Category: Knit-weaving

Most pubs include variations of sequences such as in this illustration showing the first float traveling under subsequent ones. This chart visualizing the process for a specific repeat was generated using Mac Numbers.
The side edges need to be planned for the best effect, the columns marked with yellow cells indicate possible repeat starts and stops.
The 8X16 design is suitable for use on electronic and punch card models,   A minimum punchcard repeat is 24stitches X32 rows  This swatch was knit using a chenille yarn for weaving, its fibers expand as the fabric rests, lessening the space that can enhance the definition between the floats
Translating published patterns sometimes requires testing the process by hand-selecting needles to develop programmable DIY designs.  The Brother cassette knitting pattern book  includes a series of samples utilizing the technique, and these illustrations
In fabrics such as these, the latch hook is inserted under floats from the first formed up, the last float is caught in the hook of the tool, pulled down behind them, brought forward, up, and lifted onto specific needle locations before further weaving or plain knitting resumes on all needles in work. A random selection:   The repeats are represented in a clockwise rotation,  the first swatch however, disregarded that fact and was a best guess at DIY based on hand-selection of needles.
As already mentioned, the latch tool is used to slide under the first 3 floats grabbing the yarn in the newly created longer float, bringing it under and then to the front of the group of three, and the single loop in the tool hook is lifted onto the hook of the needle in the center position between groups of newly preselected needles. That needle must be pushed back to the B position before knitting the next row so as not to pick up the weaving yarn.  the 6X8 repeat    The swatch on the left is the result of hand selection, and to its right both sides of the result from knitting with the programmed repeat As a general principle when multiple colors are used, if they are planned for color changes occurring for odd numbers of passes, the yarn may need to be cut and brought to the opposite side regularly, or 2 different ends starting from opposite sides may in some cases make the process easier and reduce yarn ends.
For speed and ease in tracking, the compromise choice can be made to change the repeat so that actions happen after knitting even numbers of rows.
End needle selection is on with selective hand moving end needles out to catch the weaving yarn if the repeat is used as provided.
A new, 6X8 repeat:  the 24X40 full punchcard,   If programming the width of the finished piece on electronic machines, pixels for border needle selections can be added, knit with end needle selection off.   Some steps in the process, with # 4 showing the single chained through loops rehung across the row The 930 automatically mirrors any design horizontally. When an odd-numbered design is downloaded and centered with no subsequent changes, the odd-number half of the repeat occurs on the right of 0.
The proof of concept was knit on needles 20 L to 21 R  Here the background yarn is switched to a far thinner cotton, making the woven threads and their bleed-through on the knit side more prominent. In a final piece planned for this effect, side borders could be planned for better edges.   From a Brother electronic pub, an illustration of hooking up multiple loops at once If the needle onto which the floats are transferred is left in work, it will pick up the weaving yarn on the next pass as part of the design and should remain in D or be pulled to E position if preferred.  If that is not the goal, that same needle is pushed back to the B position.  Just as in managing long floats in FI, in this fabric, they may be latched up as well Lifting the stitch in the latch hook onto a needle other than in the center of the space between needle selection or one of the preselected needles, will result in the chain moving permanently in different directions.
A second early resource for samples of these techniques offered this version along with advice on how to knit it. Such translations are not always understandable. Based on row counts of patterning in the accompanying swatch it is possible to develop a repeat by assigning black pixel locations to specific squares in the stitch symbol chart rather than using the repeat provided.
The horizontal marks for purl stitches can be thought of as needles on the machine.
The squares where the traveling weaving thread “wave” in the position above the line are filled are represented with green cells in the spreadsheet and will be converted to black pixels in BW pngs for use in download programs, or punched holes in cards.
The under “waves” symbolize floats and are disregarded in final repeats.
Yellow is used to mark spots for visual reminders of where the floats are to be rehung. They are disregarded in the final BW single repeat. The corresponding needles in those locations must pushed back to the B position before knitting the next row.  

