Short rows have lots of uses.  They make a flat object take shape.

They can be the heel of a sock, or they can turn the stair stepping of a shoulder into a smooth angle.

They can build up the back neck in a raglan sweater, or they can shape a sweater front for a large bosom.

Today’s article is focusing on short rows for bust shaping.

First, let’s talk about what short rows do

Short rows add length to the overall body.  They make up for the extra length that’s taken up by a larger bust.  If your sweaters tend to bow up in the front like this, short rows can solve the problem.

As many of you know, I’m a very busty girl.  Just about every top that I try on in a store rides up in the front on me.  I’ve come up with all sorts of ways to mask it in ready to wear clothing – finding the right bra/top combo, layering so the changing of colors makes it less obvious, wearing cardigans with the bottom unbuttoned and a fitted tank underneath.

One of the things I look forward to most about wearing a sweater I hand knit is that I won’t have to do any of that.  No pulling at the bottom.  No leaning over a bit to counteract the curve.  No fixing myself in the bathroom mirror.  No more plotting how I can make the outfit work.  I suspect it’s similar to those of you who are tall and love it when you can wear a sweater with full length sleeves.  What a relief!

If you’ve done some reading about short rows for the bust you’ve probably found several approaches to them.  I’ll show you how I do mine. (continue to How to Knit Short Rows)