Color Separation for Knits – Page 2

Bowknot aka butterfly or dragonfly stitch in more than one color

There has been a resurgence of interest in this stitch in the FB machine knitting group and discussion exploring a variety of methods for creating it. The inspiration, taken from a commercial sweater-knit: For some single-color variations see Bowknot/ Butterfly stitch on the machine and No longer a mystery pattern.
I program repeats whenever possible, and find it useful in eliminating errors, particularly in longer pieces. My first experiments for this fabric were conducted using the fair isle setting, which is essentially a slip stitch automatically working 2 colors with each pass of the knit carriage single bed.
Slip stitch patterns with hand-transferred stitches, single bed explores some of the methods for bringing slip stitch floats to the knit side of these fabrics, which is part of the hand techniques necessary to achieve the colored versions. As with any knit fabric yarn qualities, color contrasts, and tolerance for proper stitch formation are all variables.
For vertical columns in 2 colors, it is only necessary to program a single, fixed row with a punchcard or electronic, or choose any pixel-based repeat akin to this with full pairs of alternating stripes. I like to plan with selected needles at each end of the sample With the machine set to FI, needles not selected will knit a ground color, while selected needles will knit the color in the B feeder. It is easier to manipulate the slip stitch floats from purl to knit side if working in the non-selected groups of needles. Having the columns in odd numbers of stitches makes it easier to handle steps that require finding the center needle in each group if one is wanting to maintain symmetry. In my first test, I manipulated only the selected groups of needles to work the float movements, leaving the floats from the other color undisturbed, which makes the process far more convoluted than it needs to be. In this and the subsequent sample, I manipulated the left and right-hand pairs of floats moving them to the front of the knit, leaving the choice of what to do with the remaining center floats. In A they were brought up on top of the center needle in E position before knitting the next row. In B they are lifted into the hook of the needle and brought out to the B position so that the stitch is knit in color 1, while in C the remaining single stitch floats are simply left alone. In a couple of spots the yarn split, getting hooked up creating bleed-through, and what would result in an issue if that happened on the group of floats that were to be moved. As stated, the process is easier and quicker working on non-selected groups. Above, the yellow yarn was thicker than the blue. To maintain proper color selection in the non-selected column, the center needle needs to remain in the B position, with the slipped stitch forming floats below it before the next row knits. If the needle is brought out to E, it will knit in the contrast color, forming floats in that color on the purl side, and a knit stitch in what was planned as an all-solid column on the knit. The results are seen at the top of the first sequence in the swatch. I chose to limit my number of floats to 4 to keep the process manageable, moved stitches on the left of the center needle to the front of the knit, and then followed with those to its right. One of the many things to explore in hand technique fabrics is finding a way to handle tools that may be more comfortable than others, practicing on single blocks of color first can help establish that. Below both yarns are equal in weight and thinner. The floats formed by the color in the B feeder are also hooked up on the center needle in each vertical group in that color, forming a pattern on the purl side as well. The needle position for selection for B feeder yarn also needs to be maintained. Bringing the needle out to E ensures it will knit on the next pass. In both of my tests, the slip stitch floats on the knit side lie more horizontally than the lifted-up floats on the purl. Other ways of working the fabric, along with a history of the FB thread offered by Claudia Scarpa including a single bed slip stitch version with an English downloadable PDF http://ratatatata.it/dragonfly/.
Her youtube video illustrates a different way of managing floats than mine.
JuliKnit offers 2 videos knit on Silver Reed 1, and 2. Both are knit using the ribber, the first method uses holding to gather loops on each of the beds, and the second begins to address automation for needle selection on the top bed using DAK, with the selection on the ribber remaining manual. The stitch illustrations generated in DK offer knit stitch simulations such as these Executing her versions on a Brother machine requires some interpretation. The fabric is constructed using the ribber in conjunction with the main bed. The vertical columns are 5 stitches wide.
Colors are worked one at a time. If a color changer is to be used, an even number of rows would be required for each pattern segment. For 4 floats followed by an all-knit row, the repeat would be 5 rows high, so one consideration would be operating with the second color from the right, requiring free passes. Studio machines release the top of the knit carriage at an angle from the bottom, so that explains the move seen in the video for the carriage to be moved to the right. Brother machines use the slip stitch setting in either or both directions, to achieve that. Using both buttons avoids any confusion. All needles in use must be in the B position for the “free pass” to avoid dropped stitches. The number of rows gets adjusted in the videos eventually to 6.
When working on the top bed, the ribber is set to slip both ways.
For those unfamiliar with Studio settings a brief review: the Studio SRP60N ribber introduced the option for knitting emulating the lili selection in Brother. The grey plastic piece on the left of the studio ribber, the autoset lever, when cleared would essentially duplicate setting Brother levers to slip manually in both directions, clearing it again would return it to knit. Cast on either EON or EN rib. Transfer needles in a 5X5 rib beginning and ending with a single needle in work on the ribber on the far left and right, setting up the initial needle arrangement for the fabric. Black dots represent needles in work on both beds, and the red ones the initial needles that will be worked in the holding position on the top bed. The video knits each color for an even number of rows. Bring the first and last needle into work on the ribber before knitting each row. The remaining stitches are knit only on the main bed. The knit carriage is set to knit, the ribber to slip in both directions. Pick up the chosen color on the left, and knit for an odd number of rows, when the carriages are on the right, push held needles back to work position so they will knit on the pass back to the color changer. The ribber knits the next color. A review of the Brother ribber carriage for those not familiar with it COL: the main bed will now slip in both directions, set it accordingly. The ribber only knits. The center needle on the top bed that held the butterflies is transferred down to the ribber, illustrated in the red dots over black ones. The center needles in the blank areas on the ribber, blue dots, are brought up to hold, the ribber levers are set to knit in both directions, holding levers are set to hold in both directions as well, knit for an odd number of rows, with carriages on the right, push held needles back to work position so they will knit on the pass back to the color changer. COL: the knit carriage changes back to knit settings, and the ribber slip setting in both directions is restored. The center stitches that formed ribber butterflies are transferred up to the top bed, and needles at the center of the blank areas on the top bed are brought out to hold. The color is changed, and the process begins again. My first efforts were met with dropped stitches after a few rows and expletives. My second effort fared no better, I simply could not avoid dropped stitches on either bed, perhaps because of my yarn choice and the small tension it required. Working on the single bed once more, using the slip stitch setting and knitting one color at a time, I achieved a fabric more similar to the original photograph. The chart reflects the number of needles in my test swatch, with a 2 knit stitch border added on each side Each color knits for 4 rows. At the end of each 4-row sequence, the non-selected needles allow for manipulation of the floats. The transfers in the piece begin on row 5. Before the next row is knit in the alternate color, the slip stitch floats are reconfigured, bringing stitches 1 and 2, 4 and 5 in each group to the knit side of the fabric, leaving the center floats undisturbed. Bring the whole group out to the E position so they will form knit stitches with the first row of contrast as the carriage moves to the right. Knit 4 rows. The carriage will once again be on the left unless 2 carriages are in use from opposite sides. The center needle in each group of 5 will be left unselected. Lift floats up onto that center needle, and bring it out to E position so that it will form a knit stitch in the next color to be used. The final result is closer to the original

