German short rows: the double stitch, step by step

German short rows are a way of turning mid-row to shape your knitting, using a "double stitch" (DS) instead of the wraps used in older methods. You turn, slip the first stitch with the yarn in front, and pull the yarn firmly up and over the needle so the stitch shows two legs. When you come back, you work those two legs as one stitch. There are no wraps to find and pick up, which is why this method has become the most widely used.

What short rows are for

Short rows are partial rows: you turn around before the end. They stack extra fabric in one part of the work, building three-dimensional shape into flat knitting. Uses include sloped shoulders, the raised back neck of a yoke sweater, sock heels, bust darts, curved shirttail hems and crescent shawls.

How to work German short rows

1. Work to the turning point given in your pattern. Turn the work.
2. Make sure the yarn is at the front, then slip the first stitch purlwise.
3. Pull the working yarn up, over the needle and to the back, firmly, until both legs of the slipped stitch stretch over the needle. It now looks like two stitches. This is the double stitch (DS). Pull firmly enough that the legs sit clearly over the needle, but not so hard that the fabric puckers.
4. Position the yarn for the next stitch. If you are purling next, bring the yarn to the front between the needle tips. If you are knitting next, it is already at the back. Work the next stitch or two slightly tighter than usual.
5. Continue the row as the pattern directs.

Resolving the double stitch

When you later work a full row and reach a DS, work both legs together as one stitch. Knit them together on a knit row, purl them together on a purl row. The DS closes into an ordinary stitch and the turn becomes invisible.

Counting rule: a double stitch is always one stitch. It only looks like two. Counting a DS as two is the most common way stitch counts go wrong in short-row sections.

German short rows vs wrap and turn

With wrap and turn (w&t), you wrap the yarn around a stitch at each turn. Later you must find each wrap and work it together with its stitch. This is fiddly, and wraps are easy to miss. With German short rows the DS sits visibly on the needle. There is nothing to search for, and the result tends to come out more even. If your pattern is written for w&t, the conversion is simple: work one stitch further than the w&t instruction says, turn, and make a DS.

Common mistakes

• Under-pulling the DS. This leaves a hole at the turn. Both legs must sit clearly over the needle.
• Over-pulling. This puckers the fabric. Pull firmly, not hard.
• Working only one leg when resolving. This creates an extra stitch and a hole. Work both legs together as one.
• Counting a DS as two stitches. It is one.
• Taking the yarn over the needle instead of between the tips when repositioning for a purl. This makes an accidental yarn over.