Fair Isle – Page 2 – alessandrina.com

Shadow pleats with added patterning

Knit skirts have been present in runway and online publications again. Another Mary Dowse pattern has stirred up interest in a design knit in fair isle shadow pleats.
Shadow pleats knitting began to present some of the techniques involved in creating this type of fabric fold.
The permanence of the folds relies on blocking from careful and almost aggressive to far more casual approaches depending on the fiber content and end-use for the knit.
As mentioned in the older post, for a while, skirts in shadow pleats were very popular. One of the tips for blocking them at the time when acrylics were also new and in trend, was to hang completed pieces with the bottom evenly weighted inside a large trash bag “sealed” as tightly as possible at the top, with steam entering from the bottom of the bag ie from a portable electric teapot. I always had a hard time imagining the specific activity, and the method may have been part of the reason as to why published patterns for such items quickly disappeared.
Simply using a yarn with memory in the rows composing the larger folds always seemed a more viable option to me.
Ribber needle setups may be used to produce a rounded appearance in the resulting folds
rolled single pleats double rolled pleats mirror needle groups

accordion rolled OOW needles are spaced evenly on both beds sunray round A large variety of pleats may be knit on the single bed as well, one being shadow pleats. The resulting knits also need to be gathered on one of the 2 edges in items like skirts at waistlines, and the number of knit rows needed for the volume required can be daunting and a large commitment of time if not effort.
Very large swatches in colors that one guesses to be appealing guide decisions based on evidence and personal preference.
Old published patterns often called for specific brands of yarn which decades later are likely to no longer be available. In addition to searching for substitutes that will produce a similar gauge, the behavior of the newly found yarn may simply be different than expected and as described in the instructions.
Inspiration photos found online are often small and do not reveal clear details, so attempts to reproduce the pictured knitting techniques may yield unpredictable results.
Assuming traditional yarns are in use, the larger rolled shapes in the fabric formed by the higher number of rows knit in the thick yarn tend to roll toward the purl side, the familiar effect seen in any single bed stocking stitch.
Part of the inspiration photo that began a renewed forum interest in the fabric The appearance is of a fair isle pattern interrupted by the use of thinner yarn(s) in one or both feeders. Blocking long pieces can alter the aspect ratio of the original design, so in some cases, the width of the repeat or even the length would need to be doubled.
My initial repeat was 20X22 pixels: In this view, obvious places are highlighted for a possible switch to thinner yarns. If changing yarns manually, it is easier to change those in the sinker plate’s B position. If necessary, the planned motif may be color inverted to make those actions easier. Both yarns used are wool, a yarn that has memory and spring-back. In the potential fold rows, the red color was replaced with a thin ply with the same fiber content. The first folds were knit in an *8 with thin, 14 with thick, 8 with thin** color sequence. Watching the knit as it progressed showed the thicker fair isle areas folding inward, with the thinner areas folding outward. The remainder of the swatch used a 4 thin, 8 thick sequence. The knit was steamed and pressed, the folds are soft but permanently present with the lower edge of the piece lying quite flat after a considerable amount of time. Here the red yarn used is acrylic, the black wool. An 8 thick 4 thin sequence was used, but in the thin areas, both colored yarns were replaced with single plies. The pattern is 48X54 pixels and from one of the Brother mylar sheets. The first swatch sports black flowers, the second, red ones. The knit sequences were the same, the change in texture in the areas may be seen here. The black flowers swatch was ironed, becoming permanently flattened, aka “killed”. The hope is to manage the red flowers swatch in a better way. The thinner yarns are in slightly different shades of the base colors, so a subtle striping occurs in the areas where they are used. Both swatches were knit on the same number of needles and at the same tension. The blocking saga: I do own blocking pins but honestly have only used them in demos, and on rare occasions such as this, or to cut them down when I needed a fast replacement for a ribber cast on comb lost wire.
Whether extremely detailed blocking is ever needed can be a very emotionally charged topic for some, best saved for another day.
With an optimally gathered edge at the waistline secured, the wire is threaded very evenly through the bottom of the “skirt”, and evenly distributed weights are placed across it. The fabric is likely to grow considerably in length, another reason for knitting very large test/gauge swatches to calculate the width/length required. I downsized a few years ago letting go of most of my professional equipment. My only iron at the moment when and if it generates steam, did not appreciate being held vertically, spitting hot water at my feet, so the amount of steam used to set the pleats was likely short of optimal. That said, with the wire and weights removed, that edge is staying flat, and the pleats appear to be permanent a month later. Knitweaving can be used to produce very interesting patterns, both all over or for edgings, and it may offer a viable alternative for patterning using multiple colors in the more prominent purl side rows of the knit. A 1x1selection is a good place to start. Returning to using wools, my efforts with the first yarns I grabbed failed with knit weaving, but since every other stitch every other row is selected, I was able to knit 8 rows in fair-isle with the thicker yarn in the B feeder, the thinner in A, followed by 4 rows of plain knit. The task is easier to accomplish with 2 knit carriages, one patterning, the other knitting stocking stitch.
The colors were chosen for contrast making it easier to observe stitch formation.
The swatch, just off from the machine after a manual tug after steaming and pressing A bit more tugging and gathering on one edge, pleats are set. The swatch view on the left illustrates well the pleating roll formed by the thin yarn to the knit side, the inward roll of the fair isle segment to the purl.
Floats formed by the yarns not used traveling up the sides of the knit should be considered the finishing of the final pieces.
Transitions could be made in any one piece between the ratio of the thick/thin number of rows, perhaps for sections ie yoke shaping, or varying the fold sequences from one texture to the other and back.
Most fabric is only limited by materials, tools, and the imagination of its creators.

