Ribber Fabrics – alessandrina.com

Geometric shapes on ribber fabrics with tuck stitches 3

The sources of inspiration from hand knitting or industrial knitting machine designs are endless. There are many features that simply cannot be duplicated, sometimes compromises can be reached that can achieve only imitations of the original. To my mind when knitting garments or long pieces the greater the degree of automation, the less likely one is to have patterning errors occur, in ribber fabrics, they are also more complicated to correct than single bed knitting.
I recently came across a pin of a Ravelry hand knit pattern which led to my return to this topic once more, including perhaps the addition of more colors. The plan is to create a repeat which may be knit using color changes every 2 rows. Each design row knits each color twice, so the standard built-in KRC separation is not a consideration, though the same cam settings may be used in those fabrics as well.
The required color separation has been discussed in several posts on the various forms of DBJ, a review:
The initial test repeat is 18 stitches by 44 rows, designed using 2 X 2 blocks, to begin with. How it might appear knit in fair isle: Transitions in charting visualizations:
A: FI repeat with pattern progression in two-row increments
B: every even-numbered row beginning with row 2 is color reversed
C: B repeat is doubled in length to 18X88 for initial samples
D: repeat adjustment for a first try at introducing 2 additional colors End needle selection is canceled, the first and last needles are in work on each side on the ribber knitting every row, the first preselection row is from right to left, cam buttons are set after the left side is reached. Knitting in these samples began with the blue yarn in the number 2 position in the color changer. The ribber remains set for knitting in both directions throughout, the images on the right do not reflect the amount of surface 3D textures.
with the main bed set to tuck in both directions: Lock settings are easier to achieve on the Passap than switching out cam buttons in Brother machines. This was knit using 4 carriages. Color one knits with the main bed set to tuck both ways, color two knits with the main bed set to slip both ways. The slip stitch reduces the width of the fabric considerably Here each color alternately tucks and slips. The choice of cam buttons matters, tucking first from left to right, slipping from right to left, with cam buttons set COL after the first preselection row This last cam setting appears to my eye to produce a texture “close enough” to the inspiration fabric. Attempting to add more colors: the repeat, D, is still 18 X 88 but is now shifted slightly. Somehow the slip cam button was not set, so the knit carriage tucked in one direction while knitting in the other. I am vaguely reminded of illusion knits. Considering altering both the color choices and placements again. A way to imagine exact color change placements beginning with solid colors repeats once more, which can be followed by new color separations. The existing repeat may be reduced further to 18 X 64, eliminating some of those extra rows in the center of the chevron shape The new BW image, tiled: Whether or not the design is intended to retain chevron shapes in alternating textures, actions may be plotted pre knitting in any way that visually makes sense to the person designing the pattern and tools available to them. Reversing the png so that the more textured stitches will begin with the color in yarn position 1Using either repeat, color changes now occur after every 32 rows knit. Another color change location clue is in the needle selection change above and immediately following the red border in the chart on the left. Adding colors can be planned cautiously or allowed to happen randomly depending on the preferences of the designer and end-use. Ribber fabric designs are not visible until several inches have been knit, too late to catch color sequence errors. Some machines allow for memo placements or sounds to help track color changes, but only within the initially programmed repeats. A quick spreadsheet can provide customizable checkboxes or added information. For an attempt to retain chevron shapes in different textures: When using 3 colors, rather than 4, the texture of the zigzags on any specific color, will vary in placement. It is easy to change colors in any chart to approximate those that will actually be used in the knitting. Proof of