Short Row Bust Darts

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Does your sweater ride up in front? And bunch under the armholes? You may want to knit in darts using the short row technique.

Seamstresses are familiar with darts on flat patterns. On the flat pattern, the dart looks like a "wedge". We fold the wedge, sew it closed and press the fabric flat. This makes the side seam shorter than the front. When worn, the front has a "bump" which accommodates the bust.

Knit short rows darts differ from sewn in darts, in two ways. We just don't knit the fabric inside the "wedge" outlined by the dart seams and we knit the dart closed instead of sewing. This process reduces bulk.

If you want to see a more dramatic use of short row shaping, visit the sock page. The bright red heels on the pink socks were knit with short rows; the entire ugly slipper is knit with short rows! Short rows were also used to knit earflaps on my earflat hat and to shape the jester hat.

How to design your darts:
To get this page to calculate the short row shaping:

Find he table " ENTER DART DESIGN DATA" just below.
If you don't know how to measure yourself, learn by clicking here.
Type in YOUR numbers in the boxes to replace mine.
You can enter numbers in any units. If you want to use cm, mentally substitute the word "cm" everywhere "inch" appears!
Then click anywhere outside the box.
If you are puzzled about a few entry boxes, continue to scroll down past the table, and read the advice.

The page uses JavaScript to automatically recalculate the numbers in all the boxes further down the page. Scroll down and read the instructions. The numbers in the boxes are YOUR results, and apply to your bust darts.

Design tips:

The first time you add darts to a pattern, it is best to use a simple stitch pattern, especially in the dart area. Avoid incorporating using darts with stitch patterns that create strong horizontal stripes.
You should generally find the dart row lands below the armhole row. If it does not, check your pattern carefully. If you've deepened the armholes a lot, reconsider. Are you doing this because your other patterns don't have darts, and this avoids ride up? I've never made darts above the armholes, so I can't tell you how that will look. But, feel free to try!

ENTER DART DESIGN DATA
Enter YOUR numbers in the boxes in this column: Stitch gauge: /inch. Row gauge: /inch. Measure bust depth: inches. (Note: the program assumes this sweater has a shoulder seam and this point is at the shoulder point, on the neck. ) Design chest dimension of sweater (not the wearer!): inches. Distance between bust points: inches. Shorten bust darts by: inches. Dart Depth: inches (See recommendations to the below) MKer's: Very last row in knitting directions: row (if known.) HKer's: Total length of sweater from cast on to bind off at top of shoulder point: inches.

Recommendations about depth of dart.

I am an A cup. So, I asked a number of people to recommend bust dart depths and received approximately 5 answers. Most people who knit darts tended to be large busted, I've listed their suggestions in column 2. I also consulted "Nicely Knit Lines" by Mary Louise Norman. Nicely Knit Lines suggestion are in column 3.

Cup size Dart depth
(email average.) Dart Depth
"Nicely Knit Lines"

A: 0.0" ( 0.0 cm) 2.0 cm

B: 0.5" ( 1.3 cm) 2.5 cm

C: 1.0" ( 2.5 cm) 3 cm

D: 1.5" ( 3.8 cm) 3.5 cm

DD: 2.0" ( 5.1 cm) 4.0 cm

Notes:

Because knitting stretches, it is best to make your first set of short row darts slightly less deep than fabric darts.
Ride up is aggravated when the sweater is too tight. Make sure you incorporated enough chest ease.
If you don't like my suggestions for dart depths, you could eyeball some sweaters you already own and see how much they seem to "ride up" in front. Make the darts that deep.
I assume the front of the sweater and back of the sweater are of equal widths. That is, if the sweater is 40" around, both the front and back are 20" across. If you have done something tricky like making the front wider, lie when you enter a value in the "Design Chest Dimension". The correct way to lie is double the width of the front!

Directions:

When writing instructions I assumed:

You are adding a dart to a pullover. The instructions create darts on both sides of the work.
You are knitting stockinet. (MKer will find adapting to other stitches trivial. HKers just need to learn how to adapt "wrapping" to other stitches.)
Machine knitters (MK) know how to "wrap" and set their needles to hold. If you don't know how to do this, read your machine manual.
Hand knitters (HK) use directions in the right hand side of the table below. Read the length from cast on, and ignore the row count. (Which is indicated RC.)
Machine Knitters (MK) use directions on the left hand side of the table below.
Everyone needs to follow the first direction!

Your short row dart will be stitches wide and rows deep. The procedure involves two more "seal" rows. These do not contribute to the "bulge" or extra length created by the dart.
ALL: FIRST DIRECTION
Starting at RC= (i.e. inches from cast on) form short row dart as follows:

Machine Knit:
Record row count. Set carriage to Hold (partial knitting) Set row counter to 00. COR.
* pull needles to
hold opposite the carriage. Knit one row. Wrap.* Repeat from * to * times.

* pull needles to
hold opposite the carriage . Knit one row. Wrap. * Repeat from * to * times.

All needles on each side of work have been pulled and each group wrapped.

Dart is now completed
Second to last row:
COR: Bring all needles in hold position on side carriage to upper working position. (That is, all needles on the left side of the machine are now in work.) Knit 1 row.

COL: Last row: Bring all needles on right side of carriage in work. Knit 1 row. All rows knit this time.

Dart is now sealed.
Set row counter to . (This should be 2 more than when you began.)

Follow all shaping directions using the row counts provided on the your original directions.

Hand Knit :
Start with knit side facing
* Knit across row until stitches remain on left hand needle. Bring yarn to front of needle as though you are going to purl, slip stitch. Bring yarn to back of work. Turn work. (This is called wrapping. )

Purl across row until stitches remain on left hand needle. Bring yarn to back of needle, slip stitch. Bring yarn to front of work. Turn work. (This is called wrapping but done from the purl side. )*

* Repeat from * to * times. BUT, increase the number of unworked stitches at each edge by each row.

Next:
* Repeat from * to * times. BUT, increase the number of unworked edge stitches by each row.

At time point, you should find that the stitches on each side of work have are not being knit.

Dart is now completed.

Second to last row: Starting where you are, knit all stitches to the end of the row. Turn.

Last row: Purl to the end of the row. (This time, you are knitting every stitch in the row.)

Dart is now sealed
After working short rows, Add inches to the length of the front for all future shaping directions. Measure length from the center of the work. (The edges will be shorter than the center.)

WARNING: DON'T flatten the dart when blocking! You want to keep the bulge for the bust.

Good luck,
Lucia

Cup size	Dart depth (email average.)	Dart Depth "Nicely Knit Lines"
A:	0.0" ( 0.0 cm)	2.0 cm
B:	0.5" ( 1.3 cm)	2.5 cm
C:	1.0" ( 2.5 cm)	3 cm
D:	1.5" ( 3.8 cm)	3.5 cm
DD:	2.0" ( 5.1 cm)	4.0 cm