On this page I try to help beginner knitters understand short rows, and the important shaping they do when knitting sweaters.

Short rows are just that, shorter than normal knitting rows. Most often I come across directions to use short rows while knitting sweaters. In order for a sweater to fit properly, the back needs to be raised up a little higher than the front. It makes the neckline lower in front and therefore more comfortable. This is done by knitting back and forth over one section (the back) and ignoring the front stitches, for a few rows. 

Short rows also can be used to shape things, like sock heels, or shawl edges. I’m no expert on short rows, but I feel they are necessary as part of sweater knitting.

Sweaters Knit Without Short Rows

I’ve knit a couple of sweaters that did not include short row shaping. They are not the most comfortable to wear. The Carbeth Cardigan really needed short rows. The pattern was unique and pretty nice except that the back pulls downward, and shouldn’t. I tried to add some short rows myself, which I think helped, but I didn’t really know for sure if I had done them correctly.

Farfuglar sweater yoke and neck
Farfuflar, or Migrating Birds
Short rows, neck ribbing, Carbeth knitting
Carbeth back

Farfuglar was another pattern that omitted short rows. I wish that pullover pattern had included a few short rows as well.

Without short rows, there will be a noticeable difference when wearing a sweater.

Picturing Short Rows

It is always more helpful to me when I can picture how short rows will be knit. The Warm Up Sweater is a pattern from Espace Tricot and it includes short row shaping. I will use this pattern as an example to explain how the rows are knit.

Warm Up is a top-down raglan. Once the neck ribbing is knit, the sleeves, front and back are separated and expanded. Markers are placed to delegate all these sections. The sleeves will have fewer stitches than the front and back, because our arms are smaller parts of our bodies! You should also have a BOR (beginning of round) marker that should be different from the other markers.

Warm up sweater neck showing short rows
Warm-up Sweater

You can see how the dark brown block of color is not as deep at the front as it is on the sleeves and the back. This happened because of the short rows. The front neckline sits nice and low compared to the back.

We knit from right to left. We cast on and do the neck, and then begin the body. Our sweater is being knit top-down, but while we are knitting we are holding it upside down.

The Warm Up pattern short row directions say that the first marked area is the Right Sleeve, then Front, then Left Sleeve, and Back. In that order. (See my chart below.)

*Helpful hint: Place a removable marker at the “back” middle area. I do this just to keep the front and back straight in my mind – because no knitting should be done across the front (only while making short rows). Short rows will be knit across the back, and in this case, the sleeves.

short rows drawing

Short row shaping on the Warm Up sweater begins with Row 1 which says to “knit to marker”. From the BOR the knitting goes across the Right Sleeve. Then, “slip marker and knit X” which ever number for your size. 

This brings you a few stitches into the “front” of the sweater (Green GSR in my image), but now you turn – doing a German Short Row (see how below) – and will purl back (pink line in my image) – across the right sleeve, and the back, and the left sleeve. (This is Row 2, which says: *P to marker, SM and repeat 3 more times. This takes you past the R. sleeve marker, BOR marker, and both L sleeve markers – plus 3 or 4 stitches into the other side of the Front.)

Row 3 of this Short Row section includes increases, in the form of kfb (knit front and back) which are done on either side of the sleeves. You also do a GSR. It is not hard, just do each thing when it says to in the pattern. Some people mark where their short row turns are, but the double stitch made will stand out so there is really no need. 

The German short row turn is done like this: Knit (or purl) to the stitch indicated. Turn the work and with the yarn in front, slip the stitch on the left needle onto the right. Then pull that stitch up and over. It will look odd, like two stitches. You are now ready to either knit – on the RS, or purl, on the WS. Follow the directions for the next short row. 

Watch this excellent Short Rows Video for more help.
small green yarn

More About Short Rows

Making the turn for short rows will become second nature once you practice enough. If the pattern is well-written, the designer will walk you through those rows. Once the short rows are finished, you will continue knitting normally, or as the pattern directs. 

The funny looking short row stitch is always knit together – as one stitch – when it comes time to either knit, or purl that weird stitch.

Socks use short row shaping at the heel. And short rows can make a ruffle on a scarf or other project. 

Perfect Newborn socks pattern knitting
Perfect Newborn socks
wild angelica socks pattern fair isle colorwork knitting
Wild Angelica Socks
Ruffle scarf
Ruffle Scarf

My Knitting Life

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Field Sweater Helpful Videos For Making the Grains

As I begin knitting the Field Sweater pattern, some video tutorials have been very helpful.

