Sunday, January 19, 2020

Knitting -- German short rows again

Last time I visited this subject was quite a while ago and it's always worthwhile repeating a search yearly to see what new stuff has been posted out there.

So here is a clear video on doing German short rows and what you do with the double stitch when you turn your work and get back to it. I think the last video I saw wasn't clear about the double stitch.
https://stolenstitches.com/blogs/tutorials/german-short-rows-in-garter-stitch

That was in garter stitch. This video is in stockinette and shows how you can shape a knit with German short rows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3S9cl47PYw

This video, about minute 9, shows you how German short rows on a sock toe looks more solid than wrap and turn, but the sock pattern I showed you that you do top down is even more solid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52qy8OOb-s0

This video is the German short row heel of a sock which is "better than wrap and turn" -- which also doesn't happen on my sock pattern. But it shows that you stop knitting in the round and start doing stockinette. You leave the double stitch on when you turn instead of knitting it up. There are stitches in the middle of the heel that you work normally the whole time. When you have finished turning the sides into double-stitches, these middle stitches now stick out beyond your work forming the sole of the heel. Then at the  end you knit up your double-stitches. When you purl back, you pick up all the other stitches to start working in the round again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcHQ9-BEmOM

This video is German short row heels on a top down sock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2TOd5Io2aU

This video shows how to do German short rows with the Continental hold instead of the English hold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyg2s09Grhs

So what German short rows do is isolate some stitches that you keep working the normal way, while you block off some stitches on either side to work up later. You keep those outer stitches live by keeping them on your needle, and they are practically invisible compared to the wrap and turn method. However, I've been using wrap and turn for mid-back elevations on jumpers and sweaters, and you can't see the wraps because each time you knit or purl longer stretches. Since the DROPS sweaters do wrap and turn on their Nordic pieces, I don't see anything wrong with wrap and turn.

And as I just said twice, you don't have to use wrap and turn on socks. When you are working toe up, you can do your increases as KF/B for a tight fabric, and m1 for a lacy fabric. The German short rows come in at the heel.

So what I would love to do with this is work socks in fingering weight yarn to match tops for spring/autumn wear.  Stay tuned!

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