How to Knit a Wrap & Turn (w&t) — Short Row Tutorial

If you’ve ever followed a knitting pattern that called for short rows and felt a wave of panic wash over you, you’re in very good company. Short rows are one of those techniques that sound intimidating on paper but become wonderfully intuitive once you understand what’s actually happening in the fabric. Today we’re going to break down the wrap and turn method — one of the most classic and widely used short row techniques — so that by the end of this tutorial, you’ll feel confident enough to tackle any pattern that calls for it.

Grab your yarn, your needles, and a cup of tea, and let’s get into it.

What Are Short Rows?

Before we talk about the wrap and turn specifically, it helps to understand what short rows are and why we use them. In knitting, a short row is simply a row that you don’t knit all the way to the end. Instead, you stop partway across, turn your work, and knit back in the other direction. You repeat this process over several rows, gradually building extra fabric in one section of your knitting.

The result is a piece of fabric that has more rows in some places than others, which gives it shape. Short rows are used to create all kinds of three-dimensional effects in knitting — things like bust darts, shaped shoulders, curved hem lines, the heel of a sock, the crown of a hat, and the seamless construction of modern shawls and wraps. They are absolutely everywhere once you know what to look for.

The challenge with short rows is that every time you stop mid-row and turn your work, you create a small gap in the fabric right at the turning point. Left unaddressed, these gaps would leave little holes or ladders across your work, which is usually not what you want. The wrap and turn technique is one of the most traditional solutions to this problem. By wrapping the working yarn around the stitch at the turning point, you close up that gap when you come back to it.

What You’ll Need

For this tutorial, you don’t need anything fancy. If you want to practice before using short rows in an actual project, just swatch it up with whatever yarn and needles you have on hand. Here’s what to gather:

A skein of smooth yarn in a light or medium color is ideal for learning, because it makes it easy to see what your stitches are doing. Avoid anything too fuzzy or variegated while you’re still getting the hang of the technique. A worsted weight yarn is a great choice since the stitches are big enough to see clearly.

Your needles should match the yarn’s recommended gauge — nothing fussy about that. Straight needles work perfectly for practice swatches, and circular needles work just as well.

A tapestry needle can be helpful for weaving in ends once you’re done, and stitch markers are optional but useful if you want to mark your turning points while you practice.

The Wrap and Turn on the Knit Side (RS)

Let’s start with the knit side, since that’s where most people begin. You’ll often see this instruction written in patterns as “w&t” on a right side (RS) row.

Here’s how to do it step by step.

Knit across the row to the stitch where the pattern tells you to wrap and turn. Stop here — do not knit this stitch.

Slip the next stitch purlwise from the left needle to the right needle. You’re just moving it across without working it. Keep your yarn in the back as you do this, the same position it would be in for a knit stitch.

Now bring your yarn to the front between the needles, just as you would if you were about to purl.

Slip that same stitch back from the right needle to the left needle. You’re moving it back exactly the way it came. At this point, you’ve created a little wrap of yarn around the base of that stitch.

Take your yarn to the back again between the needles.

Now turn your work. The stitch you just wrapped is now sitting at the beginning of your needle on the other side.

Begin working back in the opposite direction. The wrap and turn is complete.

It sounds like a lot of steps written out this way, but once you do it a few times with your hands, it clicks very quickly. The motion becomes almost automatic.

The Wrap and Turn on the Purl Side (WS)

Now let’s look at the wrong side version, which you’ll see written as “w&t” on a wrong side (WS) row in patterns that specify it.

Purl across to the stitch where your pattern tells you to wrap and turn. Stop before this stitch.

Slip the next stitch purlwise from the left needle to the right needle, keeping your yarn in the front (as it would be for purling).

Take your yarn to the back between the needles.

Slip that stitch back from the right needle to the left needle, moving it just the way it came.

Bring your yarn back to the front between the needles.

Turn your work. Again, the wrapped stitch is now sitting at the beginning of your work on the other side.

Begin purling back in the opposite direction.

The purl side wrap and turn is the mirror image of the knit side version, and once you’ve practiced both a few times, you’ll find that your hands just know what to do.

Picking Up the Wraps

This is the part that trips up a lot of knitters, so we’re going to take it slowly. When you’ve finished all of your short rows and it’s time to work across all the stitches again — the full row — you’ll encounter those wrapped stitches. For a clean finish, you need to pick up each wrap and work it together with its stitch. This hides the wrap completely and closes up any gap.

Picking up a wrap on the knit side:

As you knit along and come to a wrapped stitch, use the tip of your right needle to lift the wrap (the little horizontal strand at the base of the stitch) from front to back. Place it on the left needle so it sits alongside the wrapped stitch. Now knit those two together — the wrap and the stitch — as one. This is sometimes written as “pick up wrap and knit together with stitch.”

Picking up a wrap on the purl side:

As you purl along and come to a wrapped stitch, use the tip of your right needle to lift the wrap from the back. You can also use your fingers here if that feels easier — just reach around and grab the wrap from the back side. Place it on the left needle next to the wrapped stitch. Now purl those two together as one.

One thing to note: sometimes a stitch gets wrapped twice if it was at the turning point during two different short rows. In this case, you pick up both wraps and work them together with the stitch — all three strands at once. It can feel a bit bulky for a moment, but it closes the gap just as cleanly.

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Even experienced knitters run into little hiccups with the wrap and turn. Here are the most common ones and how to get yourself sorted.