concept: each of my yarns is slightly different in both thickness or fiber content from the others, which can be a drawback in resulting textures. As in any 2 color dbj, if 4 consequent rows are knit in one of two colors the positive and negative portions of the image reverse, as seen at the top of the swatch. The green was not intended to be used originally, the white yarn simply ran out. Such accidents at times may provide pleasant improvements. There is bleed-through of each color behind the other in the tighter knit areas as well which contributes to visual color blending, noticeable even in the areas with fewer tucked stitches. Splitting zig-zags into triangles, working color 1 with color 2, followed by color 3 with color 4 pairings A PDF including row numbers and space for notations zig zag
An editable Excel spreadsheet created as an export from numbers zig zag
For Mac owners a Numbers doc. zig zag
A simpler repeat suitable punchcard owners as well using only 2 colors The test swatch and observations: patterning was begun with color 2, yellow.
The yellow yarn is 12/16, the maroon is 2/15 in thickness.
The triangle, because slip and tuck stitch settings are used, is compressed in height, while there is enough tuck happening to still make the knit wider.
The pattern is 24 stitches wide, the swatch was knit on 40 needles. Smaller swatches are fine for testing tension and colors. If committing to larger pieces, tests on at least 100 stitches by 100 rows are needed for gauge calculations in any double bed work or very textured patterns on the single bed. On some occasions when a far larger number of needles are in use, problems may turn up that require going back to the drawing board in terms of items ie tension settings, weight used, etc.
A: patterning was begun with thicker yarn, the yellow, in color changer position 2, both yarns are 100% wool
B: KCI, end needle selection on, a 2 color “beaded” edge is created
C: KCII, end needle selection canceled, patterning occurs on end needles
D: transferring to the top bed and using the standard latch tool bind off for these fabrics is far too tight The tiled repeat, 24X48, does keep the stitch quality constant for both colors, Assumptions based on optics of tiling are not always accurate clues to potential patterning errors, here those darker lines are part of the actual design Continuing on a 24 stitch repeat, the original design may be rendered at double height and separated once more, doubling the separation height to 96 rows There are days when either or both machine and knitter need a break. At the start of the first swatch, the cam buttons were not set, resulting in plain knit stripes. At its top, the purple did not get picked up properly from the color changer, and the knitting of course fell off the machine. On a second try, the same issue happened again with the purple yarn. Multiple incidences of such events were fondly nicknamed “dropitis” by my students. The test is on 24 stitches, the width of a single repeat, the triangles are much more balanced in size, this knitter is putting this pattern to rest. Another try at the diamond shapes that began this topic. The first .png when tiled appeared to not have enough space between the shapes, was amended to this the differences when tiled the color separation can happen completely within Gimp using color invert the white yarn is an acrylic, slightly thicker than the purple toned one. Sometimes simply exchanging yarn positions can change the qualities of the overall fabric. The repeat begins with 2 blank rows. To achieve the tighter white shape as opposed to the honeycomb purple one, at the start of the repeat that color needs to be in use on rows where knit stitches happen as the KC, set on slip to the right, knits needles brought forward to D position. Red in this chart segment marks pertinent rowsBoth with hand knits and commercial knits because of the hand actions possible on both sides in the first, and as many as 4 beds selecting and knitting on the other may be in use at the same time with more complex needles as well, there are fabrics that are difficult or even impossible to duplicate. There often are obvious differences in the results, but the journey may still yield results that are pleasing and worth pursuing. Another even more complex inspiration from a sweater attributed to Falke, Spring 20 collection, using similar stitch structures, but in addition, also transferring stitches between beds exposing a purl striped ground.