Other ways to create permanent pleats
single bed
Origami folds inspired pleats 1 6/19
Revisiting pleats on the knitting machine: single bed 5/18
Pleats created with lace transfers 8/17
Pleats: automating “pleating”, single bed 1/1
double bed
Origami-inspired 2: more pleats and fold using ribber 3/21
Knit and purl blocks to create folding fabric_ “pleats”
Pleats: ribbed, folding fabrics 4/15

Revisiting fair isle, thread lace, 3D surface potential

Tuck and slip stitches are commonly used to produce very effective textured surfaces, often accompanied by color changes. Those color changes require knitting with yarn always in the A position in the sinker plate, and color changes are made by replacing the yarn in that position by hand, or by using the color changer. Fair isle and thread lace operate differently, as they carry and work with two yarns at once.
The two colors in FI are knitted simultaneously. The public face is smooth, while on the reverse side, strands of yarn pass from one group of color to the next.
The pattern on the card matches the design apparent on the purl side, facing the knitter and mirrored on the opposite face.
The blank cells in the cards knit the main color, feeder A (Brother), feeder 1 (Knitmaster). The punched cells knit the contrast color, in feeder B (Brother), feeder 2 (Knitmaster). Some of these samples were also presented in the post on Fair Isle variations
For textured surfaces, using wire for one of the two colors makes the fabric moldable. Here, 32 32-gauge stainless steel wire is used as color 2, card#2. Using end needle selection when there are needles out of work results in single stitch width vertical columns of color that are planned in this instance as guides for sewing machine stitching lines. The width of the fabric is limited because of the number of needles actually knitting the pattern, but the technique offers the opportunity for a coordinated bicolor fringe with placement on the motif from casual to very deliberate. Either side may be chosen as the “public one What may be firing in one piece could provide a tube for insertions on either side of the knit.
The fringing here is created by having needles out of work with one or two needles in work at their outer edge, anchoring the deliberate floats on one side, trimmed when the piece is complete, before felting. The triangles are formed with single decreases followed by increases to reverse the shaping, keeping the fringe edge needles in a fixed position. There is some rippling along the shaped edge, but the remainder of the fabric is fairly flat. Felting creates a reversible knit, shrinkage, possible stiffness, and potential limitations in the width of the final fabric are considerations when planning wearables. These factors become irrelevant when the goal is sculptural form. Creating blistered surfaces the easy way, leaf pattern variations: poly-cotton and raffia on the bottom, fishing line as the second yarn line on top. I have found the line for 6lb or fewer works best. The knit is flat. Felted rayon chainette and wool; when the main color is wool and the rayon renders the floats, there is minimal blistering. The result of reversing the yarn positions creates more bubbling.
Here, elastic is used as the second color in the thread lace setting. Using wool and acrylic non-felting yarn, the original mylar repeat was altered to twice as long and rendered twice as wide as well, resulting in the difference in finished width. The yarn positions in two-color single-pass knitting remain fixed in their relationship to punched holes. In fair isle patterning, the back feeder, usually labeled A, knits the ground on non-selected needles in the B position. The yarn (red) in the forward, B feeder, knits the stitches on needles selected to the D position, which correspond to punched holes or black squares in a mylar, black pixels in a computer file for download. In thread lace, the back A position yarn knits both yarns together, while the forward B position yarn, red thread, knits the forward yarn/color, with the other yarn creating the single set of floats behind it.
Not all machines have a thread lace carriage. I use a punchcard model KC on my electronic machines.
Ribber arms in different model years may also differ.
In terms of blistered fabrics in 2 colors using elastic yarn as one of the two fibers, the results in FI and its double sets of floats are shown on the left, the thread lace version with only the elastic creating the single float on the right. Thread lace patterning may also be used with a thin, non-felting yarn, knitting the areas of the pattern intended for the 3D texture in the forward yarn position. The rear position yarn needs to be wool or another fiber that will felt and shrink with processing. In the finished piece, the wool floats may be left in place, trimmed, or the thin shapes may even be trimmed out, leaving openings that do not ravel. In addition, large thin fabric shapes can be stiffened over enclosures to create permanent effects in sculptural pieces.