The wrap is on the wrong side of the stitch. This happens when the yarn ends up in an unexpected position before you slip the stitch back. Go slowly and double-check that your yarn is in the correct position (front for purling setup, back for knitting setup) before you move the stitch back to the left needle. If you notice the wrap looks twisted or is sitting oddly, you can usually tink back (that’s “knit” spelled backward — essentially unknitting one stitch at a time) and redo just that part.

There’s still a gap even after picking up the wrap. This usually means the wrap wasn’t picked up, or it was dropped before being worked. Take a close look at the area around your short row turning points. You should see no visible gap or hole. If there is one, you can sometimes use a crochet hook or tapestry needle to gently tighten up the surrounding stitches and redistribute the yarn.

The wrapped stitch looks puckered or pulled. If picking up the wrap feels very tight, it may be that your wraps were worked with tension that’s a bit tighter than your main fabric. Try to keep a relaxed, even tension when you wrap, and if needed, loosen up your gauge slightly at the turning points.

You lost track of where your turning points are. This is very common, especially when you’re working a pattern with several rounds of short rows. Using stitch markers or a row counter helps enormously. Some knitters also find it helpful to place a removable marker right next to each wrapped stitch as they create them, so they’re easy to spot when they come back around.

When to Use Wrap and Turn vs. Other Short Row Methods

The wrap and turn is just one of several short row techniques. Others include the German short row (also called a double stitch), the Japanese short row, and the shadow wrap. Each one has its strengths, and knitters tend to develop preferences over time.

The wrap and turn is the method you’ll see most often in traditional and older patterns. It’s also the one most knitting teachers introduce first, because the action of wrapping is very intuitive — you’re physically securing the turning point, which is easy to understand conceptually.

German short rows tend to leave a slightly cleaner join with less effort when picking up, so some knitters prefer them for projects worked in stockinette where the short row joins will be highly visible. Japanese short rows use removable markers or safety pins to secure the turning point, which many knitters find very precise and tidy.

That said, the wrap and turn is genuinely beautiful when worked carefully, and it’s more than capable of producing seamless, invisible short row joins. Many professional knitters and designers use it exclusively throughout their entire careers.

Practice Project: A Simple Short Row Swatch

The best way to get comfortable with the wrap and turn is simply to practice it. Here’s a quick swatch you can knit to run through the technique several times before using it in a real project.

Cast on 30 stitches. Work four rows in stockinette — that’s knitting on the right side and purling on the wrong side. This gives you a stable base.

Now work your first set of short rows. Knit 20 stitches, wrap and turn. Purl back 10 stitches, wrap and turn. Knit 12 stitches (you’ll pass the previous wrap — pick it up and work it together with its stitch), wrap and turn. Purl back 14 stitches (pick up and work the previous wrap), wrap and turn. Knit to the end of the row, picking up and working the final wrap as you pass it. Purl all the way back, picking up the last remaining wrap.

Now work four more rows of plain stockinette and look at your fabric. You should see a gentle curve or bump in the center area of the swatch, with no holes or gaps at the short row turning points. If you can barely see where the short rows happened, you’ve nailed it.

If there are a few small imperfections, don’t worry at all. Short rows take a bit of practice to get perfectly tidy, and even the results of knitters who have been doing this for decades aren’t always picture-perfect every single time. Blocking your finished piece will also do a tremendous amount of work to even out the short row joins.

Short Rows in Real Patterns

Once you’re comfortable with the technique, you’ll start noticing short rows everywhere. Here are just a few places you might encounter them.

In sock knitting, the heel turn is often worked using short rows — either the wrap and turn method or one of its cousins. Short rows create the curved cup shape that fits around your heel without any seaming or grafting.

In garment knitting, short rows are used for bust shaping, shoulder shaping, and neckline shaping. When a sweater pattern says “work short rows to shape shoulder,” the wrap and turn is often the specified method.

In shawl knitting, short rows are used to add wedges and sections of color or texture in unexpected places, or to create the overall curved shape of a crescent shawl.

In hat knitting, short rows can be used at the crown as an alternative to decreases, creating a different kind of structured, rounded top.

In any of these contexts, the wrap and turn works exactly the same way. The pattern changes, but the technique stays consistent.

A Few Last Tips

Always read through the entire short row section of your pattern before you begin. Short rows often come in paired sequences, and understanding the full arc of what you’re doing — before your needles start moving — helps you stay oriented.

Count your stitches carefully between short row turns. It’s easy to miscalculate how many stitches you’ve worked, especially when you’re also keeping track of picking up wraps. There’s no shame in using a row counter, stitch markers, or even a little tally mark on a sticky note.

Be patient with yourself on your first few attempts. The wrap and turn has a reputation for being confusing, and that reputation is earned — but it’s also earned its reputation as a technique that suddenly clicks and never really confuses you again after that. You’re learning something that will serve your knitting for the rest of your life.

And remember, if your short rows don’t look perfect when they’re fresh off the needles, blocking is a powerful tool. A good soak and a gentle reshaping can transform a piece and make those short row joins virtually invisible.

Short rows open up a whole world of shaping possibilities in your knitting. Once the wrap and turn is in your toolkit, you’ll find yourself reaching for it all the time — in sweaters, shawls, socks, and everything in between. It’s one of those foundational techniques that pays dividends for years to come, and I genuinely love watching knitters have their “aha moment” with it.

Happy knitting, and as always — if you get stuck, slow down, look closely at your fabric, and trust the process. Your stitches will tell you what’s happening if you give them a chance.