Slip stitch patterns with hand transferred stitches, double bed

It is also possible to create solid color patterns on the purl side on a striped ground by at first transferring all stitches down to the ribber, then, in turn, using slip stitch selection on the top bed to choose only the stitches that will be manipulated on the main bed. A similar repeat worked on the single bed, may be found in the previous post on Slip stitch patterns with hand transferred stitches, single bed. And a relative, including a double bed version: Bowknot/ Butterfly stitch on the machine, and: A no longer “mystery pattern”.
When working over a striper backing, the color changer is generally in use, and changes happen in even numbers of rows. In my test swatches changes are made every two rows, and whether single or double bed, the color yarn creating the solid color shape needs to not knit while the alternate color is worked only in the background. The held stitches grow in length.
End needle selection is canceled in my samples. The extra needle selection prior to the next all knit row helps track the direction of the moves, stitches are moved three at a time, there are no cable crossingsThings do not always “work”, that is part of the process The next step for me was to explore cable crossings on elongated stitches working double-bed. A basic pattern on any programmable machine for playing with elongated stitches on one bed while knitting every stitch on the other is to program pairs of blank rows followed by solid punched or black pixel rows. The yellow line in this chart illustrates the row on which cabling might occur. Programming the width of the needle bed allows for only the stitches forming vertical columns in chosen locations to be put into work, allowing one to place groups that will involve crossings anywhere on the chosen pattern width. A base is knit in the ground color, which slips for 2 rows on the main bed, creating the elongated stitches that will be cabled. I had no problem with 2X2 cables, but as in working on the single bed, for me, straightforward 3X3 crosses were not cooperative, even when I attempted to introduce extra knit stitches on the sides that were then dropped for added give on the last slipped row, taking me back to the drawing board. Cabling, returned to in a later post, with adjustments, making things work. Continuing with shapes on striped grounds, this is the result of a self-drawn pattern The approach is different than in the blog post on Brother shadow lace, rib transfer carriage, where shapes were created in only one color, and the textured patterns by bringing needles in and out of work on the ribber. To create the striped ground in the above, color changes happen every 2 rows. The ribber knits every needle, every row. With the ribber on half-pitch, the transfers are all made from the main bed needle to the needle immediately below it and slightly to its left.
In the chart on the left, the green cells represent black pixels that will be programmed for patterning on the top bed, red cells, the stitches on the top bed that need to be transferred down to the ribber on the respective row.
Grey cell rows stand in for all blank ones in the final repeat. This design is too wide for punchcard machines, but the fabric is possible there as well in different widths, isolated or all over. After casting on, all stitches are transferred to the ribber. Border, plain knit stripes can be added by simply having a larger number of needles in work on the ribber than the planned pattern width. With no needles selected in the pattern on the top bed, those ribber stitches will simply knit every row.
These fabrics are a little different than those with needles out of work on the main bed while using the slip stitch setting, in which case KC II on electronics, end needle selection needs to be turned off on all models. When all needles are in B position, depending on the pattern, KCI may be used. Simply using KCII eliminates any guesswork.
The first preselection row is toward the color changer with the knit carriage set to slip in both directions, only patterned area needles need to be in work. Non-selected needles, as usual, perform no function while those corresponding to where black pixels or punched holes occur will pick up loops on the top bed, initially creating eyelets, and then continue to form knit stitches until any of the corresponding stitches are transferred down to the ribber. The pattern yarn forms a short stitch in one direction, an elongated one in the other. A detailed close-up of stitch formations Plain striped rows in areas without the design continue to be knit in the slip stitch setting, or every needle in work on the top bed will pick up loops.
When hand manipulating stitches it pays to be mindful of maintaining all needles in the pattern in B position, not accidentally sliding them back to A. In the past, I have attempted pile knitting on my machines. Studio machines produce the best fabric in the category, I have read Toyota performed as well. Books such as this are a good source for pile designs, including the card repeat used in my proofs of concept Punchcards, in theory, may be used as given and set to double length, while for use in electronics drawing the pattern single height and using the double-length setting is also an option. Starting sides and fixing errors have always been more confusing for me when using the double-length feature, I prefer to punch holes or program pixels as I intend to knit them. The isolated reduced repeat for use in the electronic is charted, with an initial one-pixel error in 2 consecutive rows, marked with red cells. In transcribing any design, it is worth checking repeats multiple times after eyeballs and brains have had a rest. This was my start:
The design process using Numbers before exporting the repeat to Gimp for reduction to B/W png: in this approach, the repeat is drawn double height to start with. The red cells represent stitches that will be transferred down to the ribber before knitting the next row in the pattern color from left to right. The first test is of an isolated motif. The yellow arrow points to the pixel error, the cyan to the positions where some needles in the full repeat were “accidentally” placed in A position, not B, resulting in pattern stitches not being formed. Another review of the original card, a final adjustment in the repeat: Tiled view, committing to the result, the larger test swatch Two other options for charting the fabric in numbers: A. draw the repeat as given
B. starting cell size used was 20X20, change the height to 40
C. mark corner blank cells and screengrab for Gimp import
D. the repeat processed in Gimp matches the first version
Any simple Fair Isle repeat may also be used. The numbering in the charts matches what is normally seen on the left edge of the tables
A. the FI repeat, 8 rows high
B. a table slightly longer than double the repeat height, hide even-numbered rows
C. copy and paste the FI design on the table with hidden rows
D. unhide rows, isolate the repeat, adjust cell height, and continue to process as described above

The original punchcard design may be used in a different manner if the goal is a single color fabric. The design may be copied as is, then filling in the blank lines with the same holes or pixels as in the row directly below it. Here, in addition, the repeat is altered to accommodate a half drop repeat on the right with a few pixels changed. My initial proof of concept is 32 stitches wide, narrower than the full repeat The rows need to be scanned before every pass, as transfers to the ribber are not symmetrical due to the shapeshift on the right of the design. The world of possibilities grows even further for single color shadow lace, when, examining the same design, one recognizes that the pile knit card, with the blank rows filled in in pattern, is the same as the fair isle version of the repeat, rendered double long Some authors have suggested plaiting as an alternative to creating shapes with true brioche, which can be complex. To my mind, plaiting falls in the beauty being in the eye of the beholder category, I prefer far crisper color distinction in my knits. This sample from the previous shadow lace post uses thick and thin yarns Using the image adapted from the studio pile card once more, I tested using 2 yarns of similar weight, the adjusted test repeat: its accompanying test swatch