Tuck lace trims and fabrics 3

The term lace is often used in publications to refer to fabrics created with techniques other than the familiar hand or machine stitch transfers. In turn, the ribber may be added to working most of the fabrics with varying degrees of complexity. Some variations are possible only on specific machine brands, at times possible in others with adaptation and addition of other techniques. Many combination fabrics may be achieved, mixing carriage settings or adding hand techniques. A list of common terms applied to “lace” that include tuck patterning:
Hand transfers: used to create eyelets, possibly in combination with pattern stitches out of work, and moving stitches singly or in groups
Tuck and lace: transfers combined with tuck stitch patterning
“Lace like patterns”: possible in machines such as Brother and Passap, which allow for the same stitches tucking in one direction, slipping on the return of the knit carriage to its starting side. It matters which function leads in the pattern
Tuck lace: tuck setting in both directions with specific needles out of work
Ladder Lace: worked with columns created by needles left out of work, tuck being an option in the knit portions
Punch tuck rib: every needle rib combined with tucking pattern on the knit bed Drive/ drop stitch lace: stitches start on either of the 2 beds, loops are picked up and dropped on the opposite bed
A list of the headings for most of the tuck stitch variants covered in my posts is now added to the start of my blog index

Once a stitch has been tested, unusual yarns, including wire may be used Getting back to basics: a punchcard sometimes supplied in factory packs provided with machine purchases, is shown here in 1/3 of the minimum 36-row card repeat, while the minimum electronic repeat is outlined in red, measures 4 stitches by 4 rows Adding needles out of work by simply choosing to cast on and working on every other needle it does not matter whether even or odd needles are in use, the pattern will be identical but simply shifted over by one needle. For frequent color changes, make the first preselection row toward the color changer to start with, keep notes as to where the repeat color selections happen as experiments are expanded, evaluate color choice as a third or even fourth color are introduced Though casting on and binding off both need to be considered for extra width, having sections of the repeat knitting in plain knit will help sort the needle arrangement and loop structures when tucked knits appear similar-looking The repeat on any tuck row can help test the number of rows a particular yarn will allow before the number of loops in the needle hooks become too many to knit off well. The added texture, or elimination of any, could be used in borders or occasional horizontal portions of the knit Some of the concepts in the visualization of more deliberate color placement through charting was discussed in the post: Single bed tuck and slip stitch fabrics 2: adding color
A starting repeat from a Pinterest image inspiration: the blue yarn will knit on every needle the third tuck row on the machine the fourth tuck row with needle preselection for the first all knit blue row one blue row knit Accommodating those blocks of knit stitches in the pin also changes the repeat to six stitches by 6 rows, making it usable on punchcard machines as well Two from one: the same tuck repeat was altered by changing the needle out of work arrangements. Slub yarn may be used but changes the value of the lines formed by the floats created in the needles out of work gaps. In my classes, I encouraged students to create long swatches testing out their patterns in a variety of stitch types with color changes as well. Thet can serve as a visual reference to duplicate effects when time has passed. Here the tuck pattern, not suitable for FI at all, is tested as DBJ, followed by needle transfers between beds and adding the tuck setting. There is a dramatic difference in width, the wool yarn has a lot of “spring”, wanting to narrow when at rest The self-designed stitch structures may be further changed visually and complicated in terms of execution by adding changes to the ribber setting so that it does not knit every rowPublications for electronic machines do not always include pertinent instructions, but they will include out of work needle diagrams below each appropriate repeat. The gray cells represent white squares, which correspond to non-selected needles but also in this case to out-of-work needle position areas where open spaces are created. The 4, 6, 8 stitch repeats are also usable in punchcard machines. These are from the Stitchworld pattern book, all with the exception of 282 are to be used with needles out of work