The Field Sweater, by Camilla Vad, is pretty popular and very beautiful. The pattern I am knitting is a pullover, but a cardigan pattern is also available. 

I’ve continuously seen some form of this sweater all over Instagram. The yoke is textured with “grain” pods, which are made by wrapping the yarn to create a bump. However, it’s not that simple.

This is a top-down knit and I quickly knit the neck ribbing, which is basic. As I read over the grain rounds I became a little confused and went in search of videos.

Knitting for Olive merino and mohair
13 round swatch

My yarn choice is Knitting For Olive fine merino combined with Soft Silk Mohair (also by Knitting for Olive). Both are in color Dusty Moose, which is a gray brown color. Bought at an end-of-year sale, I’ve never knit with this yarn before. (Now that I have begun the sweater, I absolutely love this yarn.)

Video Help For Knitting the Grain

The Making Grains tutorial by Mostly Knitting is the first one I watched and it is very easy to understand. She covers how to do the rows that make the smaller grain. (There is also a Large Grain to make further down the yoke – she covers that also in another video – Making the Large Grain.)

The grain is a bunch of stitches that make a texture around the yoke. Each grain takes many rows to accomplish. The directions are written out, row by row, in the pattern, with the “grain” part written as “make grain”. Making the Grain and Large Grain is also explained on the first page of the pattern directions. HOWEVER, it is helpful to watch someone actually knit this grain stitch.

After watching the videos I’m questioning whether I want to try these textured stitches using two yarns held together. In fact, I was debating whether or not to knit this sweater at all! 

Knit a Little Swatch

The only way to know if I would be able to manage this pattern, while holding two strands of yarn together, (or even one strand) was to try it out. I don’t want to get into the yoke area only to find that I hate what I am attempting, mess it all up, and then be sorry. 

So I knit a little swatch which is similar to the one shown in the video. The strands of yarn were carried across the back to mimic knitting in the round. I knit up to Round 13 and did 2 increase rounds.

back of swatch
Cut the strands that are too tight
As knit
As worn

Some of my strands were too tight so I cut them after the swatch was washed. *After knitting this swatch I realized I had accidentally used a smaller needle size than I should have! Chalk it up to bad eyes and tiny print on needles.

Use Stitch Markers

In the video, linked above, the knitter uses stitch markers to separate her two example sections of the grains. As I started the grain sections, I separated each section with markers. It’s a lot of markers, but will help me with this intense knitting project.

Field sweater neck ribbing
Field sweater knitting
Field Sweater grains on yoke

Knitting Combinations

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

As we knit, each round will have its own combination of stitches. Some rounds are fairly simple, and some will be a struggle – for me.  Using a cable needle and knitting many stitches together, slipping stitches, yarn overs – and other types of increases, are all needed to create this interesting texture. For any semi-experienced knitter, these stitches are not difficult. And that is how I have to look at it going in. Knit one small section at a time and hopefully keep mistakes contained…!!

Many Thanks to Mostly Knitting

Thanks to Mostly Knitting – link goes to her YouTube channel – and her excellent video tutorials that seem to answer the many questions knitters have concerning the Field Sweater pattern. 

I think the pattern itself is well written, but in places, not as well explained as it could be. For example; “pick up the strand between the sts and knit it tbl” could be stated as “make one left” – see how it’s done in Mostly Knitting’s video “Round 9 of the Field Sweater“. There are two ways to pick up that strand, and if you do it wrong, you will be making a hole.

So far I’ve seen three different ways that the yoke increases are made. I guess it’s kinda fun to change things up. I like knowing that I can look up a video for help with this intricate knitting project. Onward I knit, with more to come.

Here’s my progress…

Yarn: Knitting for Olive
Textured knitting on Field sweater
Starting Round 23

When I began the yoke texture (making the grains), I realized that going slowly is key. Having markers for each section is very helpful. As I finished up a section, I would go back and count the stitches to double check. As the yoke expands, the sections do as well, and there is more and more to do for each one.

I began knitting using a wooden Lykke circular needle (24 inches), but switched to metal Chaio Goo (32 inch) in Round 27 (photos below). The metal needle made things much easier!

Field sweater pattern
Field sweater yoke pattern

Making, and Closing, the Large Grain

Later in the yoke: Making the Large Grain is part of Round 27. And closing the grain in round 29. See the easier way to close the grain, or knit all five stitches together, this in this video.

Making the large grain is not as difficult as knitting the five stitches together through the back loop. 