I have long been interested in pleated knits, both single and double-bed. Working single color or with plaiting makes the repeats easier for DIY designing. Seeking proof of concept for possible “origami” pleating: on the left, yellow marks the spots for transfers to the top bed, which will create folds out toward the knit side. For folds toward the purl side, stitches are manipulated on the ribber, with the final design repeat shown on the right. The ribber carriage is set to knit throughout. The needle from which the stitch is transferred to the main bed is moved completely out of work. After the transfer, the main bed needle accepting it is returned to the D position.
The knit carriage is set to slip in both directions, end needle selection is canceled. Subsequently, non-selected needles, 1 in the photo, serve as guides for transfers to the ribber, made every two rows. The needles emptied from the transfers need to be maintained in the work, B, position. The selected needles, 2 in the photo, will pick up loops automatically, creating eyelets as seen in previous swatches. The swatch would have benefited from tighter tension or thicker yarn, the folding effect is greater than reflected in the photo. Initially, those pairs of center stitches were not transferred up to the main bed, showing the absence of that fold when that action is omitted. Any of these patterns benefit from deliberate planning of the placement of the pattern on the main bed, not done in this instance. Transitioning to smaller repeats, tiling will help avoid patterning “errors” as seen here where the full diamond shapes reverse Graph paper or spreadsheet planning will help avoid misses in necessary transfers in areas where all needles have been selected the file for multiple repeats after color reverse the test knit as using transfers as described above and here the empty needles creating the eyelets were filled by picking up the purl bar from the stitch below on the ribber. A lot of work for a change that is not significant in the structure of the fabric. In my last test on eliminating holes and how that affects the degree of the folds, transfers to fill in newly selected needles on the top bed were made from below the adjacent needle on the top bed, B, as opposed to immediately below on the ribber, A If patterning is used to track transfers, needle selection on the top bed needs to be maintained throughout, the result of this process is not interesting enough and just too fiddly and time-consuming for me to be interested in exploring it further There is an interesting scale and depth of fold comparison between this version and the first using the repeat, achieved by tightening the tension as much as possible, and possibly by reducing the size of the eyelets.

Exploring manipulations with more than one color patterning on the main bed: there is a type of DBJ that relies on knitting the same color for 2 rows that is inherently different from the KRC built-in separation that is the default in the Japanese model machines. It causes elongation in the design, while the KRC version minimizes it. The differences and methods of the corresponding color separations have been discussed in other posts. Stitch manipulations may occur when working DBJ as well. Simple designs make the best start for beginning to explore the topic An easy variation is to plan full repeat segments mixed with a striped ground worked only on the ribber Take care if copying and pasting single columns to alter a repeat width that the whole column is indeed copied and that if using the pencil tool flood fill is not used unintentionally. The original intent was also to correct the elongated slip stitch segments on the edge of the programmed vertical designs marked in blue, but the paste with errors in red accomplished creating the same issue The design is programmed for DBJ. Because of the color separation used, the first preselection row is from right to left. Before knitting the first pattern row, all 10 non-patterning needles on the main bed were transferred down to the ribber. The first segments were knit using striper backing, with the ribber knitting every stitch, every row, in both colors. When a slip stitch is used with needles out of work on the main bed, end needle selection should be canceled. In A it was not. The result is that end needles alongside the out-of-work column knit with each color in each row. In B, end needle selection was canceled, and one can now see the elongated slipped stitches that result from areas that should have been marked with the contrasting color As long as the number of stitches on the ribber is even, lili buttons may be used, affecting the scale of the pattern in both height and width. In A, they were used with the ribber set to slip in both directions, in B, set to tuck in both directions. C marks the return to the N/N setting, with needle transfers to mark a possible pleat. The initial pleat idea charted out for single stitch folds, stitches transferred to ribber in the R columns, to the top bed in the T columns The result is a fairly soft pleat, the choice below was to retain end needle selection. Various ribbed pleat configurations are explored in Pleats: ribbed, folding fabrics. This repeat may not be the best to use for a variety of reasons, but experimenting while using the same design and yarns can be useful in understanding stitch formations. Theoretically, the alternating direction of folds should create sharp or knife pleats. folds up as Paired transfers in the planning stages: because the repeat is small and has a single center pivot point, it is rendered once more, adding columns Here the transfers planned to opposite beds are marked on a 48 stitch repeat with red cells.
The resulting fabric relaxed on the left, lightly steamed on the right Note: the color positions in the design have been reversed from those in the first swatch. If “floats” are noted at any time in the spaces where needles are out of work on the ribber, look for dropped stitches.

Vertical bands of color, even in patterns may be transferred to and from beds to achieve a sort of intarsia effect. One option is to work with vertical bands of fixed color, using the KRC built-in separation. When shifting gears it is useful to remember the starting side for the preselection of the first row of patterns. With many of the previous patterns, designed for color changes every 2 rows, starting side was on the right, toward the color changer. With KRC in use, the first preselection row is away from the color changer on the left, moving toward the right. With either method, starting on the wrong side will knit stripes as opposed to planned patterns. Needles in locations where only the backing is to be shown are transferred down to the ribber. Leaving the eyelets, they were transferred back up to the main bed when brought into work to reverse or change the shape. Addition and subtraction of stitches take place before the next pass with the alternate color. Here movement is random, to get some sense of the effect, it could be made deliberate by following a chart or color separating and automating the pattern, with its starting side on the right. This sample is from a much earlier post. Transfers could be made less frequently to change the angles in the resulting shapes, always onto the same color What of having shapes appearing in each of the 2 colors on a striped ground? Eliminating some of the guesswork I used the repeat from a previous single-bed blog post on block slip stitch color separations The repeat, 32X44The resulting sample, the yarn is thin, might have benefited from tighter tension and more contrast. These fabrics and related shadow lace ones fall in the category of double bed embossed patterns, many more variations are possible, and deserving of their own post.

Mosaics and mazes charting meet Numbers, GIMP 3

If working in Numbers, the solution to doubling the height of the final repeat for mazes or mosaics may be achieved by simply doubling the height of each cell prior to screen grabbing the table and processing the resulting image in Gimp. Here the cells for a single repeat in the table on the left are copied, pasted, and altered from 20X20 pixels to 20X40Working in 1800 magnification, using rectangle select, every other pair of rows is chosen and then color inverted. B: the process continues for the height of the repeat. Until each new pair of rows is selected fully, the last color inverted pair is bordered in a dotted outline C, useful in tracking the last worked location. As the subsequent pair of rows is selected fully, the dotted border will disappear. The processed repeat Its tiled visual check 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 Gimp update for Mac2.The process used on the beginning repeat, redrawn in 2 colors and then, in turn, elongated X2 or drawn double long to start with, tiled to check alignment. There are 2 options for altering colors in 2-row segments to achieve the separation, the first is color invert, the second is value invert, found in the colors menu. Both require color filling in of cells so as to obtain the final BW image, the value invert option, in this case, would require only filling in the green to white, but in managing larger images I believe having the additional colors make the process easier to track accurately. The color invert option will substitute a third color and white on every other pair of rows. Flood fill the original color 2 on rows containing black pixels with white, then fill color 3 pixels with black on rows containing white pixels: The mazes that are often seen in game-playing, puzzles, historical sources ie in Chinese design references, may not work out for knitting with this method, the result can be quite muddied. I recently found a new to me online maze generator http://www.ludiculus.com/maker/mazes.html. Changing the pixel width by default also doubles the image in height, making smaller designs for knitting problematic This was a quickly drawn maze using it, shown with its cropped repeat on the right, then tiled. Numbers processing to ready the repeat for final gimp editing: The repeat when tiled predicts muddied results which are noticeable in the knit swatch. Because of the side-by-side areas with multiple white cells, the slip setting is used, not tuck. The single slipped lengthened stitches do not produce an easily recognized secondary design on the knit side 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.
A new working repeat, 38X34 pixels: its tiled appearance My starting table in numbers with hidden rows, beginning to isolate a smaller repeat 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 When I tiled my next draft, I decided I preferred a cleaner join at the center 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 formsThe repeat knit double length, changing colors every 2 rows, becomes something quite different, with a sharp curl to the purl side