Binary alphabet knitting patterns

There are moments while surfing the net that trigger memories of long ago popular knitting patterns. One such is the piano scarf, usually knit double bed. For a while, knit QR codes, or even bar codes were “the thing”. Decades ago, long before online converters and easily available information, there were a few articles on converting alphabets to binary codes for knitting. Far more recent versions with different interpretations: using ones and zeros for pattern, hand-knit https://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTbinary.html A collection of machine-knit versions https://knithacker.com/2017/03/sam-meechs- knitted-binary-scarves/I prefer the more abstract to the literal interpretation using numbers, happen to have a 12 letter first name, and thought I would go for converting it. Because of the number of letters involved, the repeat would of necessity have to be a vertical one. I used 2 converters to double-check the result, noticing that when one of the letters repeats, the code for each of the 2 letters is slightly different. Of the many choices, I used these converters https://www.prepostseo.com/tool/text-to-binary-converter, and https://www.convertbinary.com/text-to-binary/
Each letter is converted to 8 digits, making results easily adaptable for punchcard use. 01000001 01101100 01100101 01110011 01110011 01100001 01101110 01100100 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100001. My spreadsheet in Numbers refused to allow me to enter the 0s at the start of each sequence, so the 0 has its own column, and in the larger chart, it is illustrated as a blank vertical row The problem if such repeats are used for fair isle knitting is that the results are likely to separate along those long vertical lines and to curl to the purl side even if blocked flat to start with. Converting the pattern for use on the double bed with any DBJ technique and backing is the better solution. My results, with letters from the bottom up Programming the width of the number of needles to be used for the “scarf”, allows for the addition of a border stitch (or more) on either side. Start the base with and use the dark color for your first knit row from right to left in most of the automatic 2 color separations. Here is a tentative 72+1 stitch version The related swatch, knit nearly 4 years later, forgetting that the 930 automatically mirrors text and motifs, so my repeat is mirrored horizontally 🙁If numbers are your preference, with a bit of playing around digits may be adjusted in width and height going a bit bolder, the 8 individual letters as numbers could repeat horizontally across each design row. A repeat for the letter AX2 planned for the first segment of an 82 stitch wide scarf, with the number of knit rows between each letter group started at 5. An attempt to visualize the final look using only the letter A.
G carriages may be used to knit the same patterns in knit and purl stitch combinations.

Fair isle variations

A review of links with associated hints and info:
Measuring gauge swatches, general information
Matching patterns across sweater bodies and sleeves
Float control
Scarf experiments
Design inspiration: binary alphabets
Adding hand techniques/ cables/ punchcard repeats
FI meets transfer lace on Brother machines
Adding the ribber, FI on main bed Tubular machine knit fabrics: fair isle, Brother/Passap
Altered patterning using bleach discharge on knits

