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Adding Short Rows to Crocus
Aug. 1st, 2020 12:30 pmLast time I wrote about Crocus I was a bit further along than I let on. I try to cut my blog posts in thematic chunks and this works well. So when I wrote that the next step was to bind off the sleeve stitches I had already done so.
Ten rows on it turned out that I had been a bit too happy to get this far. Although I haven't actually knitted a real swatch on 3mm needles (but I did on 2.75 and 3.5 for the Songe d'été) I can't tell what my row gauge is.
Aaaah, the new bane of my existance: row gauge! I haven't made a swatch on 3 mm, I haven't blocked said non-existing swatch, and there's no real evidence of how much my row gauge will grow with blocking.
I do know that when I had knit ten rows after doing the armscye it was wayyyy too short. The armscye poked into my armpit and this is never a good thing. Tall Jane is tall.
So I frogged back to just above the armscye and read up on the instructions for making the top of the top taller. The instructions said to add extra rows without increasing further. Check, I can do that.
After four extra rows I decided to check again. It was quite clear that the top sits way higher in the back than in the front. The front neckline is pretty (and if it stretches out with blocking, I won't become indecently exposed) and it reaches down quite far enough, but in the back it reaches nowhere near the armpit.
I can't take a picture of the back while keeping needles in check, alone at home, so this involved quite a bit of pulling and poking to see how the back would sit.
Yes, it was definitely too short. Kat suggested I do a few short rows to make up for the height difference.
Her explanation on the phone was forgotten as soon as I put down the phone (it was one of those weeks) but a quick Google search got me the mathematics. Long story short: after the four extra non-increase rows I also added six rows of short rows.
Short rows are a row that isn't knit all the way around. It's often used in sock knitting, for a short-row heel. To make sure no gaps are created, one stitch is 'wrapped' and and the work is turned. In the first half, each short row is slightly shorter than the one previous. In the second half, you pick up the 'wraps' and knit them together with the stitch they lay around, making sure the tension is tight enough.
Kwibus helped by depositing his summer fluff on my knitting:
With ten extra rows I hope to have added enough height to my work. I just finished the armscyes for the seond time and although I was just a few rows under the arm I had to try it on again. It is definitely better, although it still sits high in the armpit. It's not too tight, but still a bit on the high side. I hope that means that once the top is blocked, it will sit prettily without gaping.
Now for a long straight stretch to get to the bust point...and then we decide on the amount of fitting we want!
Ten rows on it turned out that I had been a bit too happy to get this far. Although I haven't actually knitted a real swatch on 3mm needles (but I did on 2.75 and 3.5 for the Songe d'été) I can't tell what my row gauge is.
Aaaah, the new bane of my existance: row gauge! I haven't made a swatch on 3 mm, I haven't blocked said non-existing swatch, and there's no real evidence of how much my row gauge will grow with blocking.
I do know that when I had knit ten rows after doing the armscye it was wayyyy too short. The armscye poked into my armpit and this is never a good thing. Tall Jane is tall.
So I frogged back to just above the armscye and read up on the instructions for making the top of the top taller. The instructions said to add extra rows without increasing further. Check, I can do that.
After four extra rows I decided to check again. It was quite clear that the top sits way higher in the back than in the front. The front neckline is pretty (and if it stretches out with blocking, I won't become indecently exposed) and it reaches down quite far enough, but in the back it reaches nowhere near the armpit.
I can't take a picture of the back while keeping needles in check, alone at home, so this involved quite a bit of pulling and poking to see how the back would sit.
Yes, it was definitely too short. Kat suggested I do a few short rows to make up for the height difference.
Her explanation on the phone was forgotten as soon as I put down the phone (it was one of those weeks) but a quick Google search got me the mathematics. Long story short: after the four extra non-increase rows I also added six rows of short rows.
Short rows are a row that isn't knit all the way around. It's often used in sock knitting, for a short-row heel. To make sure no gaps are created, one stitch is 'wrapped' and and the work is turned. In the first half, each short row is slightly shorter than the one previous. In the second half, you pick up the 'wraps' and knit them together with the stitch they lay around, making sure the tension is tight enough.
Kwibus helped by depositing his summer fluff on my knitting:
With ten extra rows I hope to have added enough height to my work. I just finished the armscyes for the seond time and although I was just a few rows under the arm I had to try it on again. It is definitely better, although it still sits high in the armpit. It's not too tight, but still a bit on the high side. I hope that means that once the top is blocked, it will sit prettily without gaping.
Now for a long straight stretch to get to the bust point...and then we decide on the amount of fitting we want!