The 8X14 smallest repeat was tested on 48 stitches hand selecting end needles if needed.   Working in vertical columns, a 9X12 design planned on 39 stitches for equal side edges the floats are lifted in pairs every 2 rows, in alternate directions onto preselected needles, which can be brought out to the E position after the transfer.  Those needles are marked with red dots.   The swatch was knit in wool yarns of equal weight. The weaving yarn split easily. Each row should be checked for any errors after hooking before continuing to knit to avoid permanent errors. The result of both is marked with red dots in the photo on the left In summary, black squares indicate yarn over selected needles, and white squares the yarn slipping under non-selected needles, represented in this chart for a 2X2 design repeat/ paintbrush in DIY.  Side by side punched holes or black pixels produce floats in a corresponding stitch width. Blocks of either color can be planned in any direction, with the floats left alone as color blocks or manipulated to echo their movement ie in this illustration

The first single-bed machines to produce what is now referred to as knit-weaving were the Japanese model ones from the early to mid-1960s.
The Knitmaster 302 had a separate brush unit operated manually to guide the yarn above and below stitches.
On the Brother 585 and 588 models the weaving brushes were built-in and were pressed into place.
Early patterns used aran-weight yarns as weft on 12-stitch machines.
From 1971 onward as 24 stitch machines came on the market, the wider repeat allowed for the use of thinner yarns in the technique.
Later manuals including those for some electronic models describe this achingly slow method when using a single-color weaving yarn fed through the yarn mast  The subsequent technique shift advice was made for using an intarsia-like method for more colors:  The method is so much faster than when using the mast and knit carriage it makes little sense to use the former.
The technique begins with the carriage on your preferred side,  from the right or left, the yarn is generally laid in starting on the carriage side, with the long end to cone or ball away from it.
The wraps are needed in each direction: For work on the machine, swatches, punchcards, tools, and more information on types of weaves, ie laying in the yarn with vertical wrappings Another illustration of the movements in the laying in of the yarn on specific needles.  For more info on horizontal weaving, see Knit Weaving 1.
The resulting knits often lose stretch and drape widthwise, a consideration when making garments. As an alternative, one may knit pieces sideways.

Some ways to push limits, and new swatches:
Knitweaving encompasses an extensive range of fabrics. At times the type of machine available places constraints on materials.
One way to use chunky and bulky yarns on standard machines when they do not work with the ground knit on every needle, an option is to use every other needle patterning.
A visual comparison of yarn thicknesses for beginning experiments Here a commercial twine is used, programming a 4X4 repeat,  and laying the weaving yarn over the preselected needles when the long end of the yarn is away from the knit carriage, thus adding extra all-knit rows between woven ones.  This yarn has been in my stash for decades unused, it is 92% wool, and 8% polyamide. It was e-wrapped in alternate directions on every row, with care to maintain the thrumbs below sinker plate levels during carriage passes.  An option for electronic models: open a PNG suitable for knit weaving, as this 24X24 one, double the PNG in width before downloading it, or use the double-wide button after the fact, cast on every other needle, and continue in the technique. Planning the repeat on the needle bed would render better edges than in my swatch, if there are multiple non-selected needles on either side, bring the last needle on that side out to E before laying the yarn for the next row of pattern.  The floats created through knit weaving can share similarities with those from fair isle or slip stitch.
Slip stitch textures compress the knit lengthwise, and narrow it, while knit woven pieces lie flat, and provide far more predictable gauges.
This sample explores various float widths, beginning with a 24X24 pixel PNG.
When sampling on an electronic, one can plan for repeat widths equal in number to the needles in work or greater based on preference or a requirement by some software.
In designing for planned fabric widths, borders for better side edges than those resulting only from engaging end needle selection may be isolated or added with a preferred pattern fill.
The 24-stitch repeat was drawn in repeat X4  and cropped to 50X48, retaining a 2-stitch vertical border on each side and shared repeated in height X2, a final 50X48  Samples of the three yarn thicknesses used in the test swatch are shown at the bottom of the image on the right

More links for browsing
Adding hems to varied knits adds ruched stitch groups.A return to loopy knits
Machine knit fringes 4, long loop patterning 
Long loops: a bit on method
Knit weaving 2: swatches, experiments
Knit weaving 1
Tuck stitch meets knit-weaving
Lace meets weaving on Brother Machines 2 
Lace meets weaving on Brother Machines

