The Invisible Aviatrix: a how to on short rows

I have absolutely fallen in love with the little Aviatrix baby hat by Justine Turner. So much so that this tutorial was made from hat #4 that I've knit. The hat is geniusly constructed utilizing short rows to shape the head and a cute miter for the straps.

One thing I found though, while working out the short rows, was that while it didn't really matter how you worked off the wraps when using a variegated yarn, if you used yarn that was a solid color, the short rows were really obvious if not worked a certain way.

The following tutorial and videos were how I worked my short rows (specifically the wraps on the wrong side) to be as invisible as possible.

Working off the wraps on the right side short rows was simple enough. Slip the stitch purlwise, fully unwrap the stitch, slip the stitch and wrap back onto the left needle and k2tog (the stitch and the wrap).

In the video I work 1 wrapped stitch, 1k, 1 wrapped, 1k

Working off the wraps on the wrong side short rows is a bit more complicated.

First, work to the first wrapped stitch. Slip the wrapped stitch knitwise.

Fully unwrap the stitch


Pass both the stitch and the wrap back onto the left needle


Purl two together (the stitch and the wrap) through the back loop

In the video I work 1p, 1 wrapped stitch, 1p, 1 wrapped st, and 1p

Lastly, you have 2 short rows per section that are worked in knit stitch on the wrong side. Here's how I worked those.

Slip the wrapped stitch knitwise and fully unwrap the stitch like before.

Insert the left needle into the stitch and wrap as if to slip back but instead, yo the right needle


Work the stitch and wrap over the yo and off the needle

In the video I work 1 wrapped stitch, 1k, 1wrapped stitch, 1k

Update: I forgot to show you what this looks like in the end. Here's the side of the hat that had the ws wraps. It's not complete but you get the idea. And here's a linky to my Rav project page where you can find the other Aviatrix's I've made.