Img2track_multiple colors per row dbj, each color knitting only once

I have recently shared a post on using the heartofPluto separation in Ayab to knit a DBJ 3 color sample where each color was not represented in each row, with each color knitting a single height. Img2 track at this time does not offer a built-in similar option. There is a FB thread going on at the moment on this topic that can be followed there, Tanya Cunningham has shared a document on this topic. I am using the same repeat as in my Ayab tests, with my color changer in this threading sequence throughout
The import into img2track shown here for the traditional 3 colors per row setup,
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. The next color to be used is preselected as the carriages travel back to the left, change color when on left, and repeat.
It is easy enough to develop a rhythm. I used to tell students some things are made easier if one develops a tune to play in one’s head as a series of actions. Here I found myself thinking “knit to right, erase (selection), knit to left”. I had tension yarn issues on the right which explain some of the issues on the side edges and changed color 1 to blue for increased contrast. The proof of concept: 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 color-changing sequence used was still 1, 2, 3. The design with a birdseye backing The ribber can also be set to knit every row, resulting in elongation on the knit side, while creating an interesting striper backingComparing 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

Revisiting Ayab_multiple colors per row DBJ 2

If using Ayab on an iMac with M1 chip see suggestions for running the program at the bottom of later post arahpaint-and-gimp-in-knit-design-3/
From Chris Burdge, a video tutorial on using HOP following program prompts and default color placement. The pattern used, available for download from the author, is quite different from my tests in that it is completely surrounded by a white border, the default first color choice in the separation The ABC color changer markings in letters reflecting yarn positions and color-changing sequences were used in the Studio brand, as opposed to numbers, in the reverse sequence, used in Brother. 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.

It has been nearly a year since my last post, Ayab_multiple colors per row DBJ 1. I previously also shared information on using HOP for drop stitch lace.
Last week I tried a 3 color HOP pattern, which failed because my mid-tone grey was not within the proper palette range. I work on a Mac and found that with the latest Gimp update several details have changed, and formerly saved palettes were lost. Regrouping, working with colors, and intending color change selection sequences in the familiar right to left, 1, 2, 3 methods, this png includes the grey shade that worked for me 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 It is not necessary to have images in greyscale to load them into Ayab for separation, but having the repeat shown that way can help with placement of the yarns in the changer.
I like to have as many factors predictable as possible prior to importing into download programs. Importing color images depends on the placement of individual colors in the palettes. An explanation found online is that Ayab needs a pattern image which is 8-bit greyscale. Each color is coded in a range of the 8-bit values. For 4 colors, it would be 0-63 color A; 64-127 color B; 128-195 color C; 196-255 color D. It seems to be OK to give the image some color, so long as the gray component of the colors divides up as given. I began to explore a pattern using 3 colors, with one of the three colors absent in some rows 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 To achieve this an easy count of the blue and red can happen watching preselection on for the first couple of rows ie blue knits 4 stitches, while red has counts of 7 except at the sides My first swatch using the heart of Pluto separation and a greyscale motif I like to work out color placement as well as repeat scaling adjustments if needed. This png in, indexed to 3 colors, was opened in Gimp, my primary design tool, and imported and saved as a palette A different color placement, using the saved pattern colors. With no white in the first couple of design rows, the lighter color is selected first. The actual 11 X 10 motif, can be opened in Ayab. Action R can repeat the image in height if desired, but a must is to repeat it in width that is equal to or greater than the number of needles in work on the needle bed, here it is repeated 3 times in both height and width
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. In a test with marked color placement, the arrow marks the spot where 2 color threads were picked up together so that the white was carried across the row along with the green repeating the color placement test following 1/light, 2/medium, 3/darkThe 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.

The difference between the same design knit with a color separation where each color in each design row knits twice elongating the shapes, and its HOP version, both with birdseye backing

Numbers and GIMP: online punchcard patterns to electronics 1

My blog is a live document.
At times I return to previously published posts and there have been software updates in the interim, and/or my familiarity with using multiple tools has grown.
I preserve the contents of the original post, they reflect where I began and the evolution of my approach to learning software navigation with specific design goals in mind.
At times some small additions are made to the body of the old post, at others, dated post scrips point to later, perhaps easier or quicker methods to achieve the same goals.
____________________________________________________________________________________There is a Russian website with a treasure trove of machine knitting patterns, some for 12 stitch models, and extensive collections for 24 stitch models including for fair isle, lace, and single motifs.
There are pull-down options to show the full repeats charted for Silver Reed (default), Brother, and Toyota brands. The numbering system on the right of the cards will be shifted to the appropriate starting line, but the images themselves do not seem to adjust the placement of the punched holes when that is necessary for correct knitting when switching to other knitting machine brands.
The collections begin with the longest repeats. One such repeat

