WORK IN PROGRESS
A recent Ravelry post brought this topic to light. Using slip stitch settings makes the final fabric narrow and not stretchable. That said, there may be times when vertical columns of color would benefit the remaining design. This first experiment is on a Brother machine. The repeat used is for a simple 2X2 block 
It is programmed for 2 color knitting, set up for use with the ribber and color changer. The first KC row is from the right to the left, with color changes following every 2 rows. When the carriage is first on the left, the knit carriage is set to slip in both directions. In the tests the ribber is set to knit in both directions for the sample on the left, to slip to the left for the sample on the right. When the ribber is set to slip, the main bed only will knit in the corresponding direction, and floats will be created between selected needles on the main bed. The number of rows completed on the ribber are cut in half, the resulting knit fabric is more compressed, less elongated, and narrower 
A closer look 
The same repeat may be used to produce a tucked version. In many punchcard machines, a card is supplied with a 2X2 check. With the main color, in a suitable yarn, cast on for 1X1 rib. Set the knit carriage to tuck and the ribber carriage toknit. Knit 2 rows with the contrast color, followed by 2 rows with the main color, repeating for the desired length of the rib. Knit the last row in the main color with both carriages set to knit. Transfer the ribber stitches to the main bed to continue knitting single bed.
The repeat is suitable for punchcard machines as well. The first preselection row is toward the color changer, end needle selection is on. Cable crossings, 1 front, 3 back, are made every 4 rows except where the color reverses at the midpoint, where 4 all knit rows are preselected and occur. The fourth, extra non selected needle, X, is removed on a tool and held in front of the work. The three adjacent stitches are then also removed on a tool, moved to fill in the now empty needle to the left in the bottom segment of the repeat, to the right in the top half. The remaining held stitch is then transferred onto the newly empty needle. All stitches in the transfer group are brought to D, the remaining needles should have been preselected. If any have been disturbed, line them up as well so all the needles will knit with the carriage set to slip. 
The color is changed, and the row with the completed transfers becomes the first all knit row in the next color pair or rows. 
Working on a single bed is for me, more user-friendly than double bed. I like to program the width of my repeats when possible, they can then be treated as single motifs, the default in the 930 with downloads using img2track, and I do not have to rely on notes, memory, or position programming to place the work predictably on the needle bed. My full repeat
The knit carriage was set to KC I and to slip in both directions, the same design and execution methods were used as for the first swatch. The yarn is 2/18 wool, the tension was set at 4.., the slipped and crossed stitches pull the fabric in both width and height, the swatch was steamed and pressed to flatten it. Small eyelets occur along the edges where the single stitches were moved to one side or the other across three needle positions. It was not possible to produce a 3X3 crossing at the center of the shapes. 
Over time I have encountered illustrations of unraveled knit or slipped stitches being brought out to the purl side, creating thread patterns on the knit surface, and changing the color structure on the purl. This illustrates a slip stitch being created via a hand technique 
Here the dropped stitch is hooked up on the purl side 
In testing techniques, a simple design that is recognizable with the preselection of needles makes it easier to track progress and accuracy. Though these patterns may be executed in a single color, working in contrasting, bright yarn colors is helpful in isolating stitch formations and understanding their structures. More than one stitch may be moved at any one time. I found when using more than 2 rows of slip the ground fabric began to look gathered and distorted, so my tests are knit using 2X2 pixel blocks.
push tool back toward the needle bed 
insert a latch tool from behind between the prongs of the multiple eye tool, 
lift the floats over the eyes of the tool, placing them behind it and the slipped stitches, being careful not to hook them up onto gatepegs,
now lift the original slipped stitches back onto their previous place on the needle bed, they will be part of the first all knit row in the contrasting color; 
bring the needles with the restored stitched out to E, thus making certain they will knit as the carriage makes its next pass 
The pattern is charted below in development, color changes were planned every 2 rows. The third blank row in each slip stitch location marks the spot for the above manipulations to take place, noted in the chart with grey cells marked with pink dots. After the initial preselection row toward the color changer, only for the first all knit pattern row, push non-selected needles out to hold, E, to ensure all stitches will knit in the ground color. Subsequently, the first design row is part of the continuing repeat. The next color change will begin to form the floats. 