My first non repetitive DBJ explorations on 930

WORK IN PROGRESS

I created large-scale nonrepetitive image garments very early in my knitting career using Cochenille Bitknitter and Commodore computers linked to a Passap E6000. Over time my focus changed considerably, with any production knitting moving onto accessories as I began to make items for sale in galleries and in shows, most often single bed on a Brother 910. If knitting is a primary source of income, one needs to consider production time management, material costs, and what the local market will bear in terms of pricing.
A post, written in 2018, began to explore two-color-dbj-non-repetitive-images-electronic-kms/. At that time I did not have a machine model capable of using img2track.
An orphaned 930 entered my life, and with rare exceptions, over the past few years, my blog sample swatches have been knit using img2track, which I have found easy, reliable, with any programming errors due to the operator issues including learning the differences from 910 programming and remembering to actually use them.
No matter how long any of us have been knitting, there can be many aaargh moments both in everyday knitting and when exploring new techniques.
I have a supply of lovely 2/48 cash-wool in royal blue, black, and grey. Three strands worked predictably on my punchcard machine in a series of my spiky scarves, shown in progress on the machine. Nearly all my previous dbj pieces have been knit on a Passap E6000. The 930 experience for such repeats is new to me. With some help from Tanya Cunnigham in reviewing steps required when using img2track, I returned to cellular automata repeat saved years ago.
I encountered problems with the triple strands of blue not feeding evenly, here both colors were picked up by the changer accidentally, I realized the issue, trying to unravel the row of knitting produced this That provided an opportunity to decide I preferred the reverse color placement as well as wanting a thicker ply for the white, resulting in twice the fun with 2 colors, and another scrapped sample Switching the white to a single-ply thicker yarn made its stitch formation far more manageable. The blue however seemed to have a single strand of the three with a propensity for catching on gate pegs. I tried tension adjustments, the usual tips in managing static. At about row 1,000 out of 1288 rows, I realized I had an issue with both yarns being caught on gate pegs. In trying to lift the stitches off, the yarn broke but gave with no immediate visible clues, the dropped stitches and a lovely hole, as a result, appeared when knitting had progressed far enough below the current knit rows. On the left, the work is shown still on the machine, while on the right, it is off the machine, and in the process of a patch job with a temporary accessory and stitch holder in place. I was able to achieve a reasonable repair on the knit side, but the birdseye pattern on the reverse is a bit scrambled. For folks that are not familiar with electronics and are curious, the 930 has the smallest memory of the later Brother electronic models. My pattern repeat is 74 stitches wide by 644 rows in height. The user manual explains: the KH-930 takes just a few seconds to load the track because the memory holds only 2 KB of data (about 13000 stitches). Later models have a much larger memory (32 KB). The KH-940 and KH-950i require 42 seconds to load a track. The KH-965i and KH-970 load only the requested pattern, so the loading time depends on the size of the pattern. img2track indicates progress as the data is sent to the KM. When the pattern has finished loading, the KM should beep, and show the green READY light and a 1 in the display (for row 1). The program automatically chooses Selector 2 for a single image and centers it. You may change this by using the normal pattern selecting process on the knitting machine, choose Selector 1 for all-over patterning, or use Selector 2 and choose a different location on the needle bed to center the pattern. If your pattern was divided into more than one track, you will have to load successive tracks when completing the previous track, specific instructions are given for programming subsequent tracks. My pattern was broken down into 4 tracks.
The cable used for downloads to the machine is used externally, no alterations to the machine’s hardware are required as when using Ayab on the 910. The pattern is stored in the machine, so the computer needs to be awake only during downloads, not constantly as in programs that use knit-from-screen.
Each track for 2 color DBJ using the KRC built-in separation is entered in numerical order as a new pattern with first-row preselection from the left to the right and first row knit from right to left toward the color changer. If the repeat is not planned for the number of needles in use, any position or change to all-over design needs to be re-entered, and the KRC button must also be set again.
Cam button settings are set according to the chosen dbj variations for either or both beds. End needle selection is usually canceled. In some patterns using it can create an interesting beaded edge on either side, which is worth testing on small samples to determine one’s preference.
I like to plan my pieces beginning with the dark color, plan my repeats with the deliberate placement of both colors, and any scaling in the pattern BMP prior to download, using Gimp. I also prefer to have color 1 as the dark, color 2 as the light. The default in the Japanese DBJ separation uses the light color, white squares, as color 1. Out of habit I color reverse my images so my first preselected row from right to left can just knit my black squares rather than the white, and I can continue my motifs as I intended while having machine prompts for each color also match.
Pausing knitting is easy as long as the needle selection is not disturbed. Ending with COR avoids any confusion about which color should be used next. Starting outside the set mark, turn the machine back on, and simply continue in pattern with appropriate color changes.
Tanya Cunningham manages and moderates the membership, settings, and posts for the Img2track – For Machine Knitters group on Facebook.
These were her tips and reminders to me for handling pauses in knitting immediately after the following track in the sequence is first downloaded: let’s say that either some needles got pushed in or repositioned, or for whatever reason, you don’t have certainty that the last row of needle selection is reliable, and you want to “re-select” the last row before you knit it, the last track you knitted should still be in the memory, even though you’ve completed that part of the pattern.
1. Push all needles back to Pos B.
2. remove the yarn from the feeder, disconnect the K carriage from the R carriage.
3. Turn Change/Selector knob from KCII to N (NOTE, this will cause your PART buttons to de-select)
4. press BOTH PART buttons.
5. Move K carriage to right. No needles will knit, since all are in POS B, and both PART buttons are depressed, AND no needles will select, since you’ve moved the change/selector knob to N, and the memo will not record any advancement of row. (However, if you’re using your mechanical row counter, it WILL record a row, and one on the way back so plan to either disable the ribber arm or plan to turn the counter back 2 rows)
6. Now you will have to re-select the last row of needles for the track you’ve most recently knitted. First, verify that KRC is activated. Now, you will have to push the up/down arrow buttons to select the very last row of the pattern which will be an even number, and color 1. Depending on whether the carriage was moved in such a way as to activate the sensor enough to cause the memo to advance, you may be able to simply use the row that’s showing, but even beginning the movement of the carriage may advance it. To be sure, what I do is to advance (in this case to Row 1 Color 1), and then back up one row, using the arrow buttons.
7. Move your Change/Selector knob to KCII, be sure to move outside the turn mark. Verify KRC; memo says last row, color 1; both PART buttons in. Now, move your carriage right-to-left, to select the last row of the previous track.
8. Load color 1 in the carriage, load next track into the machine, KRC selected.
9. Now, as you knit to the right, you will be knitting the last row of the previous track, and selecting needles for the first row of the next track. Carry on.