I had never had an interest in owning DAK, though never say never, I did purchase the program when my knitting software was switched to a Windows PC. From the promotional material and forums, it would appear their Graphics Studio offers an interesting range of design possibilities in converting such files.
My experiences with the program have been chronicled in related posts.
Those of us who are Mac and Gimp users need not be left out, the conversions are achievable with the investment of a bit of time and patience.
The charts as presented often cannot be successfully converted to the indexed mode and scaled in Gimp to produce readable patterns.
One long solution is to combine the use of a spreadsheet table, in my case created in Mac Numbers, with Gimp design options.
Prior knowledge of the basics of both programs is required.
I assume similar steps could be used with Excel.
A follow-up post on this topic: Numbers and GIMP: online punchcard patterns to electronics 2.
It is easier to test how-tos beginning with a source diagram that has larger, more readable dots representing the punched holes. This was found on Pinterest, dimensions for both stitches and rows are not always provided. 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.
The cell size I prefer in Numbers tables has come to be 20X20 pts.
This particular design is 24 stitches wide, and 60 rows high.
To make it workable in that cell size, the repeat is opened in Gimp, cropped to its margins, scaled to 240 X 600 pixels, and the new image is exported. In Numbers, drag and drop the image onto a new sheet if working on a previously created Numbers document. Click on the image, and then on format/ arrange to resize it to the desired proportions, A table is then created, 24 cells wide, 60 high, each measuring 20 pt by 20 pt, with total measurements of 480 by 1200 pts. Resize the image if needed to match the table size, in this case, to 480X1200. The size may be adjusted by using the up and down marks to the right of the size option or typing in desired values in each window followed by the return key, more accurate control than simply dragging on points at the corners of the imported original. Turning off constrain proportions allows for added tweaking of the size if needed.
On the left is the first table image, including extra rows to check for stitch and row numbering, and to its right, the resized punchcard pattern. Select the whole table 24 cells by 60, by clicking on the circular symbol at the upper left, and alter the cell borders to a bright, contrasting color. I chose red, 3-point thickness. Move the table over the punchcard image or its mirror if needed.
The arrange option may be used to place either in front or back of the other. Dragging the table using that circle on the upper left corner will place it directly on top of the design.
Select individual cells or cell groups by using the command key and releasing it periodically, to fill the cells with color. The repeat in progress 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 1. screengrab a larger area than the repeat
2. open the screengrabbed image in Gimp
3. choose Image, Crop to Content, to eliminate any extra surrounding cells
4. fill any contrasting color, in this case, those yellow cells, with white
5. choose image/mode/convert to indexed B/W colors
6. proceed to scale the image. In some instances, this needs to happen in 2 steps, the first scaling to make certain both values are divisible by 20, and the second to scale to the desired repeat size of 24X60
7. prior to saving the PNG for download, magnify the file to at least 800X, and with the grid in view, perform the first visual check. Then, using filter-map-tile, repeat the design in height and width multiple times to check its horizontal and vertical alignments as well as to visualize how it might appear in the intended project. A quicker process using only Gimp version 2.10.34, 2023 One needs to have a basic understanding of punchcard illustration markings, and often the repeat required for the use of the design in electronics may only be a very small portion of the total offered in the publication. The extra rows represent perforations that are not part of the design and may be cropped off in Gimp. The image of the repeat on the left is what began the FB discussion, while the one to its right illustrates the same after making the marks more visible. Making the marks more visible is possible by changing number values as well as by moving the slider immediately below the input levels 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 in turn can be copied and pasted making for quicker work in filling in the whole punchcard row requirement. Check the repeat alignment by tiling it. The smallest adjusted electronic repeat, 12X20 pixels. The far longer repeats might best be managed broken up into sections. An easier, quicker solution is presented in later posts.
This is part of #6717, shown in the process of trimming unwanted info in Gimp and after adjusting color levels to create a sharper image. 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.
Returning to the use of Numbers and Gimp: what of the lace punchcard repeats? There seems to be no differentiation between the different types of lace on the Russian website: thread lace, simple lace where stitches are knit and transferred in a single pass (a Silver Reed/Studio special), and lace requiring the use of 2 separate carriages, one to knit, and the other to transfer are all grouped together. In addition, the pull-down menu and changing machine brand selection,

if used, will change the numbering on the side of the card, but not the design content The conversion process intended for the final use on the Brother machine: the image on the far right shows a review of the proper placement of pairs of empty rows between lace segment sequences, highlighted in grey 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.
Using resize X 2 with color invert and back with a Stitchworld #150 pattern image got me closer to an editable lace repeat using Gimp alone, worth considering in the future. 2023: a different approach:
Left: the image from the Stitchworld book measures 26X64 cells
it is slightly tilted, the angle has been rotated for better results, and cropped to the borders of the actual design repeat
Center: the cropped image measures 442X846 pixels, it is scaled with a broken chain link first to a multiple of the original, since the output will be on a square grid, not a rectangular one, in this case, to 260X640.
Use Colors, Threshold, followed by Image, Mode, convert to BW Indexed
Right: Image, scale again with intact chain link to the final 26X64 size, export the PNG With experience, one learns to trust the process.
A proof of concept for the final PNG matching the original is not in any way necessary but is offered here for this particular file or simply for reference.
Work in RGB mode, select and click on the rectangle tool after any steps to make changes to fix the layers.
Select edit, and undo to revert to any previous step(s).
1. open the initial cropped and rotated image, note the pixel proportions
2. in a new work window, open the final PNG, and scale it to the same pixel dimensions as 1
3. select all black pixels, and bucket fill them with red
4. use layer, transparency, white background to alpha, making it transparent
5. copy 4
6. paste 4 on 1, note that pixel placement for the final repeat matches that for the black squares on the original chart

Lace meets FI on Brother machines

Very little has been written on this topic.
The easiest method to produce the eyelet and fair isle combination is to create ladders in spaces between vertical FI motifs. The end needle selection is canceled. The swatches show the transitions in the development of the final design

Susanna in her Machine Knitter’s Guide offers a version knit in combination with the ribber on page 218, and a small amount of information on single bed versions on pp, 220-221.
Before any DIY, I like to start with a published pattern. Toyota, in this volume, 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
The Gimp magnified punchcard repeat in turn in need of mirroring for the .bmp to be used in the 930the resulting fabric Observations and settings:
The knit carriage is set to FI patterning for the knit rows, the typical floats will be created. Commonly, when floats are wider than 5 pixels, anchoring the longer ones may become a preference or even a necessity. This would add time to an already complex fabric. Each FI design row is repeated twice.
The transfers in this design are made on the yarn in the color in the B feeder. I began my swatch using the light color yarn, failed to switch its position to the B with color 2 for the shape in A, accounting for the dark stripe at the swatch bottom
If KCI is used, end needle selection will be made prior to the lace carriage passes. Those preselected needles will have to be pushed back to B position by hand prior to using the LC or they will transfer on one side and drop on the other.
In this pattern, the LC operates for 8 passes, followed by 2 rows of FI throughout the piece. The first preselection row is made with the KC from the left as it moves toward its home on the right.

What of DIY? From working on the repeats for transfer lace combined with weaving, I understand patterns beginning with transfers to the right rather than the familiar to the left, are shortened considerably and carriage changes may be made as often as every 2 rows, saving many carriage passes. In order to understand the choices that need to be made, I began with a lace transfer pattern, thinking I could add contrasting color shapes in FI. I expected something like this however, the swatch had issues. The eyelets were not occurring in the same spot in both directions, the color transition at the repeat intersections was clumsy Regrouping: the easiest place to insert eyelets is in the dominant, background-color The 930 .pngA 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 Coming up with a better plan resulted in the following repeat. The transfers are made in the wanted direction on the purl side of the fabric, so their location becomes easy to check and identify during knitting. In this exercise, they will be placed in the center or the previously knit fair isle rows. Magenta cells marking the doubled stitch after transfers to the right, the cyan one the doubled stitch after transfers to the left. The two blank rows at the top of the design will knit in the background only. Building the repeat in Numbers: the eyelets within the shapes in the contrast color need to begin and end with a pair of FI rows. They are placed taking into consideration the black cell blocks immediately below them, not the ones directly above It’s good to start with a small repeat.
A: one may begin with a planned repeat, in this case, 20 rows in height
B: create a table at least twice the planned height or start with a long template that in turn will have half its rows hidden. Holding the command key select every other pair of rows beginning with 2 blank ones at the top of the table, and hide them. The location for the options to hide and unhide rows and columns: C: Once the rows are hidden, the black cells are filled in
D: the repeat is tiled to check its alignment
E: the hidden rows are unhidden, I like to add colored cells as shown to ensure proper placement of eyelets
F: place black cells for stitches to be transferred where desired
Previous posts describe the steps to isolate the repeat as a screengrab and importing it into GIMP. The grab is cropped to content, image mode to indexed, scale to the proper size, mirror for use on the electronic if needed, save, and use the final image to download to the knitting machine for testing.
The first pair of rows are knit in FI, so the preselection for design row 1 is from left to right. The KCI setting will bring end needles out to D prior to lace rows, those needles need to be pushed back to B position prior to moving the LC from left to right. Continue with switching carriages every 2 rows. This repeat is 20 rows high. When knitting the last 2 rows, no needles will have been preselected, except for first and last. Push them back to B for those two rows, so only the color in the A feeder knits, and the preselected needles do not drop off the bed. The second color does not need to be removed from its location, but in executing a wide piece of knitting, the extra yarn pulled down from the tension mast as the knit carriage makes its passes may cause issues. If the yarn is removed and held aside, be sure to place it back after the 2 passes with the ground color so as to avoid forgetting to do so prior to resuming patterning using 2 colors per row. 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 and .pngThe 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 Adding lace shapes in the ground can follow the same concept The repeat does was not planned as a continuing pattern, but here it is knit and repeated in height X 2 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.