The sequence at the bottom of the swatch is off because I had a change of heart about which color I wanted to form the solid color shapes 
To my surprise, the process became oddly meditative, and I moved onto a different motif built with 2X2 pixel blocks. As seen with mazes and mosaics, a design intended for standard fair isle, tuck, or slip, with color changes every 2 rows, will produce an altered final shape, 
Combining hand techniques: the starting chart begins to address the movement of stitches. On the left, the placement of crossed colors is shown, but technically the design produced is different. On the rows marked with X and red cells, cable crossings are made. All stitches in that row are then pushed out to E, the color is changed and the result is that row and the preselected next one are going to knit on every stitch, those rows are highlighted with red cells on the right as well. Black cells reflect punched holes or repeat for a 24 stitch brick repeat
Two types of crossings were used in the swatch, one moving the elongated slipped stitches on the knit side of the work, the simpler process, 
A design with each color being crossed: the attempted visualization and repeat. 
The repeat appears to use slip-stitch in a vertical column, not ever possible in standard knitting. The explanation is that on those blank rows, crossings are made prior to knitting the next row. The chart on the left reflects the needle placement of each color after the crossings. All pattern needles are then brought out to E, maintaining the needle selection. Slipped stitches will have been replaced by knit ones in the alternate color.
The charted repeat 
A couple more ways to transfer those slip stitch floats to the front of the fabric: floats can be lifted on top of the needles that formed them and behind the stitches on them, a fine knitting needle or tool can be inserted through the stitches across the row, a few, or a pair at a time, being careful not to twist the stitches. In turn, the stitches can then be dropped off the main bed, held on the needle or tool, and be replaced carefully on the needles in question across the row. Crossings are then made, the proper needle set up is manually chosen for the next carriage pass, and the process starts over again. Folks who like lifelines could thread a ravel cord threaded through a needle and use them to remove the same stitches off the bed instead of the knitting needle. 
The charted repeats are for the red cable with the second spacing, illustrating options for cabling on row 7 or row 11, pulling needles out to E after making the transfers before knitting the last row of the design. Pairs of slipped and all knit rows are added to lengthen the distance between cables and to reduce some of the extra lengths in all striped areas 
This idea may work in a border or a trim as well. I did not test bringing the slipped stitches to the purl side. The chart shows adjustments in the placement of the repeat to make tracking crossings easier 
The actions taken
One more to try 
Another approach is to bring elongated stitches created manually up on the purl side. The resulting fabric will be more gathered on the knit side, with no formation of slip stitch floats, it is referred to as 
Proof of concept: the bottom half is knit using the slip stitch setting, the top half in the tuck setting. The added texture on the tuck stitch purl side makes the fabric a more interesting, reversible one, and wider than its companion. 
For a different way of working with two-color initial images using only Gimp, see tips in 
Numbers processing to ready the repeat for final gimp editing: 
Getting back to clearer pattern results: when using electronics, it is possible to create far wider and taller repeats for download. The technique to achieve them uses the same process. That said, there are quicker ways to attain the final repeat illustrated in the 2024 posts on using Gimp color to alpha through the Layer> Transparency option or Colors> Color to Alpha.
the isolated repeat, double-length 
the color separation in progress
When knit, that white cell pair of rows break up the overall shapes and shifts the pattern in the top and bottom half 
The final adjusted repeat 
knit using the tuck stitch setting in both directions, KCI, first row left to right, leading with the dark color 
and here with the lighter color 
In progress, on the km 
the relaxed, 3D-ish view on the reverse 
why projects can take longer than planned 
The finished, relaxed scarf with pressed edges only, retaining the conical striped forms
The repeat knit double length, changing colors every 2 rows, becomes something quite different, with a sharp curl to the purl side 
with my color changer in this threading sequence throughout
where normally each color in each design row knits twice. Because selection occurs for pairs of rows, the first preselection row is from right to left. To decrease the backing rows, the ribber is set for birdseye. I prefer to have an end needle on each end on the ribber, keeping in mind that the total number of needles in use there needs to be even. The machine provides reminders as to which color should be knitting. My samples are knit using KCI on the top bed. Because the preselection happens twice, it is easy enough to knit in pattern from left to right, 
when the carriages have reached the right side, simply use a ribber comb to push all needles back to B. 
Speeding things up with color separation, beginning with the method that will have each color, each design row knitting twice. The repeat is 10 rows high, so it is expanded X6 to 10 by 60 rows. In the final result, the second row for each color in the separation is in turn erased. The red was added to make all 3 colors visible while working the separation, avoiding confusion with the white ground. The knittable result as usual is in a black and white png 
The img2track settings are for now for 2 color knitting, the prompts for the color changes are lost.