When I got to the last row that completes the Large Grains, I ended up using the cable needle to hold the five stitches that were to be knit through the back loop. The cable needle is smaller than my knitting needles leaving larger loops to pick up.

knitting grains of Field sweater pattern
Hold large grain stitches with cable needle
using cable needle to knit the large grain stitches together
Field sweater yoke grains complete

I am enjoying this knitting project. The directions are very good, and completely written out. Having the additional videos is very helpful as well. 

Weighing In

On the designer’s page for the Field Sweater page there are 145 comments (at the time of this writing) and many are angry words aimed at the designer for not including much larger sizes. In some opinions, this pattern is not size inclusive.

The measurement goes up to 142 cm , or 55 inches around. That seems pretty inclusive to me. Here’s the thing, if a designer only wants to go to a certain size, it is his/her prerogative. This is HER business. She is in control of her pattern size configurations. I’ve never written a pattern, but I’m sure a lot of math and figuring goes into creating the various sizes. Just like politics, could we please leave the size inclusive bickering out of knitting?

More knitting stories and reviews

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Learning the Tubular Cast on For Knitting Hats and More

Found some tutorials for knitting the tubular cast on. This one looks so nice when it is accomplished, but may take some practice.

For every pattern I have knit that suggests a tubular cast-on, I skip that part and do my usual German Twisted cast on. One time I did try to do the tubular and it was a disaster. Now, it’s time to try again.

The tubular cast on gives the edge of any 1×1 (or 2×2) ribbing a “rolled” appearance, without an obvious front and back. Often it is used for hat brims, sock tops, collars on top down sweaters, ribs on bottom up sweaters, mitten cuffs or flat knitting the edge of a ribbed project. I have found that it is not an easy thing to accomplish, but worth the trouble.

On this page I have linked a variety of tutorials for doing the tubular cast on in the round and doing it flat. 

Tubular Cast Ons Are Done Differently for Flat vs. In the Round!

Three Ways to Do the Tubular Cast On

I’m covering three general ways to begin and knit a tubular cast on. There could be more, but these are the ones I tried – to some extent. Some tutorials are done English style (yarn held in right hand) and some are Continental (yarn held in left hand). Some use waste yarn and some don’t. I had success using Tutorial #3 using a crocheted cast on.

Tutorial #1: Backwards Loop Cast On With Waste Yarn

This tutorial shows flat knitting, or back and forth, not in the round. Half the number of total stitches needed – plus one – are added to a straight, or long, needle using the backward loop method and waste yarn. I used a size 3US straight metal needle for this. 

This is all I did. I did not continue with this cast on because I need to knit in the round for my hat. This beginning is similar to the crocheted cast on (see #3 tutorial).

tubular cast on examples
Backwards loop directly onto a straight needle

After a couple of set up rows are complete, the stitches would be connected to knit in the round (if that is needed for the project). She mentions having a video for that, which I can’t find!

Here is her flat knitting tubular cast on tutorial, done English style: Knitting Whimsy Tubular Cast on. 

Tutorial #2: Italian Tubular Cast on, or Alternating Knit and Purl Cast On

This cast on was tough for me. The Italian Tubular cast on does not use waste yarn. Stitches – all the stitches needed for the project – are added to the needle by doing alternating knits and purls. 

It takes practice if you have never done this type of cast on. Also, the stitches twist around the needle and the whole thing can look horrible and confusing (my experience). Getting them all straight for the first set up row might be challenging. 

Wool Bird has a very good video showing how to do this in the round. She knits Continental style. As an English style knitter, I found this an easy video to follow.

Jared Flood / Brooklyn Tweed has a video: How to Knit: Italian Tubular Cast On. He uses a thin yarn, which is more difficult to see, but it’s a good tutorial for flat knitting, English style. His pointers: Use a needle 2 sizes smaller than the pattern to begin this cast on, snug up the stitches so they don’t roll, and do a backward loop to hold the stitches in place when finished.

The 1×1 rib cast on can be converted to a 2×2 rib also. See Ysolda’s video below. She shows this at the end.

Ysolda has an excellent, and slow enough to follow, video here. She knits English style and does show how to join and knit in the round. She suggests doing two set up rows before joining. Near the end of the video she explains how to convert the tubular cast on to a knit 2, purl 2, or two by two ribbing, if that is what the project calls for.

Tutorial #3: The Crochet Cast On

My search for info first brought me to this video: Cushion of Joy. It is the one I was able to get through. She gets right to the point, after talking a bit about why we would want to do all that work for a cast on. Her approach is to use a large straight needle and crochet waste yarn onto it. This cast on needs only half the total number of stitches to begin with.

