In this case, my Eyelet Chemise:
This has taken some working out, as I’ve never used short rows to make bust darts before. But, I got it sorted in the end. I used HoneyBee33’s brilliant ‘titorial‘ to help me figure this all out. I’m going to note what I did in tedious thorough detail, so I don’t forget for next time. Also, I hope that all the ripping (of yarn and hair) I’ve done might mean that you don’t have to! I’m going to summarise HoneyBee33′s instructions, just the bits that relate to short row darts, and then I will detail what I did on this cardigan. I’ll point you to where to get the best photo-tutorials for actually doing the short rows a bit further down.
Here’s what you do:
1. Note down some measurements:
- Row gauge per inch. Mine is often off, so check your actual row gauge, not just what it ought to be.
- The length of the finished garment.
- Your shoulder to back waist.
- Your shoulder to front waist – tie a length of yarn around your waist to make sure your back and front measurements are consistent.
- Your shoulder to bust point
2. Calculate the depth of your darts:
- Subtract your shoulder-to-back-waist measurement from your shoulder-to-front-waist measurement.
- Multiply the answer by the number of rows per inch.
- Divide this number in half. This is the number of stitches you will wrap.
3. Calculate where to start working the short rows:
- Subtract your shoulder to bust point measurement from the garment shoulder to hem measurement.
- The result is how far from the cast on edge you start the short rows.
A couple of extra notes:
- This is probably really obvious but took me ages to figure out: when making a cardigan, as opposed to a sweater, you just do the short rows at the side edge. You don’t have to do pairs of short rows like when making socks!
- If you are knitting the garment in one piece, start the darts at the last stitch on the front. If you are knitting front(s) and back separately, start the darts a couple of stitches from the edge.
This is what I did for my Eyelet Chemise: 1. Measurements:
- Row gauge: 8.25 rows per inch.
- Garment length: I added length to the bottom half, so the total length will be 20″.
- Shoulder – back waist: 18″
- Shoulder – front waist: 20″
- Shouder – bust point: 10″
2. Depth of darts:
- Front waist – back waist x row gauge divided by 2 = 8.25, rounded down to 8 wraps.
3. Where to start them:
- 20 – 10 = 10″ from cast on edge.
To work the short rows, the best references I have found are knitty.com’s article on short rows and misocrafty‘s tutorial on picking up wraps.
This is how it should look after you have wrapped all your stitches:
This is how it should not look:
