Increasing and decreasing · Intermediate
Short rows
A short row is a row that is turned before it reaches the end, leaving the rest of the stitches unworked. Worked in pairs, out and back, short rows put extra fabric in one part of a piece and none in the rest, which is how crochet is made to curve, slope or cup without changing the number of stitches.
How to work it
Work the next pair
Work out again, and turn at a different place: a few stitches sooner, or a few stitches farther on, as the pattern says. Moving the turning point by the same amount each time builds an even wedge.
Close each step as you cross it
When a row is worked on past a step, work one stitch into the side of the step, into the row end, before going on along the stitches below. It closes the gap at the turn, and the number of stitches stays as it was.
At a glance
- Used for
- turning the heel of a sock; sloping the shoulders or shaping the bust of a garment; any piece that needs more rows in one part than in another
- What it is
- A row turned before its end
- Worked in
- Pairs: one row out and one row back
- Stitch count
- Unchanged. Short rows add rows to part of the piece and add no stitches.
- The step
- The drop at the end of a pair. The taller the stitch, the bigger the step.
- In taller stitches
- Taper the end of the short row: before the turn, work a half double crochet (UK half treble) and then a single crochet in place of the last two double crochet (UK treble).
- Where to turn
- The pattern gives the count. Each turn is usually a set number of stitches before or beyond the last one.
Increases and decreases shape a piece by changing how many stitches a row has. Short rows shape it by changing how many rows a part of the piece has. Stack a few pairs at one edge and that edge grows longer than the other, so the piece curves. Stack them in the middle of a row and the fabric bulges into a cup, which is how a heel is turned.
The turning points can step inward, each pair shorter than the last, or outward, each pair longer than the last and covering the steps of the ones before. Either way the short rows end up as a wedge.
Short rows are often worked in single crochet, because a short stitch makes a small step. With a taller stitch the step is bigger and harder to hide. The answer is to grade the height of the stitches at the end of the short row, so that the row slopes down to the turn and there is less of a step to cross.
When it goes wrong
- There is a hole at each turn.
- The step was not closed. When a later row crosses the turn, work a stitch into the side of the step before the next stitch below.
- The turns show as bumps in a piece of taller stitches.
- The step of a tall stitch is big. End each short row with shorter stitches, a half double crochet and then a single crochet, so that the row slopes down to the turn.
- My stitch count changed.
- Short rows should leave it as it was. After the turn, the first stitch is skipped, and the stitch worked into the side of the step takes its place on the way back across.
Questions
- What are short rows in crochet?
- Rows that are turned before the end, leaving stitches unworked. They add rows to one part of a piece, so that the piece curves or cups.
- Do short rows change the number of stitches?
- No. They change the number of rows in part of the piece. The stitch count across the whole row stays as it was.
- Can I work short rows in double crochet?
- Yes, but the step at each turn is bigger. Taper the end of each short row with shorter stitches to make it smaller.