Mosaic and maze inspiration from additional sources

Reviewing properties of both: maze patterns have long vertical and horizontal lines broken by regular gaps and the pattern lines change course from the vertical to horizontal, and vice versa. Maze cards can be identified by completely punched row segments, some alternating with every other square marked for two rows, usually geometrically shaped. Areas of stocking stitch produce horizontal colored stripes, and alternating pattern stitches that slip or tuck cause the vertical stripes, which are sometimes pulled nearly diagonal by the influence of tuck or slip. The fabric will be unbalanced because the number of needles slipping or tucking will not be the same on every row. Odd rows usually form 2 color horizontal stripes, even rows vertical stripes, with color changes occurring every 2 rows.
Mosaics have a brick arrangement (tessellae), with clear perimeters and cores, and stepped diagonals (frets) that are partially formed bricks, their positive and negative spaces are created by the use of contrasting colors. The stripe sequence is not as obvious. The punchcard does not resemble the original design.
In single bed work, the reverse of the fabric will show the original design in the texture of its slip or tuck stitches. There usually will be no floats longer than one or two stitches.
The knit side may look like a fair isle but the back lacks any long floats, hence the name “float-less fair isle”
The row gauge is compressed. Tuck fabrics are short and wide, slip ones tend to be short and thin. Some patterns elongate in washing. The tension used is usually one number higher or more than that used for stocking stitch for slip patterns to reduce their narrowing. Tuck knitting may need adjustments to lower tensions. Smooth yarns in contrasting colors are the easiest to establish an easily recognized test pattern, the choices that follow may then be far more personal.

After a while repeat units begin to become familiar. Pondering possibilities: Here the design knit as a fair-isle pattern would produce long floats, going through the steps of converting it for “floatless fair isle” proves of no benefit.

I previously wrote about the use of weaving
drafts as inspiration for other textile techniques, ie. knitting.
Endless published drafts may be found online or in books that might be interpreted for use with mosaic/maze single bed knitting. Having electronic machines available lifts restrictions in pattern width, while repeats too large for narrow items such as scarves may become useful for shawls or blankets. One such repeat, with .pngs shown for both single and double-height:

This repeat is 36X36 before being lenthened X2

A different sort of challenge was posed by this 18X18 image with a row shift in areas with a large number of both filled-in or blank squares. As one moves up its magnified version in Gimp it becomes apparent that a row will have a very long float in one of the two colors. One option is to skip that row, resulting in the green gridded repeats for the converted motif both shown both for single and double length. The result in the knitting test swatch produces an unplanned color shift which could be declared to be a design feature, or one can continue with editing the inspiration source. Repeating the separation process with a new graph produces a workable cousin to the original Generally when creating these patterns on Brother machines, patterning selection varies for each pairs of rows. I got distracted while making the above swatch by a phone call, got to the point where there is a very obvious solid black all knit row in the repeat, but “forgot” its presence. I assumed I was having a selection or a carriage issue and scrapped the knitting off. Note to self: “remember to always check the programmed design before you do that again in the future”.

Mosaics, mazes, and DBJ charting meet Numbers, GIMP 2

Please see the post Gimp Update for Mac 3 written in December 2022 for a simpler and quicker method of color separating maze/mosaic repeats using only Gimp and related swatches.

I shared some working methods to achieve these color separations in 2019/06/29/mosaics-and-maze…numbers-and-gimp/. Mosaics and Mazes came on my radar once more recently, Numbers and Gimp have both been updated, and a few more ideas have occurred to me for managing the necessary color separations. The process as described here assumes that there already is some comprehension of GIMP and a spreadsheet’s basic functions. These are 2 more samples from Barbara Walker’s book on mosaics, offering the repeats in both 16-stitch wide and 24-stitch versions.

It is always a good idea after isolating the repeat to tile it in order to get a sense of how multiples line up

I was lazy about doing that with the first version of the colored repeat in Numbers and got the result in this swatch due to a missing black cell

The second try, see edit below to amend another missing cell

Beginning with the long method to create the design repeat in the color separation suitable for elongated dbj: the built-in color separation in most Japanese machines for DBJ (179 and color reverse in Passap) will knit each color in each design row only once, as happens on the single bed in knitting fair isle, which in turn is far quicker to knit in that setting than by using slip stitch with color changes every 2 rows. The first preselection row is from the left to the right, the first color knits once before colors are changed every 2 rows.
The dbj color separation that knits in each color for each design row twice begins with preselection from the right and continues with color-changing every 2 rows. The produced image will be twice as long as the original design, not desirable for keeping the aspect ratio as close to the original as possible, but a necessity in creating some alternative types of fabrics.
To start, create a table, making certain that cells are square and equal in size, height, and width. I prefer 20 X20 or more when working with small repeats.

The zoom factor can be adjusted, increased for more visibility, and reduced prior to screen grabs that are planned to be further processed in Gimp. At less than 75% while creating charts, adding numbers or text, and sometimes changing the qualities of individual cells is harder to achieve. Large-size images may be scrolled through during the formatting process

The working design repeat is 16X16. Create a new table that is 16 cells wide, twice its height, 32. While holding down the command key, select all the odd-numbered rows planned for the final chart repeat, any errors can be corrected by clicking again on the same spot, still holding the key down. The process may be done in steps, releasing the key in between selecting groups

Choose the hide rows option, hiding 16 rows,

Fill in cells the chosen 2 colors

Add a column to the table. It will be colored, select the column and choose the no color fill option for it, then resize far wider by clicking and dragging the symbol

at the upper table right to allow for copying and pasting the full repeat more than once.

