Don’t be intimidated by ‘Short Rows’ (wrap & turn) because when worked in Garter Stitch they are so easy

Carnival Blanket is one of the 30 blankets in the Geometric Knit Blankets book. The wrap & turn technique, abbreviated “w&t”, is used to make the Lens shape which looks like a leaf or a petal.

What is purpose of Wrap & turn/short rows?

The wrap and turn technique creates short rows, which as the name suggests, are partial or incomplete rows, used to make shaped pieces of knitting such as the Lens in Carnival. The gentle curve of the Lens shown at right is a result of working short rows.

Wrap & turn/short rows, is an advanced knitting technique

When short rows are used in stockinette stitch (alternating rows of knit and purl) the wraps will show and a hole will be visible next to the wrapped stitch, unless the wrap and wrapped stitch are knitted together on the next row. It the handling of the wrap on the next row that introduces the difficulty because you have to remember to knit the wrap and wrapped stitch together long after you’ve wrapped the stitch, it may be hard to see the wrap, and the wrap and wrapped stitch have to be knit together correctly so that the wrap gets pushed to the wrong side of the work.

W&T problems are well hidden in garter stitch

The Lens shape is worked in Garter Stitch, meaning that all rows are knitted, with no purling. In garter stitch holes next to wrapped stitches are nearly hidden by the dense fabric, and the garter stitch “bumps” cover up the wrap.

We recommend leaving the wrap as-is when working short rows in garter stitch

We experimented and found that leaving the wraps in place; not knitting wrap and wrapped stitch together, looks better in garter stitch knitting and included this recommendation in the General Notes of the book.

A lot row instructions ask you to work to a specified number of stitches before or after the last wrapped stitch. If you are having trouble seeing the wrap, place a marker around the wrapped stitch and remove when no longer needed.

The Lens uses wrap & turn (short rows) to create the curved shape

The wrap and wrapped stitch are not knit together when encountered on the next row. Note that no holes or wraps are visible when short rows are worked in garter stitch.