2024: lately I have been obsessed with designing seasonal repeats and expanded my initial library of them to include more “star’ designs in Seasonal knits inspired by published repeats 1
This design, 36X56, was knit first using a worsted-weight acrylic as the weaving yarn and a 20/2 wool for the background, then replacing the worsted with a 2/8 wool.
The design has long floats that tend to droop in front of the small stitches in the red ground as the knit is removed from the machine and rests.
The white acrylic was hard to knit, resulting in patterning errors because of its quality, noticeable on both sides.
In a final piece, borders could be added to make side edges cleaner than in this first swatch.  For use in a scarf or table runner, the repeat was altered slightly, and vertical side borders were added to 82X56Visualizing the repeat multiplied in height The yarns used in the swatch were a 2/8 wool and a softly spun worsted, challenging to work with even at the loosest tension.
The worsted wanted to split and knit with the ground yarn while forming the floats in front of those same needles, occasionally mounting a few gatepegs or jamming.
The mispatterning in the lower part of the swatch improved as the numbers were slowly adjusted to more than 10 on the knit carriage dial.
This time of year static can also be a problem, the humidifier got turned on. Both steps led to better results.
As with any technique, good yarn choices, and knitting machine gauge considerations make for successful projects.

Working with needles out of work, NOOW
In this first sample, after a crochet cast on, every 3d stitch based on pattern preselection is dropped, and the corresponding needle (grey columns) is pushed out of work (OOW), back to the A position. Ladders will form in those locations on the needle bed.
The yellow cells mark the stitch columns left undisturbed, while the pink and blue mark the stitch/needle locations involved in the cable crossings. The latter are consistently made in the same direction.
After each cable is made, restore needle preselection to maintain correct patterning.  The swatch may be knit monochromatic or as here, using contrasting colors

Many of these swatches are part of my stash from my teaching days. They were usually not intended for finished pieces, merely to illustrate a range of possible results with the techniques, often produced during my demonstrations. The colors were chosen to stand apart in the shared yarn stash in the studio, intended only for my personal use and for easier visibility during demos. The latter were being videotaped from some height and projected onto a large screen during classes for added visibility. At times enrollment was between 15 and 20 students per session.
Eyelets indicate tension # used for ground yarns. It is best to avoid dots between whole numbers. If swatches are too small to reflect the tension used, knots can be placed on yarn ends at the start of each experiment. The ends themselves may need to be doubled to make knots palpable.

thin mohair over a cotton/poly chenille over cotton, tests for a pillow 
chenille ground, wool weft hooked up floats vertical weave, the second with a scorched spot from an iron, experimenting with direction of wraps, a combination of loops and wrapswool ground, felted, monochrome acrylic weft, cut floats wool weft over cotton, cut floats, further trimmed in the top photo The same card 3 ways: the weft is too soft, the effect is lost in monochromatic version, cut floats become muddied with wear worked in the intarsia method, with a separate yarn strand for each shape, possible on monofilament to create floating shapes when placed over another fabric layer crochet start as cast on fringe woven with multiple strands of thin yarn appliqued to a long swatch.   beads strung through dental floss hooked on periodically, horizontal wraps;

ladders and long stitches with a needle or tool such as this, found in fabric stores, 10.5 inches in length automated pattern with added weaving through ladders “loop embossing”, separate threads were worked in and out vertically through ladder spaces worked on bulky 260, tension 2, using card 1 weaving and lace combinations. Weaving yarns may be laid in between the beds with the ribber in use. This is the option for “weaving” on the Passap. 1: shows the rib needle configuration, 2: racking is added, 3: floats are teased out. In the latter, a sewing machine could always be used to anchor added float arrangements. In this swatch, a waffle weave effect of sorts was intended between EON rib columns. The horizontal pairs of treads are an easy guide for feeding the yarn across rows with the work off the machine. Here the chenille was “woven in” off the machine using a tapestry needle, double-strand at the top 2 rows, single below them. Beads can also be threaded and laid in one at a time between the rib columns, Any fabric with eyelets may be used as a ground for inserting fabric strips, very thick yarns, even hard objects such as rods or twigs. A quick grab of random studio bits resulted in these: torn fabric has frayed edges that can be used to create secondary patterns depending on the fabric, and the way the strips behave depends on the width of the cut. A bodkin is useful in the threading process. Bodkins measure about 3 inches, and cost about $3 in US sewing supply stores a narrower strip of the same fabric began to permanently twist using thick yarns  Plastic bag strips “woven” on a Passap, “floats” were cut after finishing the piece used in a wearable made during my student days for a “recycling” art day. Hooking “things” on in a variety of ways, varied wraps, mixed techniques roving
strips of torn silk individually placed  wire shavings, on bulky  lace and trims hair decor and kite string tube knit on child’s circular “machine”

Finished items from eons ago, the pillow used the gauge calculated based on  the chenille swatch included above, the sweater was for my mom, likely knit in the very late 1980s