One of the things I really love about the Big Jimmy Jab jumper is how sneakily simple it is.

I say “sneakily”, because it looks like it’s going to be a bit of a fancy knit, what with that colourwork yoke and all. I’ll talk soon about how the colourwork is actually infinitely easier than it looks, but today, in the very first week of the knitalong, I’m going to talk about German short rows.

I’ve talked about German short rows before, see because I absolutely love them. I use them all the bloomin’ time, for all sorts of things. But in the Big Jimmy Jab, they’ve got a very simple purpose. And they appear early on in the knitting, which is why I’m talking about them now.

Short rows sound scary. What are they?

What short rows are is, in fact, not at all scary. The simplest way to explain them is this:

Short rows are where you only knit part of a row, before turning your work and knitting back the other way.

Not scary, see? You have to do a little bit of jiggery-pokery after you turn your work, but it’s the easiest jiggery-pokery you’ll ever do.

The point of that jiggery-pokery? It stops a hole forming when you go back to knitting across the full width of your work.

How do you work a German short row?

Handily, I’ve already done a little video tutorial on YouTube showing exactly how to work German short rows. So, when you get to that point in the Big Jimmy Jab pattern, watch it and you’ll know exactly what to do.

Plus the video features our dear old cat Matilda. So if I can’t entice you with that then…well. I’m not sure we can be friends.

What do the German short rows do in the Big Jimmy Jab?

They serve a very simple purpose – and one that you’ll find in a lot of sweater designs. Working these short rows at the back of the neckline raises that back neckline a bit.

Take a look at the start of my Big Jimmy Jab in the photo above. See how the circle of knitting is a bit thicker at the top than the bottom? That’s because of the short rows. They’ve added a lovely little wedge of extra fabric at the back of the neck.

And that wedge of fabric may seem unimportant, but it makes a big difference to the fit of your jumper. It has the effect of of creating a bit of a slope to the neckline, so it’s not coming up too high at the front and getting a bit uncomfortable on the neck.

And it makes it easier to work out which is the front and which is the back. Which is always helpful.

Want to join in with the Big Jimmy Jab knitalong?

It’s really easy to come join the fun. All you need to do is post a photo of your project with on Instagram with the hashtag #bigjimmyjabKAL

Everyone who uses the tag will get entered into a draw to win free patterns, with a big prize of a £35 voucher to use at lovely yarn shop No Frills Knitting.

The knitalong is running til the end of May, so you’ve got plenty of time to join in.