These are random FI samples from my collection, most from my teaching days. None of them was ever intended for use in the finished product. They were knit to illustrate some of the possibilities for the different techniques using each of the cam button combinations. Some were knit during class demos. The colors made them easily identifiable as mine, knit using a personal yarn stash. The contrast helped identify how stitches were formed.
In this swatch, marking for measuring stitches per inch is done by leaving a needle out of work. The width between the resulting ladders should be checked at various points after the swatch is treated in the way you plan to treat (block) the finished fabric. Adding a third color per row would require altering the pattern to a color-separated slip stitch one, or one may add that color with duplicate stitching. The spots in this test are colored in with a permanent fabric marker. At the height of the art to wear movement, one artist, in particular, was producing limited edition knitwear by knitting the same design in black and white, and in turn over-dyeing the white for different effects in each piece in the series. Eyelets at the bottom of the swatch are tension markings for the piece. The vertical line created by end needle selection (normally used in FI to avoid separation of colors et vertical edges) is interrupted in rows that are knit in only one color. Recommended maximum width for floats is usually 5 stitches. How much the floats droop and cause potential “problems” on the purl side depends on fiber content. Sometimes such floats are intentionally created and worn on the outside of the garment as planned design features. The longer blue floats are seen below in the areas of the ladders where only the yellow is knitting, creating a wider span of the alternate color. These repeats are very simple. They are commonly associated with card #1 and card #2 in basic factory packs supplied with knitting machine purchases. Card #2 is reproducible by using card #1 elongated X2. A reminder: if using either repeat in pieces of garments, ie, baby leggings, etc., take note of which yarn feeder each color is in. Even if the repeat is correct and placed properly, the surface of the knit will appear different to the eye if the color placement is reversed in alternate pieces. The repeats may be used as backgrounds for a variety of other, more complex fabrics in DIY designing. Here, stainless 32-gauge wire is used as the second “color”, making the piece moldable and shape-retaining. Years later, teased into a new shapeColor may be added or “taken away” as seen in the post on bleach discharge on knits. Another factory-supplied punchcard is used. Thinner yarns in lighter colors may have noticeable bleed-through of darker colors traveling behind them, as seen on the left, not an issue with the thicker wool on the right. Forgetting to set the card to advance can result in vertical lines, which may alternately be planned as a design feature. The longer floats seem manageable in these yarns, there is a bit of hooking up on the bottom right. The yarn traveling up the swatch on the right is an alternative way to mark for gauge measurements. A previous post provides some information on float control. Varying the colors, fiber content, and considering complementary borders is worth exploring thoroughly at the swatch level, before committing to a larger piece. Truly contrasting yarn used at the bottom and top of the area to be measured for row gauge makes the process easier. As attractive and quick as single bed FI can be, keep in mind that long pieces knit in yarns with “memory” such as wool, will tend to roll to the purl side vertically even after blocking, and certainly with wearing of pieces such as scarves or shawls. Tone on tone chenille and all rayon, with “color reverse” by switching yarn positions in feeder less effective with a flat yarn as the alternative to the chenille Using the same card: every needle, 4.5 mm electronic machine. Transferring stitches to every other needle, odd needles in work on one side, even-numbered needles on other using worsted weight (2 needles in the center in work side by side. The motif is now used twice as wide with every other needle in use across the fabric width It is possible to vary designs by using the 3 functions of the card reader: locked, normal rotation, and elongation. Designs with long vertical features tend to separate at the edges where the 2 colors meet. Lining the fabric with a fusible makes the knit lose stretch, but it may be an option for stabilization, float control, and offers an opportunity for mock quilting by inserting some stuffing under floats before it is ironed on. High contrast colors are best for sorting out how stitches are formed. Embroidery alters the “step ladder” effect outlining the shapes. Hooked-up floats are not just for float control; note puckering on the knit side where they have been hung up in groups. These swatches were worked from the bottom up, starting with positive/ negative comparison, sorting out the possible placement of the ladder with the intent of adding ladder lace details. Cancel end needle selection because of needles out of work, but bring needles into D or E position to avoid separation of colors and/ or dropped stitches at side edges. From the bottom up, transitioning from a ladder resulting from a single NOOW (needle out of work) to 2 NOOW, hooking up floats on opposite sides, ending in “lace” pattern alone Combined with transfer lace Hand techniques (in this case cables) can be combined with FI. In Brother, it helps to be familiar with the pattern, as needle selection may have to be manually restored after the technique is performed to stay in the correct pattern.
With cables: some punchcard repeats
With using a sewing machine: there is a vertical, single stitch line due to end needle selection in the contrast color formed on either side of any needle(s) out of work which provides a visual guide for altering the fabric. This swatch was knit with wide NOOW spaces, then sewing machine stitching joined the contrasting vertical lines to form a 2 color “fringe” on the knit side (left) and purl side (right)Variations with fibers for exploring surface textures: wool with raffia on the bottom, fishing line on top The same swatch continued on, using 3M elastic as the second color The same repeat in a rayon chainette and wool, followed by some felting. The rayon “bubbles” more visibly when the wool creates the wider floats reversing color positions
The punchcard is limited to varying the vertical repeat automatically in 3 ways: locking the card, normal rotation, and double length. Repeat width is fixed. Felting can produce interesting surfaces if one yarn is capable of being felted (green), and the other not (blue). The stitches knit with the latter will create puckers/ blisters. Since the knit will shrink in both width and height, the repeats here were used at double length. Note the added drooping of the blue floats on the purl side. A punchcard can be further manipulated by masking areas with tape. It is not a good solution for production knitting, but adequate for testing out ideas before committing to punching a full, new card. The surface blisters here are much more dramatic. The green floats do not felt as much as in the previous swatch, and are considerably wider. On the right, far side you can see some of them were latched up, creating yet another design detail.
The reverse of both swatches shows the resulting difference in relative width. The contrast using a factory-supplied punchcard pattern with short floats, also felted. The fringe is created by ending on one side (in this case on the right) with a group of needles out of work and the outermost 2 needles in work, essentially producing a large “ladder”. Decreases and increases on needles close to the edge of the knit were brought in and out of work to create the “zig-zag”. The two edge stitches of the ladder may be trimmed before felting. The knit side is shown on the left, the purl side on the right, no clearly visible, separate floats, its surface is fairly flat.