This video is good but, she knits Continental style and I don’t.  Her waste yarn is nearly the same color as her main yarn, which can be confusing. However, she does connect the stitches to do her knitting in the round.

tubular cast on crochet
Begin with crochet of waste yarn
read to join in the round
Join in the round to knit
tubular cast on
Tubular cast on in the round

I did have some trouble. Before joining the ends to knit in the round, I made sure all my stitches were straight, as you do normally (middle photo). Once I did my first row, the stitches had become twisted! I fiddled around with it, and just kept going. I was sure the whole thing would be unusable anyway. So watch your stitches on that first row in the round.

My Suggestion: Practice this cast-on for a small circumference (fewer stitches) project, and / or use a heavy type yarn.

This hat pattern (Classic Ribbed Hat – see pattern link below) had 120 stitches for the size I chose. It’s a lot of knitting on something that could end up a complete mess! 

As I knit each row, it was difficult to tell if my alternating stitches were in the right place. I really didn’t know what to look for and the tutorial could have been better in this area.

At the end, my crocheted blue waste yarn did not slip right out either. I had to cut it in various places and pick it out. 

Somehow, and much to my surprise, my first tubular cast on looked pretty nice! It was a miracle…!! I was short one stitch, which I added on my first k1,p1 round. Also, my nubby, tweed yarn is probably hiding some mistakes!

tubular cast on ribbed hat knitting
Tubular cast-on success!
tubular cast on hat edge
Hat edge

I was happy and amazed that my tubular cast on was usable. When I do it again it should be perfect, right? Now I am continuing to knit on this hat with finished pictures to come.

I managed to get through the video and began my hat, which is the Classic Ribbed Hat free pattern from Purl Soho. I’m using Purl Soho’s Hedgerow yarn in color Woodpile Gray.

Be Positive About Learning Something New

If you have the time, always strive to learn a knitting technique you love. This type of cast on takes time and practice, and I know a lot of people don’t have much free time. I had to rip the whole thing out and start over more than once. Sometimes that is part of knitting and I’m here to say, “You are not alone!”

I recently learned how to do magic loop – finally. And wow, it is really pretty easy. This tubular cast on is not necessarily easy, but is worth learning how to do. 

Fiber crafters read on

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Yarn Purchased at End of Year Sales

Say good-bye to the old year while saving money on favorite, or new, yarn. Like many other knitters and crocheters, the end of year yarn sales are something to look forward to.

Knitting for Olive

My end of year yarn sale purchases included, for the first time, Knitting for Olive yarn, a company located in Denmark. They offer free shipping – all over the world (I believe) – on a first time order. Along with that savings, the company offered 15% off on their Soft Mohair yarn, so I got a nice discount on this lovely yarn.

My order arrived the day after Christmas! That was fast, considering the holiday busyness and that the order shipped from overseas. I was impressed.

I bought enough yarn to make two sweaters. Still deciding on which patterns while I finish up knitting the gold Calliope pullover.

Dusty Moose yarn color
Dusty Moose in Mohair and merino
knitting for olive green yarn
“Pea Shoots” green yarn

*Update: Used the Dusty Moose color to knit the lovely Field Sweater.

Purl Soho

I took advantage of the end of year sale online at Purl Soho and ordered some new types of yarn. Good Wool is a light worsted weight / DK (per their yarn page) that comes in big, soft skeins of 383 yards. I chose a natural, undyed brown called Hickory Nut. I wound one skein by hand and found no knots or inconsistencies. It is truly very soft. This yarn is also affordable and is NOT Superwash. I will be knitting a sweater with it in the near future!

Purl Soho yarn skeins
Good Wool and Hedgerow
wool yarn skeins
Natural brown wool and Irish tweed

Almost all my hand knits in 2023 were sweaters and I was wanting to knit a new hat. The Hedgerow tweed caught my eye and I chose nice, neutral gray and blue (Woodpile Gray and Charcoal Blue) colors. It is spun from Merino, cashmere and silk and comes in skein lengths of 243 yards. 

This yarn comes from Ireland and is very similar to the Soft Donegal yarn I bought to make a poncho and Cobblestone cardigan. I’ve already begun a hat and learned how to do a tubular cast on for it! 

I’m excited to get knitting with all this beautiful yarn and will post my projects here, on my blog, as I go. I do have some knitting projects in the queue, but I tend to change my mind on the yarn I’ll use. Eventually, I will have to decide!

More knitting adventure stories…

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