Select the chosen repeat in 2 colors, copy and paste it to its right. The rows are re-numbered in the new “chart” thus providing a new set of even/odd-numbered rows. On the new odd-numbered rows, select by holding the command key, choose black squares on each now odd-numbered row, and used no color cell fill option to render them white. Release the key at any point to work on gradually selected groups of cells. If there is an error, while still holding the command key click on the individual cell or cell group again to erase the action, continue the process. Again, holding the command key selectively, on even-numbered rows add colored cells immediately above any empty cells in the row below. It could be done all in black, but for me, that becomes difficult to keep accurate when separating large repeats. With some familiarity with spreadsheet creation, this can be fairly quick work. Copy and paste the table content once more. In the new table holding down the command key, on even-numbered rows change colored squares to black resulting in the repeat on the far right. The latter in turn will need to be doubled in height once more prior to knitting the final fabric, whether in the software or by the machine in the downloaded design

To produce the .bmp file: copy and paste only the BW portion of the above table once more. Using the cell format option, remove all interior borders,

and if you prefer an outside guide, add an exterior border

try zooming at 75% zoom, screengrab the table content, with an added blank border surrounding it, and import the result into Gimp. Choose crop to content, which will eliminate the extra white space around the image

The final image needs to be double-height, so using the scale option choose image scale to 16 by 64 using the broken chain link prior to entering your numbers. These were my steps in scaling, I always check one more time for image size prior to saving. That is reflected in the last pair of numbers, with the now intact chain link symbol

When I first used Gimp I devised and explained this method for mosaic color separations in prior posts. The expectation in working with such repeats is that on any rows there will be no more than 2 white squares marked side by side. On odd-numbered rows in the separation, the contrasting color squares slip, while on even-numbered rows the black squares slip. On odd-numbered rows, the main color (black squares) knits, on even-numbered rows the contrast color knits.
I think of row one/ odd rows as needing to knit black squares, row 2, and even rows having to knit white squares rather than marking in the traditional manner for slipped stitches on each row. I now have found a far quicker alternative to color separation for mosaic knitting using only GimpWorking on the black and white indexed repeat, using a magnification of at least 1800X. Using the rectangle select tool choose every other row beginning with the second one in the chart. That row will be highlighted by a white dotted line. Choosing will swap black and white cells in that row. Continue the process on every other row. It is not necessary to select the tool each time, as you advance and select the next row, the one just left remains briefly outlined in white dashes, making it easier to advance correctly in the design.
Import the black and white table, process as described, scaling for my final image to 16X32: This repeat posed by a quandary. The file may be used as-is and doubled in length after download. For doubling the height in Numbers, prior to importing the final screengrab into gimp, please see post: 2021/01/27/mosaics-and-mazes-charting-meet-numbers-gimp-3/
Because of my personal preference for not using elongation when knitting pieces in these techniques, I tested doubling height in Gimp with no success at all. However, I was successful in doing so using 2 paint programs, both available for free download for Mac. The first has an amazing range of features, including the illustrated resizing options https://www.arahne.si/products/arahpaint/

and https://paintbrush.sourceforge.io/downloads/, which allows for scaling by percentages or pixels Comparing the results for the elongated repeat, errors in the first are obvious, there should be no white squares anywhere repeating for more than 2 rows Proof of concept December 2022: knitting the above again intending to share the result in Instagram, I noticed that 3 stitch/ row color block, which did not bother me at the time, but with the float showing behind the wire, I went about inserting that center cell. The red pixel in the image on the left marks the trouble spot. The remaining images illustrate using my latest Gimp separation method to rework the original png: comparing the final result to the one in this post:
The new file prior to lengthening X2, double lengthReturning to 2020:
A review of a design from 2012/10/15/mosaics-and-mazes-from-design-to-pattern/, separated this new way the repeat charted in Numbers tiling for viewing the repeat alignment revealed errors that will result in missing colored squares in the final fabric, which may not be noticed until after eyeballs have had a rest. The amended repeat was color-separated working in indexed black and white and shown compared with the punchcard Here the final .bmp repeat is also compared with the color image in the previous post. It will need to be doubled in length for use with the color changer, the first preselection row is from right to left. End needle selection will ensure that each color knits the first and last needle on each side of the piece. The double-length repeat, 24X56 Another very quickly separated repeat copied from 2015/10/03/working-with-generated-mazes-charting-1/

adapted for maze knitting, eliminating long floats, to be lengthened to double-height drawn double-height via a paint program Because there are no more than 2 white squares on top of each other, and no two side by side, I tested the pattern in tuck stitch, which produced some added texture. I had a major aargh moment with yarn where dropped stitches are seen at the top of the swatch Using the maze generator by Laura Kogler, the larger BMP newly created with the program was imported into Gimp, explored in two renditions, eliminating double lines in the one on the right The proof of concept swatch for the version on the right, knit in tuck stitch the double-length BMP ready for knitting, 14X68

Designing your own motifs in expanded graphs: start with a template for either of the 2 grids shown below, and fill cells in or remove them. Remember these charts, unless knitted as a machine or software-separated dbj, will require a careful color separation. Beginning ideas for motifs, borders, and alphabets

A collection of previous posts on this topic in reverse chronological order
2019/06/29/mosaics-and-maze…numbers-and-gimp/
2015/10/21/working-with-gen…-gimp-charting-2/
2015/10/03/working-with-gen…mazes-charting-1/
2012/10/15/mosaics-and-maze…design-to-pattern/
2013/05/06/mosaics-and-mazes-drawing-motifs/
2012/10/15/mosaics-and-maze…design-to-pattern/
2012/09/22/mosaic-and-maze-…-on-the-machines/

Single bed tuck and slip stitch fabrics 2: adding color

Any tuck repeat may be used in the slip stitch setting. The results for “safe” repeats executed in slip stitch may not be very textural or dramatic.
Though at times presented in color, the same patterns can be very effective in single colors as well.
Prior to testing multicolor patterns, I like to start the work with waste yarn, testing color changes there first, making certain colors are threaded properly, not crossed, and that the color changer is set up properly.
The Brother single bed color changer is unique, in that the yarn remains in the changer, not leaving it with each color change; its manual
In the absence of a single bed changer, some fabrics may be knit with the ribber up, using the double bed model. This is the only option available for the bulky machine. There is a limit as to the amount of tucking that can be achieved successfully since the ribber arm does not have the system of wheels and brushes that help keep loops and stitches in place single bed. Manuals

Instructions from the Brother single bed color changer manual

For Studio/ Silver Reed

Punchcard volume collections are a great place to start to search for published repeats and subsequent DIY inspiration.
One such is Brother volume 5 Since the knit carriage needs to move to and from the left-hand side of the machine with each color change, an even number of rows in each repeating segment is recommended, but not necessarily required. The first preselection row is generally moving from right to left. End needle selection on helps the edge stitches knit. At times end needles will need to be pushed forward to knitting position by hand. Depending on how the repeat is placed on the needle bed, with some experience with a tuck or slip stitch, one can decide whether keeping the end stitches in the pattern creates a better effect at vertical edges. Analyzing 2 random repeats The respective .bmpsAs with all punchcards, the first and last 2 pairs or rows are not part of the design, they are necessary for the punchcard to roll continuously in the drum. Keep in mind that the card is reading design row one while your eye sees the row marked #1 by the factory on the card outside of the machine. Following the suggested color changes to match the specific swatch takes the guesswork out of the equation. In DIY or in trying a different color sequence, such guides may have to be shifted and marked accordingly. Specific color suggestions are given in the samples above in the left-hand columns. In #327 the order is in a variable sequence, which requires a bit more attention than #328. Follow the line below the #1 mark to the left, each card begins with color 1. Color notations in 328 are also next to those 2 all punched rows at the top. That is because those 2 rows overlap the first 2 design rows as the ends of the card are clipped together, front over back, for smooth, continuous, advancing movement. In 327 the sequence at the bottom would need to be hand-marked.
Before tackling patterns with moving components, these charts begin to analyze color changes in a ready punched or self-designed card which produces a honeycomb-like effect. The chart colors used are random picks from the palette, for illustration purposes only, illustrating areas where color changes may occur. The tuck/slip stitch held in the hook of non selected needles gets elongated and comes forward on the knit side, creating vertical lines in the color that is not knitting. The blue highlights the row where a single stitch, single row tuck or slipped stitch is created and the corresponding positions of the yarn on the knit side of the fabric Four tucked rows is probably the limit on Brother machines unless one is working in fine yarns. In the first interpretation, the ground knits for 2 rows on all preselected needles. In the second, the surrounds of the interior striping knit for single rows only at the top and bottom of the repeat. Electronic repeats A and B on the right may be as small as a single 4X12 unit.