Punch cards to electronics: book symbols and samples

A number of variables need to be considered when adapting punchcard patterns for use on electronic knitting machines. These images pertain to Brother use, but the principles are shared between KM brands. I will add more information as time goes on. Online free downloads for magazines, manuals, etc., may be found at
http://knittsings.com/knitting-machine-manuals/
http://toyotaknitting.blogspot.com/
machineknittingetc.com
https://www.knititnow.com/ManualAndDocuments/
some additions of late include designs in 12, 18, and 30 stitch repeats in addition to the familiar 24 and 40 ones, and to help with interpretations of symbols: Japanese symbols for machine knitters
Punchcard collections for all brands @ Needles of steel
For a later post including information on scanning and editing published designs electronically see 2018/07/02/numbers-to-gimp-to-create-images-for-electronic-download/

As the transition was made from manual machines to push-button, and then to punchcard selection systems, the early collections included diagrams of symbols familiar to hand knitters, and interestingly worded text that disappeared or was reduced in later punchcard books.
I am first presenting information in the order in which it appeared in this particular collection’s paper published version, I have not found this volume in the above-mentioned sources for free download.
The collected images are gathered from more than one source, so there is some repetition of information.

LACE KNITTING

Punchcards may be used to guide one for hand techniques, here a version of e-wrap is used on selected needles for weaving effect, and the diagram on the upper left is for a different fabric. Punchcards may also be used to help track twisted stitches, cables, and racking This is a 2 carriages patterning operation, lace extension rails must be used, with each carriage disengaged from the belt while the other is moving across the knitting and back to its resting place.

SYMBOLS IN PATTERN KNITTING

Below each punchcard, the repeat is identified in numbers for stitches and rows. The cards presented are the minimum length required for the card to roll smoothly within the reader when joined for continuous knitting (at least 36 rows). Electronic knitters may isolate the individual, smallest repeat, draw only the squares that appear as white in the cards, enter them via mylar or download, and use color reverse.

Skip is aka slip or part. These cards would work for tuck stitch as well, and may even tolerate elongation, depending on yarn thickness.

Opposite cam buttons are in use; the fabric changes appearance depending on which of the 2 stitch types is forward, so if instructions with cards are to be followed, then the starting side for the pattern in this instance should be COR. Both tuck buttons (or slip) may be used as well, for a different fabric. If the tuck or slip texture is created over an even number of rows (2, 4), changing colors for each paired row sequence can create some interesting color patterns with very short floats akin to planned mosaics and mazes.

The fair isle patterns below are actually poor choices in terms of float control, pushing its limits. It is usually recommended that floats be no wider than 5 stitches, and even then, they may have to be controlled to make the finished garment easier to wear.

Brother only produces a transfer lace (as opposed to studio simple lace, where the carriage transfers and knits with each pass of the carriage). The lace carriage is the one advancing the punch card. The knit carriage does not select needles, but rather, knits 2 (or more) plain knit rows

Lace card markings, including those for fine lace: in the latter, stitches are transferred and shared between pairs of needles, best knit in a light color, with smooth yarn so the surface texture becomes more noticeable.

Lace point cams may be used on the punchcard machine to create vertical bands of lace. This is also achievable electronically by programming for knit stitches between vertical (or horizontal bands).

Tuck (left) and weaving (right) may be combined with lace. In these fabrics, both carriages are selecting needles, so extension rails must be used. The two columns on the left of the cards indicate movements for the lace carriage on the left and the knit carriage on the right. Straight arrows indicate single carriage passes, curved ones 2.

Yet another fabric using 2 carriages selecting needles for patterning.

Here, the “openness” is created by having the appropriate needles out of work, creating ladders in those spaces. Some interesting results can be obtained by transferring the recommended out-of-work needles’ stitches to the ribber. ” Air knitting” can help with verifying that proper needle placement is in use.

to match the location of the out-of-work needles to markings for punchcards, which are often given with lines delineating 0 needle position, the image will need to be mirrored horizontally

THREAD OR PUNCH LACE is possible only on machine models that have 2 buttons in mc position. The thicker yarn knits along with the thinner one where there are unpunched areas or white squares, the thinner yarn knits alone where the punched holes or black squares occur, with the thicker yarn floating behind it. More information on this fabric

Suitable for tuck and possibly tolerant of elongation as well:

Punchcard machines mirror motifs when knit. This may not be noticed when copying small repeats, but it becomes more evident in larger ones. For knitting on the 910, the supplied motif would need to be mirrored when programmed to retain the intended direction. With other machine models, one needs to know whether the “image” on the card will appear on the purl side, matching punchcard pattern and needle selection, or the knit side, thus reversing it.

2 FI samples with potential float formations that may require added management.
The automatic reversal of lettering and motifs.

When you think that that is all sorted out in your head, there are these in slip stitch, the direction of stitches matches, because the purl side is used, images are reversed on the knit side.

the mirrored punchcards The punchcard change knob has selections for single motif and pattern knitting (KC)

The 910 has settings KC I and II, KC II cancels end needle selection, while in punchcard machines this has to be done manually if the pattern stitch requires it. One such example is when any patterns are made with needles out of work. End needle selection would make the needles on each side of the empty space select forward and create a knit stitch. In tuck or slip, that would be an out-of-pattern knit stitch, in FI, a vertical line of the color in the B feeder would appear along on each side of the OOW needles.

