Short Rows in the Destello Scarf

The Destello Scarf is a free pattern knit in our new Alpaca Heather sport-weight yarn. The body of the reversible scarf is knit in an undyed colorway of Alpaca Heather. Through the magic of short rows, three contrast colors of dyed Alpaca Heather flash on the sides. Short rows are exactly what they sound like - a row of knitting where you stop before you reach the end of the needle. The wedges that result create curves in the fabric.  Today we’re going to demonstrate a non-traditional short row technique.

The sample photographed for this blog is using H703 Grey for the main color, and contrast colors H2444 Harbor, H2222 Honeycomb, and H2446 Petrol. Almost immediately after you cast on, you begin the stripe sequence and short rows.

The stripe sequence begins with knitting a short-row with your first contrast color. Traditional short rows involve a wrap-and-turn method but in the Destello Scarf, the short rows are worked without wraps. Here you knit across the stitches as the pattern instructs, then turn and knit back to the beginning of the row

Next, with the main color, you knit across to the gap formed from the short-row just worked.

Now, we need to close that gap, but remember we didn’t do a conventional wrap-and-turn! 

Instead, insert the tip of the left needle into the bump on the side of the stitch before the gap (the one on the right needle).

Then knit together this picked-up strand with the next stitch on the left needle.

Continue on to the end of this row, and knit your way back to the beginning.

The stripe sequence continues, alternating the contrast color with the main color, and different lengths of the short rows. It does not take long to start to see the pattern emerge! When you are working the striped sections, do not cut the yarn unless instructed to. Instead, carry it loosely up the side of the work until needed again. 

We hope you enjoy knitting this technique and wearing the resulting scarf that is anything but another straight sided rectangle. This same technique is also featured in an upcoming design that will be released on LYS Day 2020. Stay tuned for announcements on Facebook, Instagram, and Ravelry!