Short Rows In Tunisian Crochet

Just as in knitting, short rows are useful for making soft curves, slopes or darts in fabric.  They are rows that are only partially worked before working the return pass of Tunisian Crochet.  At its simplest:  a short row is just a row that you partially work.

For Example:  If a row has 20 sts, a short row forward pass would work only 15 of those 20 sts before working the return.

There are no particular tricks in working the partial row - you work only a fraction of the stitches in a row for the forward pass and then you do your return pass as you normally would..  What you need to understand for Tunisian Short Rows is how to work the following rows, particularly the stitch that will work into the last stitch of the partial row later on.  Without taking care, you will create a hole in your work. 

The techniques required for short row shaping are pictured below.

Working the Partial Row:  No different than standard Tunisian, just less of a row!:

	Work the specified number of sts for the forward pass to do a partial row.
	Work the return as you normally would.

Following Row - Working the Last Stitch of a Partial Row:  Approach #1

Darla Fanton, Tunisian Crochet expert extraordinaire,  shared this technique with me.

	Step 1: Work forward pass up until last st of the partial row you previously worked.
	Step 2: Insert the hook from front to back, through the front and back vertical bars.  Yarn over the hook from the back of the work and, and pull up a loop on to the hook.  (Work this stitch as you would the last stitch of the forward pass)
	Step 3:  Work the remainder of the row as usual, working the return pass as you normally would.  The photo to the right shows a series of short rows worked.  We have then worked 2 complete rows and a forward pass above the short rows.

Following Row - Working the Last Stitch of a Partial Row:  Approach #2

	Step 1:  Work forward pass up until last st of the partial row you previously worked.
	Step 2:  Slip this last stitch onto your hook.  When you slip a stitch in Tunisian Crochet, you slip the vertical bar onto your hook and leave it there, continuing along to the next stitch.
	Step 3:  Work the remainder of the row as usual, working the return pass as you normally would.  The photo to the right shows a series of short rows worked.  We have then worked 2 complete rows and a forward pass above the short rows.