Ribber settings and symbols for Brother machines

Cables in color

Fair isle, like any slip stitch fabric, is “shorter and skinnier” than any produced using the same yarn colors in plain knitting, single bed. Cables also narrow the fabric considerably. Begin with tension set at least 1-2 numbers looser than usual, and make tension swatches large enough to include all cable variations. After the cable crossings, be sure to return the needles to correct pattern selection before knitting the next row. Do not pull the whole group out to holding (E), as the whole group will then knit the color in the B feeder, and you will have a striped “mistake” on the next row knit. Leaving any needles OOW in the knit will select the needle on each side of the ladder to come forward, knitting the color in the B feeder. This may not work for you in terms of how the motif is affected by the vertical line created. If ladders are required, the vertical line in the B color may be eliminated by canceling end needle selection (KC II), or by dropping those stitches before you cable (which will give you a bit extra yarn for those crossed stitches). Ladders may be also latched up if you like, but watch where those floats are going in the fabric.

Making your own cards: try to control the length of the floats. Pre-punched cards with lots of punched holes can produce areas to be cabled by selectively masking areas with tape (both sides of cards). Conversely, you may punch diamonds, squares, etc. in the center of other shapes that would normally have floats too long for FI, to produce a B feeder color area for cabling.

Like color, most often, needs to land on like color, so stitches need to move further than they would in a one-color knit. Reversible ribbed cables share the principle of like needing to land on like (knit on knit, purl on purl). Starting out with a single row punched card, mylar, or program repeat, with the card locked, provides a quick test for tension, keeping track of patterns, etc. There are many, so at least initially, cabling on a constant number of rows apart may help avoid errors.

beginning to visualize the crosses

another of my “quick reference – some to try” handouts

Ruching 2: more working with stitch groups

Reviewed and in the process of being edited with added charts and photos 12/2022. My working and presentation methods have evolved, resulting from evolving working methods and skill in using the new generations of available hardware and software including new generation iPhones with their built-in cameras. This post will continue as a hybrid of sorts.
The previous share on this topic: Ruching 1, a fern pretender, and more.
An illustration of what part of the stitches to pick up Going straight up: in the 2014 chart color blocks illustrate needle groups that get picked up and transferred onto the same color row on the machine, with no specific references to needle tape or any other markings. When repeating the operation in the same needle locations, having NOOW (needles out of work), thus creating ladders, makes it easier to keep track of groups in configurations.
The yellow lines represent needles taken completely OOW at the start of knitting.
Any of these fabrics may be executed in a single color or varied color sequences. Sometimes changing the color in swatches and using sharply contrasting ones helps one understand the structure of the resulting fabric a bit more easily.
The number of rows knit between picking up stitches can be varied to suit, and not all horizontal stripes need to match in height.
Stripes in plain knit rows in the same color or an alternate one can add interest and decrease the total number of carriage passes in the overall piece.
In a different approach at the same visualization, all blank vertical rows represent locations where needles are in the A position, out of work, and remaining that way throughout.
To maintain equal edges in the piece, this setup is on a multiple of 6+5 needles: The block layout can be varied, along with adding all knit stripes in any chosen color. Variations in picking up sequences may be seen here creating different secondary patterns. The red dots in the first photo indicate a row of additional ruching in the center of solid striping.
Cast on a multiple of 12+4 stitches: In response to the comment on this post, here is a proposed variant of the technique to try on a 40-stitch (36+4) sample.
Visualizing the brick layout single stripe segments: Maintaining the brick layout, each segment may be repeated the desired number of times, creating stripes in extended textures. Varying spacings and rows, the setup is on a multiple of 9+8 needles. Far less dense, a proposed spacing, the bubbles will be more prominent if 2 stitches rather than one are hooked up, with the concept used to form intermittent design bands, ruching partway, gathering one side, using thick and thin yarns working in narrow stripes and very small repeats. Returning to the diagonals previously depicted this way, now with some changes. Repeating the pattern on a wider knit, considering shaping for even side edges Applying the same technique in bands rather than all over
Adding wide ladders: both the number of stitches lifted and hooked up and the number of needles left out of work can be varied to suit, even in the same piece. In this illustration, the colored columns represent knit stitches, the white ones needles left out of work. Repeats are 10 rows in height, with stitches hooked up every 5 rows in alternate columns A swatch utilizing the concept: Ruched Fair Isle: when using Brother machines, to keep the pattern uninterrupted, prior to knitting the row with the completed hooked-up selections, the correct needle preselection for each pattern group needs to be hand selected. Some tips on ruched FI knitting: the fabric will shrink considerably in length, so most motifs will need to be elongated to accommodate that.
Having a pattern that may be tracked easily by watching the floats on its reverse is helpful as may working in bands where the colors swap spaces (changing yarn feeder positions).
In very textured knits, 2 all knit rows could be added at the point of ruching, pushing end needles in if selected by the machine so as not to form floats from one side to the other. One row could serve as well, but then there are decisions about what to do with added yarn ends. The added rows can be left unpunched, will knit color in A feeder, and may not be visible in the finished knit. As always, test before committing to large pieces.
If small groups of stitches are to be picked up and rehung, markers with segments of nylon thread or yarn may be placed on the corresponding needles and be temporarily knit in. In addition, the needle tape or needle bed may be marked with a water-soluble pen to indicate locations for rehanging, or a custom needle tape may be printed.
Varying striping, and segment sizes. Working in a single color, with ruching forming hems in the center of the piece, followed by light felting. Here the hems are 2 in different heights and all on the same edge, also felted. Using unconventional materials: wool and raffia, followed by felting If every stitch is hooked up across a row, the result on the reverse side will form from a roll to a hem depending on the number of knit rows completed at the time