The same card may be used, altering the color-changing sequence so the ground that will surround the tuck or slipped stitches changes as well. Using the same card would require a pattern start on card marking row 2, and an initial preselection row from the left to the right Keeping the 4 tuck row maximum the blocks of knit stitches between tucks can be varied, as can the movement of the vertical bars. The card repeat on the left would preselect from the right, while the repeat on the right would preselect from the left. So the card on the right is already punched, and instead of changing the colors outlining the shapes, one wants them constant and with a start from the right? The workaround is to advance the card to the last row in the full repeat, #36, lock the card, and preselect toward the color changer continuing to change colors in 2 then 4-row rotations after releasing the card. Tiling the repeats multiple times as with any pattern helps isolate areas where color changes might work as well as give us a sense of pattern movement across the fabric. With so many tucked rows so close to each other, it is best to use thin yarn. For slightly thicker yarn, one possible “fix” might be to simply eliminate one of the 3 tuck bars across the repeat, again check tiling for any errors, or places for color changes. Here the shift is not completed, some tuck bars were not eliminated the “corrected” repeat without additional rows, some possible color changes can follow the colored chart suggestions Moving on to electronics, playing with symmetry the repeat now becomes 30 stitches wide, the tiled image check for the unaltered version on the left. The repeated adjusted two different ways in height to accommodate color changes in a few different spots Working with repeats with tuck or slip bars that are only 2 rows high make for easier use of a range of yarn thicknesses. There are some surprises to be found when color changes are made as often as every 2 rows, sometimes using up to 4 colors. The extra all knit rows may be eliminated altogether.
Beginning with a pattern that has large areas of black squares can help one understand what happens to the design as that knit ground takes on color striping in the same frequency as the color changes. The yarn used here is a 3/8 wool, making the fabric a bit stiff. The repeat is a larger cousin of card #327. Before the days of software tiling methods, on way to check repeats was to knit them up as Fair Isle. The large floats in this made it not its best use, the floats were sometimes caught with the companion color or looped. Had the long floats been consistently free, they could have been cut for a fringed look on the purl side and would have held in place well. Tuck knit in a solid color Slip stitch in all variations has purl side edges which curl to a greater degree, the short skipped areas were probably due to too tight tension of too quick a carriage pass to the opposite side tuck alternating two colors every 2 rows slip stitch 2 color variation slip stitch with the addition of a third color in the rotation The associated punchcard: Some patterns using color rotations every two rows are referred to as mosaics, mazes, or floatless fair isle. They can be deliberately designed, but there are treasure troves of working repeats in punchcard pattern books that produce visual cousins and may also knit up as lovely fabric in single colors, and wonderful surprises at times when one designed for single color is striped. A few to try that are pictured with corresponding swatches shown on the knit side: from volume 5, the grey cells indicate the page numbers that correspond to the thumbnails in the downloadable version from Stitchworld, I have included repeat sizes, grey highlighted ones are suitable for use in punchcard as given Brother yarn changers are numbered, from right to left, and their published card designs color suggestions reflect that. The lace extension rail must be used as the knit carriage needs to clear the color changer on that side in order for the colors to change properly. The Studio color changer color positions are marked with letters of the alphabet from left to right Some of the Studio punchcard pattern books showed both sides of the expected fabric assi\ociated with each card, here is a repeat that breaks the tuck rule of no more than one blank square side by side in any row.
This swatch pattern from a Japanese magazine illustrates the difference in the formation of the tucked loops when two blank squares exist side by side. The repeat is 10X22, colors are assigned letters rather than numbers here as well Another rule breaker: odd numbers of tucked rows with no added all knit rows. Experimenting with such repeats results in less organized all-over patterns, here colors are changed every 2 rows, every 4 rows A single knit row may be added, for an added variation with color changes every 4 rows These repeats take shapes in another direction which becomes more textural and interesting when blank stitch areas are expanded for use in slip stitch setting This pattern, with color changes every 2 rows and two-row tuck sequences has an assumed interesting pattern shift. The tiled X2 horizontal repeats lined up side by side show that extra knit stitches have been added, shifting tuck stitch rows by one stitch in alternating directions, but just because it is published, it does not necessarily make the repeat correct. Those striped areas can only occur if there are solid all punched areas. Keeping the constraints of a 24 stitch repeat, reducing the width of segments to 12 stitches rather than 24, the original repeat as amended The tiled results for each24X56 repeat proof of concept swatch in a far thinner yarn than the book photo An approach to designing such patterns can begin with a template for color changing every 2 rows and taking colored squares away to indicate stitches that will be slipped or tucked. Repeats can be adjusted from wider electronic ones to the 24 stitch width constraint for punchcard machines, as well as shifted to change the resulting shapes and their colors on the knit side. The two-dimensional charts are not capable of reflecting the amount of gathering of the fabrics or distortions of the stripes on the completed knit Japanese magazine publications often recommended many color changes, each for varied numbers of rows. Sometimes more is less. The number of colors may be reduced, and changing the numbers of rows used for each color as well can expand the number of fabrics produced from a single repeat. Good note keeping is a necessity if the intent is to easily reproduce the fabric at a later time.
Mixing things up for vertical designs: Adapting punchcard designs for use in electronics becomes easier once one is familiar with the stitch structure. This is a cousin of 328, 13 stitches X 52 rows. Tiling as in all designs helps sort out errors or missing pixels. The “corrected” pattern, with the accompanying test swatches, the first knit in tuck stitch changing colors every 4 rows and slip stitch changing colors alternately every 2 rows, then every 4: My blog posts on working with and designing mosaics (suitable for tuck and slip) and mazes (slip stitch only, multiple side by side unpunched holes or white squares in any row), in reverse historical order
2019/06/29/mosaics-and-maze…numbers-and-gimp/
2015/10/21/working-with-gen…-gimp-charting-2/
2015/10/03/working-with-gen…mazes-charting-1/
2012/10/15/mosaics-and-maze…design-to-pattern/
2013/05/06/mosaics-and-mazes-drawing-motifs/
2012/10/15/mosaics-and-maze…design-to-pattern/
2012/09/22/mosaic-and-maze-…-on-the-machines/