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. Then you simply work those two legs as one stitch when you come back. No wraps to hunt for and pick up, which is exactly why this has become the modern favourite.

What short rows are for

Short rows are partial rows. You turn around before the end, stacking extra fabric in one part of the work and building three-dimensional shape into flat knitting: 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: that's the double stitch (DS). Firm enough that the legs sit clearly over the needle, not so hard the fabric puckers.
4. Position the yarn for the next stitch: purling next? Bring the yarn to the front between the needle tips. Knitting next? It's 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. That's the entire trick. The DS closes into an ordinary stitch and the turn becomes invisible.

Counting rule: a double stitch is one stitch, always. It only looks like two. Miscounting a DS as two is the classic 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 and must later find each wrap and work it together with its stitch, which is fiddly and easy to miss. With German short rows the DS sits visibly on the needle: nothing to hunt 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: leaves a hole at the turn. Both legs must sit clearly over the needle.
• Over-pulling: puckers the fabric. Firm, not violent.
• Working only one leg when resolving: creates an extra stitch and a hole. Both legs, together, as one.
• Counting a DS as two stitches: it's one.
• Taking the yarn over the needle instead of between the tips when repositioning for a purl, which makes an accidental yarn over.