My recent knits

More of the extended twill FI, chenille and rayon or wool combinations

In addition to all the usual suspects, I have been playing with DBJ once again, keeping my Passap battery charged, crossing my fingers that my ancient Dell laptop will keep working, playing with colors, using super thin yarns and plying them as needed

using built in patterns

my own pattern inspired from weaving drafts, borders mirrored to match direction when scarf is worn

A bit of fair isle

Fair isle accessories, scarves in particular, can be problematic. I tend to make most of my scarves in the 64-72 inch length after blocking, lining them would result in a very heavy scarf. Knit has a tendency to curl to the purl side in length, and toward the knit top and bottom. Rayon chenille is a customer favorite, knitting it double bed in any DBJ variant is nearly impossible on my E 6000 because of shedding and electronic eye reading errors (I would consider ladder DBJ), and I was left with finding a short float pattern that might look acceptable on its reverse, and lie flat. Weaving draft charts can be a great source for repeats for geometric FI knitting. The pattern used below is an adaptation of one. The first swatch (1) looked fine. The long one followed it. When I ironed it, however, I noticed not only a missing black square or 2 in my mylar repeat (hidden by the fuzz of the chenille in the first swatch) but how lovely for it to have a totally curved, far longer edge (if only that was what I wanted)! On analyzing the possible cause I noticed the repeat had many more stitches knit in the chenille than the wool along that edge. Back to the drawing board: the repeat was sorted out using high contrast, smooth yarns (3 and 4), and the pattern was adjusted to a different location on the needle bed.

Then, I thought I might introduce a border. The chenille is thicker than the wool, so any hem or stocking stitch edge was too wide. I would have preferred to chain behind the knit to help flatten the bottom and top edges and ran into yarn breakage galore. The final piece was made using 1X1 FI in the chenille “solid” color stripe to keep a balanced width and fabric thickness, and cast on and bound off edges were rehung and “bound off” again, to help cut down on their rolling toward the knit. The finished scarf measures 8″X69″, both knit and purl sides are shown below, side edge lengths now match.Assuming one uses a crochet cast on and binds off around gate pegs at the top, a chain is created at both ends, akin to that created in crochet, and one can identify a front loop, a back loop, and the whole chain. Any of the 3 may be “rehung” onto the KM, and the options are to knit a row and bind off again, or simply bind off again, for different looks that start to emulate single crochet a bit and can help stabilize edges or decorate them. It is helpful to keep notes as to the sequence used and which side is facing with each re-hanging. Audrey Palmer at one point authored the Empisal book of linked edgings ISBN 0969485905. Intended for use with the Empisal (later = Studio) linker, there are lots of interesting uses for combinations of essentially find off techniques, and some resurfaced when she published her books on knit weaving.

The same pattern knit on Passap, using tech 129 and 138; there is a noticeable difference in width and openness of fabric with yarn weight change, and at the top with tucking for twice as many rows.
A scarf knit in pattern, using tech 138, double bed on Passap KM; lightweight and drape allow it to be wrapped and worn in multiple ways; knit in 16/2 cotton, measures 11 X 76 inches partially blocked

Fair Isle single bed 1: float control

Fair isle is the name given to a pattern knitted with 2 colors in each row. The motifs are easily identified by looking at the holes in the punchcard, or squares on mylar, pixels in programs. While I will be referring to punch card knitting, the same principles apply. Your knit swatch will look like the card, but the design will be squashed, and these designs are generally knit at least one whole tension number looser than when using the same yarns for stocking stitch. The length of floats created in knitting these fabrics is sometimes an issue, and following are some of the methods that help with “float control”.

Altering the pattern: random holes may be punched in addition to those in the motif and shorten the very long floats, providing this does not distort the pattern too much. Iris Bishop is a designer with an extensive library of such designs.