The ribber can also be set to knit every row, resulting in elongation on the knit side, while creating an interesting striper backing
Comparing this version to the birdseye backed one for repeat height 
Comparisons: HoP, pushing back needles to B, and color separation results. In the latter, the design is likely elongated in part due to a change in the distribution of thinner yarns to larger design areas with no tension adjustments 
The Ayab lettering as opposed to numbers move from right to left. The manual states that the color separation order is: white C, grey B, black A with their sequence = C (3), B (2), A(1). If the prompts for changing colors as given are followed it provides a very valuable in tracking them, but if out of habit one knits in the usual 1,2,3 sequence, the color placement occurs in an unexpected order and may result in errors. The on-screen letter prompt corresponding to the anticipated color change sometimes occurs with the knit carriage on the right, sometimes as it approaches the changer, and the size of the font was hard for me to see since the screen was not close enough for easy visibility.
If the png is copied from the post it is likely to appear in RGB mode and it will require conversion to 3 color bitmapped. Its grey color map entry is seen below 
The small file makes for a quick test of proper color selection for each of the three colors used 
Having some idea of stitch counts for each color in the design in the first few rows can help identify proper, planned color placement errors 
My first swatch using the heart of Pluto separation and a greyscale motif 
My tested color change sequence is #1, #2, #3 colors throughout, I disregarded the prompts for color changes at the bottom of the Ayab screen. Some things to ponder: in pieces that require color changes, starting with waste knitting in the same colors can help assess the best tension, whether each color will be picked up properly, and if the colors work well together. Looking at these 3 small tests, it appears that a choice should be made when casting on about using color 1 or 2 for the preselection and cast on rows. If the setting to slip is forgotten for the first move to the left, the color in the feeder will knit every stitch rather than a pattern selection. Always check settings when on the right, making certain lili buttons are set as well. This pattern does not contain 3 colors on every row. In addition to that, when working DBJ with other color separations one is likely used to seeing knit bed needle selections on every row. That is not true here, is a function of the technique, not a patterning error. On rows that have colors missing, when that color is in use, the main bed slips, the ribber works every other needle, first in one direction, then the other, adding to the row count on the purl side of the knit. 
The mess at the bottom was due to the green yarn getting caught on the needle bed and not knitting the necessary stitches on the ribber, so dropped stitches were formed 
The assumption is that if the C, B, A rotation and prompts are to be followed, the middle color 2 can stay in place, and the placement of 1 and 3 can be exchanged.
a partial illustration of 
Text may be activated by choosing text in the image/ tools menu 
by clicking on the tool icon A in the toolbox 
or by using t as the keyboard shortcut, then clicking anywhere on the canvas.
At the top of the Text tool dialog, the current Text Size, 11 in above, is shown in either pixels or points. A pixel is the smallest component in a bitmap image, and all measures in pixels depend on the screen resolution. A point is a fixed value, one inch is the same as 72 points. Standard screen resolution is often 72 pixels per inch, in which case text in pixels will be the same size as text measured in points.
The choices listed at 
After the text is entered on the canvas, right-click on the inside of the text box to change text direction 
After the chosen text is placed change its mode from RGB to B/W indexed, then crop the image to your chosen size. Export.bmp, the result loaded into img2track and Ayab
The usual text alignment rules apply in text boxes as well, left to right 
Getting more control of the process: after the text tool is highlighted and clicking anywhere on your canvas two things appear automatically. The four little boxes represent the text box, which is dynamic by default and grows in size to accommodate typed text. Anytime you click on the canvas a new text box is created.
The spacing between the lines and between the letters may be adjusted as well. Clicking on the arrows to change the values here is one option, negative or positive numbers may be used 
or what appeared easier to me, the same may be done here 
Very small fonts are likely not to have any room for decreased spacing in the between letters in strings of text.
The units in many such illustrations are not square, and the goal is to end up with a PNG where each square unit represents one stitch, one row.
and alter the cell borders to a bright, contrasting color. I chose red, 3-point thickness. 
Copy and paste the completed table. Make certain there is a different color cell in any white squares at the far corners of the image, in this case, upper right and upper left (yellow), remove cell borders 
A quicker process using only Gimp version 2.10.34, 2023 
Proceed as for the first image, being mindful of an unnecessary row at the bottom. The saved image can be tweaked in size by turning off Constrain Proportions and adjusting values for width and height for proper placement under the table grid. It soon becomes evident that the card is composed of smaller repeat segments, which can be copied and pasted making for faster filling in the whole punchcard minimum row # requirement. 
Check the repeat alignment by tiling it. 
The smallest adjusted electronic repeat, 12X20 pixels. 
