Striping in lace fabrics 1

Colored stripes combined with lace patterning can produce interesting fabrics. Many variants may be found in Missoni’s knitwear. At times the lace holes themselves may nearly disappear, while the stripes become distorted by the transfers, the change in gauge, and the creation of the holes, which in combination begin to create a bias direction in parts of the knit. Below is a simple sample illustrating some of the above points:

the working chart (Intwined)

the text for hand knitting created by the program the additional knit rows creating garter stitch in part of the pattern provide added texture in a hand knit, but are impractical in a machine knit

Rather than deal with working out the lace transfers for use with the lace carriage for my swatch, I chose to use a multiple transfer tool, and begin with a 7 stitch transfer as opposed to a larger number one. Below are some of the tools that may be used to hand transfer stitches in larger numbers than with the tools usually provided with KMs, a garter bar may be used as well

The image below  shows the fabric as it appears on its knit side. The bottom illustrates the repeat in one color. The red mark indicates where the transfers were made after knitting the first row of each color, the yellow indicates transfers made before each color change. In the former the “twist”  apparent as the transfer knitting is completed, has one yarn wrapping around the other. In the latter, the “twist is all one color”. The yarns used were a rayon and an acrylic, on standard km. If a color changer and lace carriage were to be used in combination, only the second option would be possible (more on that in a later post).

the purl side

Below is a hand knit sample with a wider repeat, adding garter rows. The yarn used was a worsted weigh wool on size 8 needles. Of note is the difference in undulation in bottom and top edges

knit side (red mark here indicates garter stitch row detail)

purl side

a possible use for this pattern might be a center or recurring panel in a wider knit

From punchcard to hand technique or hand knit

Emulating the repeat in the post Studio transfer lace knit on Brother 910  and Revisiting use of lace patterns Studio vs Brother machines

here is a chart for reproducing it as a hand knit, generated in Intwinedthe accompanying text generated by the programexecuting ssp from Knitters Brewing Company

I tried the pattern as a hand knit and had difficulty keeping track of the reversals of twists front and back, so I headed back to my more familiar territory, machine knitting, and to the bulky machine to make the number of transfers a bit more manageable. The repeat is 14 stitches wide, outside the range of an effective repeat for a punchcard, but with transfers every row there is another way to use a card that requires no punching. Observing familiar rules, and text or symbols that are meaningful to us for the particular project (ie also for racking sequences), the card is used for notekeeping rather than needle selection. The carriage is set to KC, set for normal knit, no cam buttons in use. Because no holes are punched, there will be no needle selection. The card is locked on row 1 as usual prior to the first row of any pattern knitting , set to advance normally, and in my scribbly version it reminded me of several things. Each pattern segment is 5 rows, with the dark stripe indicating the beginning of each new segment. The numbers on alternate sides show the number of stitches that need to be transferrd with the aid of tools,  leaving an empty needle that will create the hole, and overlapping stitches on either side of a center point in part of each motif. I worked with 2 repeats. On rows 1-5 as marked on punchcard, stitches were trasferred beginning on the right, toward the right side edge of the knit,  then following the remainder of the partial chart repeat. When the next segment of rows was reached as indicated by numbers appearing on the left of the card, beginning on the right edge again,  the first group of stitches was transferred away from the knit side edge, once again following the chart segment. As the lines of holes begin to show, it is easier to see the direction in which one needs to move as is the resulting pattern. The ridges created as the stitches overlap on either side of the center single knit stitch also can serve as guides in keeping track. I used no weights, just the opposite hand to pull and guide as needed. The number of moves is likely to require a looser tension than usual for any familiar yarn.the swatch, knit side, using worsted weight, tension 6its purl side

Studio transfer lace knit on Brother 910

Eons ago I had “saved” a random copy of a japanese punchcard pattern in the someday I will figure it out pile. I was attracted by its opennes and what appeared to look like ladders as well as holes in the small B/W photograph. I have more experience in knitting and understanding of lace now, and in the process of studio clean up and paper possible recycling I found my “future project” and thought I would “tackle” it

the card

As can be noted in numbered markings, the card is a studio lace card. In addition, between series of transfers there is a single blank row = a single row of knit as opposed to the 2 rows commonly seen in brother’s kms’ lace

my mylar repeat, with notes on R sidebar as to # of LC passes, rows knit

the method: with no repeat adjustments or conversions

I began with lace (LC) carriage on left (OL), knit  (KC) carriage on right (OR). Because a selection row is required for the first transfers row to occur, I added one row to each of the suggested lace pass sequences marked on the punchcard. The LC as a result travels an odd number of rows. It will begin on the side opposite from, and move toward the KC. At the end of each of the odd numbered row sequences it will reach the same side as the KC. At that point there will not be any needle selection. The LC is released from the needle bed, and the KC knits only one row to the opposite side and remains there. The LC returns to the bed opposite to the KC, and the sequence is below is repeated:

LCOL  9 passes, release 
KCOR knit one row to left 
LCOR 7 passes, release
KCOL knit one row to right
LCOL 5 passes, release 
KCOR one row to left 
LCOR 3 passes. release
KCOL knit one row to right 

I used a waste yarn acrylic for my swatch, which became scratchy, flat and stiff, losing any texture when pressed, and shrinking a bit so as to almost looking felted, yet another reminder  test small swatches fefore committing to larger pieces.  Here is the result

knit side

purl side

a new day, a different fiber, the joy of not noticing dropped stitches

“unblocked”, rayon yarna bit closer, after light pressing

for sample knit on 930 with img2 track please see later post 

Hand knit lace to KM: combining different meshes, alternative methods

This is a blog post I actually began working on in November 2013, and never quite completed. A Ravelry thread on a hand-knit lace to machine knit pattern translation made me think of it, so here are my working notes on one approach to charts designed for hand knitting that require transfers every row, with the intent to automate them for possible use with the lace carriage for transfers rather than working from a chart as a straight out hand technique.
The Japanese publication hand knitting chart

the hand knitting chart in Intwined

the HK instructions generated by the program to match the chart

the chart flipped horizontally for machine knitting could be achievable using LC on the right side of KM, which would require the method used in the previous post: elongation X2, 2 passes LC toward KC, followed by one row knit  A.

In this chart note the 2 cols representing opposite directions for transfers, not a physical possibility when using the LC

here the chart is amended, keeping like colors together on the same row, starting with LC on right,  LC 4 rows of passes followed by 2 rows knit

repeats can be adjusted so spacing matches more closely between motifs after swatching (B);  if the first row of transfers is to the left, lace carriage must make a pass to select from left to right, the second pass will transfer from right to left; in row 1 and 4 there are no transfers, rows 2 and 3 transfer selections from the previous rows; row four lets the LC return to its original position

knitting with the mylar: in transfers observed on the purl side of the fabric, facing the knitter: the lace carriage transfers selected needles in the direction in which it is moving on the needle bed; if first row transfers need to be transferred to the right, the lace carriage starts out on right for selection row, and will transfer to right on its second pass, from the left to right

moving things around for a possible brick layout

the mylar markings for selection from right to left: A and B, C from left to right

A is technically an incomplete repeat for continuous use, 2 more rows would be needed

that fabric swatches:  CBA

the tuck pattern Passap 1030 using the method of elongation X2 as described

the resulting mesh, with some yarn issues

Previous related posts:
2013/09/19/studio-simple-lace-on-brother-electronics/
2013/11/30/a-bit-of-seasonal-lace/
2013/12/05/lace-mesh-motif-charting_-mac-numbers/
and the previous posts on translating HK patterns for use on punchcard or electronic machines
2013/08/29/from-lace-chart-to-punchcard-6-to-electronic/

A bit of history on my swatches

I try to test any directions I publish in my posts, those swatches vary in size and fiber content, and I often add other pertaining specifics. I also taught in a design studio for a very long time, where the first 9 of 12 weeks were spent exploring stitch structures and techniques, and at least one wall in the studio was covered with new samples knit by me each week. Textured ones were knit in wool, a yarn with “memory”, and many of the larger swatches pictured are from that stash, some have been in “storage” for well over a decade, and they are photographed “untouched” in terms of steaming, pressing, etc. I am not a “photographer”, the shots are casual ones now taken with an i_phone.  Keeping images in constant size on the blog page sometimes plays with aspect ratio in terms of getting a sense of the actual finished product’s width or length. As for the colors used: because the knit studios were open to anyone enrolled, yarn was stored on shelves unless purchased by individuals for personal use. I got in the habit of using contrasting colors that were easily identified to avoid my demo cones from being used, and also found this helped define edges in design changes, with lighter colors more visibly illustrating how stitches are actually formed in the hooks of the needles. Any use of “my yarn” was immediately recognizable, and as an added plus the colors used also helped reduce disappearance of samples at any workshops outside the school environment. The swatches were intended as sprinboards for ideas, not to be used as they were for any finished garments or to illustrate completely resolved fabrics.