Hooking up floats: this method works best when the 2 colors used are similar. If they are strongly contrasting there is a possibility of show through where the float is knitted on the same needle as a contrasting stitch. Use the single transfer tool to hook up the float into a needle hook above while leaving the needle in the position to which it has been selected. If it is a very long float, it may require “hooking up” several times. Show through can be reduced on machines that preselect the needles, if you can place the float on a needle about to knit in the same color as the float (the needle will be selected to upper working position).

Binding with fine yarn: using a fine yarn, even sewing thread, matching the main color of the design, break off a length for every place that will bind the float down, trying to keep unanchored floats to no more than 5 stitches if possible. Make a slip knot at one end, take it under the first float, and place it onto the needle above, leaving the needle in the position to which it has been selected . Knit the next row, and lay the fine yarn into the needle hook, fastening down the next float by carrying each length horizontally up your fabric and hooking it over your needles as required. Add more pieces of yarn or change colors as needed.

While this method illustrates managing edges of single motif, it also illustrates managing additional threads.

When knitting only a small area in fair isle (single motif), the contrast yarn will pull away from the edge of the patterning. This may result in holes or ladders to either side of the design. The illustration above and the one below from the Brother 940 manual illustrate securing the edges with spare lengths of the main color yarn. The lines of the yarn are in black and pink respectively for the purposes of illustration. Program the machine for single motif, attach each length of spare yarn to a needle adjacent to those pre selected for single motif, in upper working position. Knit one row in pattern to opposite side. Take the extra yarn length between the knitting and the carriage and place it on the adjacent needle in B position (in background color), knit one row to opposite side, repeat wrapping on carriage side throughout the shape.

Latching: Using the latch tool, pick up a short float below the first long float. Slip it behind the latch, catch the next long float in the hook, and pull it through the first. Continue in this way, latching up all the long floats, and then place the last float pulled through into the hook of the closest needle above that is knit in the same color latched up. As the next row is knit, the float will be caught. The disadvantage to this method is that the hooked floats will pull across the fabric, making it pucker. This technique may be done off the machine as well, with the last float sewn in by hand.

Sewing: sew floats in by hand after completion of knitting by catch stitching the longer floats in on the reverse of the knit. As an alternative a sewing machine and “stitch in the ditch” with matching thread while placing the knitting on the machine and carefully stitching down the valleys between the rows of stitches at desired vertical spacing.

Knit linings: these may be in the form of hems or pieces of knit fabric that you attach as you knit, which could be in finer yarn, large stitches, and not necessarily on every needle. Color matching once again matters.

Bonding with fusibles: suitable for yarns that can take hot, damp ironing. It also stiffens the fabric. Some bonding materials are knit, with stretch in one way and not the other, woven ones have no stretch.

Fringing: long floats may be cut and made into fringes. In this instance, the punchcard may be intentionally masked to cover holes and create intended long floats, which may be later cut. The purl side will now become the “public one”.

Mock weaving: use the reverse side of the fabric for a knit woven effect, one example. The pattern on the knit side may become distorted in a way that could be considered an added design feature.

Decorative floats: use the long floats and twist them, or bind, pick up, tuck behind stitches to make decorative fabrics highlighting the purl side.

Ruching in pattern: hooking up stitches as in hems to enclose part or all of the long floats. For this technique, if a lot of ruching is to occur, it may be best to elongate the original pattern to at least X2.

“Stitching in the ditch”: after the piece is finished floats may be anchored by using a straight, medium-sized stitch on the sewing machine. Use thread that matches the main color as much as possible. Place knitting on the machine knit side up. Stitch carefully and slowly in the valleys between rows of knitting in areas with longer spaces between ground and contrast. The same method is sometimes used at standard intervals to secure FI floats when using yarn such as chenille to help avoid “worming” (yarn slipping out in loops) along motif edges as time passes.

Fringing: deliberately planning long floats with the intent of cutting them to create fringed effects. The purl side of the fabric would be used as the “right” side. Specific areas of punchcards could be masked with tape to create wide float areas amid smaller designs, and electronic machine users can control the placement of pixels. Both can vary the designs by exchanging yarn positions in the sinker plate feeder and/or adding additional color striping.

Please note: try any of these techniques on swatches first. There may be changes in the surface of the knit on the knit side such as puckering or bleed through that may require changes. If combining techniques in a garment, each should be tested. If combining FI and “plain knit” one possible solution is to knit the latter in a simple FI pattern using the same color in both feeders, keeping similar texture and weight in both areas. If using several color changes, the card may be marked to help track them. If self-drawn, repeats lining up in width and height should be knit tested as well.

Combining patterned stripes in stocking stitch: the latter will be single density and different weight than FI. In FI two yarns knit simultaneously, producing a double-thickness fabric. Test on swatches whether doubling the yarn for single color rows works for you. Another option is to knit “plain” bands in a 1X1 fair isle pattern, using the same color yarn in both feeders.