The converted, partial punchcard repeat 
2023: ArahPaint‘s weave from grid tool makes working with the full repeat possible. The final repeat was cropped by 2 rows at the top to 24X206 to avoid a 4-row solid color line produced when the original was tiled vertically.
if used, will change the numbering on the side of the card, but not the design content 
In the past I have found lace repeats, in particular, to be particularly cranky when scaled down in Gimp due to the paucity of black cells. After the above steps, I decided to try color invert, resize, and color invert again, which in this instance, produced what appears to be an accurate repeat. Of course, the final png is likely to need mirroring for use in some electronic models 
The process did not work for me in using Gimp alone to edit test repeats from the website directly. The white dots, in that case, disappear with scaling to the desired size.
2023: a different approach:
offers 4 punchcards for use with this technique 
I chose to work with #170. The lace carriage in the Toyota models operates from the right side rather than the left as in Brother. The direction of the arrows marked on the card actually indicates movements for the carriage operating from that side. That fact is taken into consideration planning a possible Brother punchcard repeat. Lace direction arrows are matched based on the punchcard image being mirrored horizontally. The card in its original version is imaged on the left, mirrored on the far right, the proposed Brother punchcard in the center 
The proposed Brother punchcard repeat is now expanded for use on the electronic machine, ready for converting to .bmp in Gimp. Numbers in the middle of the chart on the left helped keep track of repeat segments. I also used red dots initially to mark segments as I had completed in the expanded the repeat, then erased them
I expected something like this 
Regrouping: the easiest place to insert eyelets is in the dominant, background-color 
The 930 .png
A quick test: rows with no needle pre-selection will knit in only one color, end needle selection must be canceled before knitting to the other side 
Can the exchange of the color positions in the yarn feeder create colored shapes with eyelets on the white ground? not only does it not do so in a way I liked, but my machine was having none of it as well 
It’s good to start with a small repeat.
Taking it to continuous shapes and checking them in repeat: red cells represent transfers to the right, cyan ones the transfers to the left. The empty cells adjoining each of both colors represent the location of the doubled-up stitch after the transfer is made 
I like to check tiling for the repats along the whole process
Though the repeat is 24 stitches wide, it is not suitable for use on the punchcard machines in this format, its tiled test
The one area where the white got picked up with the contrast is not due to programming, but likely to operator error in “correcting” a dropped stitch 
Adding another contrast color stitch to shapes will make the number of stitches on either side of the eyelets consistent 
and with the addition of two blank rows at the top of each segment.
The possibilities are endless, with some patience, they can be manipulated to meet personal preferences and taste.
Working out an electronic repeat: the punchcard repeat is on the bottom, the expanded electronic one on top, yellow cells highlight rows with tuck stitches 
In electronic machines, the first preselection row may be done with the knit carriage moving from left to right or the lace carriage moving from right to left, with either carriage moving toward its usual starting position. The knit carriage is set to KCI for end needle selection. Before the LC begins to move from the left the first and last needle will have been preselected, push them back to the B position. Continue to do the same if any end needles are selected just prior to a transfer row as you continue to knit. Each carriage makes 4 passes throughout the piece. The bottom row of eyelets shows the “standard” size eyelets that follow single transfers, illustrating the change in size with this technique. With the proper tension, transferring is not a problem. I sampled on a random number of stitches. For cleaner edges, a border where no transfers occur for 2-3 stitches can be planned in programming the final piece.
Returning to Volume 4, here is a combination of lace and tuck repeat that appealed to me. I am repeating a process akin to that used in programming the 
The actions of the 2 carriages on the electronic, the repeat prior to mirroring 
mirrored for use on the 930 
The texture is more apparent on the purl side, the top and bottom edges could be coaxed into a wavy shape due to the gathering up of the knit by the tuck diamond shapes 
It has the added data on how each of the fabrics might look visualized in a chart prior to its expansion as a card in full repeat. This is the top half repeat of a card for pull up weaving combined with lace along with the directions for execiting the knit 
My experience with trying to knit 
Taking carriages on and off the same side of the machine is nothing I would be inclined to do for any length on any machine. In theory, the identical repeat above could be used on an electronic KM in that way, but I did not get very far with that method before giving up.
Volume 4 offers only this advice: “the empty needles are selected at the second lace pattern, but this is not a trouble, and you may pass the L carriage to the side which is indicated on the punchcard”. I take that to mean that after a transfer if the same needle is selected again, don’t be concerned, keep moving the carriage in the direction of the arrows. 
Because the weaving is for only 2 rows, the use of laid in, thicker yarn is well tolerated. The punchcard repeat amended for use on electronic, shown prior to mirroring 