In terms of generating cellular automata math-based patterns, the Wolfram website is a great place to explore repeats. A player, temporarily unavailable to Mac users is presently available, allows for the download of interactive demos in .cdf format. In terms of knitting any of the repeats, the most suitable appear to be ones that are generated in black and white to start with. Not all are, and at times changing the mode to bitmapped in programs such as Gimp can produce a glitched effect. Though the latter may be interesting and desirable to some, I prefer clean lines and diagonals along with identifiable shifts in the scale of any triangular components.

I am often amazed at the speed with which time passes, previous related posts: 2015/12/09/cellular-automata-charts-for-knitting-etc/
Previously knit repeats 2017/09/11/my-new-knitting-projects/

Weaving drafts may also serve as inspiration for knitting repeats. Posts with related content: 2015/11/28/weaving-drafts-as-inspiration-for-other-textile-techniques/, and 2018/07/02/numbers-to-gimp-to-create-images-for-electronic-download/. These images are extracted from a draft for an advancing twill. One may explore segment placement and color reversals easily using programs such as Gimp. There is also potential for exchanging colors to get a sense of how the pattern might appear in different colorways My planned test repeat is 76 stitches wide by 556 rows high.

Interlock explorations 2; adding needles out of work

Most variations using tuck settings will loosen the fabric structure, slip stitches will narrow it. The behavior is consistent in working on both single and double beds. Color changes may be added.
There are only very short descriptions and schematics for the more complex tuck interlocks online, making attempting them a puzzle, where efforts at piecing it may not necessarily lead to correct answers, but still produce interesting knits. The ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies that draft international standards for subjects including knitting. My charts for the tuck interlocks were personal interpretations based on a few of their illustrations, among which is this for cross tuck 1, which appears to be the most straightforward, with every needle knitting on one bed, while the other works the basic 2X2 stitch alternating repeat on either one of the 2 beds translated for knitting, patterning may be used on either bed, with the opposite bed set to knit every stitch. If patterning is on the ribber, have the first and last needles in work on the main bed. The top bed is set to tuck in both directions, the fabric is shown lightly stretched and could conceivably be used to create a ruffled edge when followed by narrower stitch types ie. every needle rib or Milano variants Changing settings: with the knit carriage set to slip in one direction, knit in the other, the ribber knitting every row
Needles may be taken out of work to create pleats in every needle ribs, alternating their placement between the 2 beds. Knit stitches stabilize tuck ones. Here every other needle is taken out of work on only one bed. The tuck loops are more visible in any open spaces between the vertical rows of ribbed stitches. The ribber will knit every row on the same needles aligning directly above each other, thus ruling out full pitch.
The needles are set up so that the first and last are in use on the ribber, ensuring that a knit stitch will be on the side of any tuck stitch selected on the top bed, on the top bed the every other needle tuck selection reverses as the direction of the knit carriage does, needles brought forward knit, the ones skipped hold tuck loops in their needle hooks, the resulting fabric Other explorations with needle out of work:
Milano waffle: single color, 4 passes with every needle knitting, 4 passes tubular, more passes of each may be added to distribute color changes. The number of needles in work on the main bed remains fixed. Choosing spacing between needles in work on the main bed A working repeat with 4 circular rows, 6 full rows knit My first swatch in the technique was in response to a Ravelry member share describing the stitch pattern used in a finished garment The main bed is programmed, set to slip both ways after the first preselection row. After 2 rows knit on both beds, the ribber is then switched to slip in one direction, knit in the other in response to needle selection on the top bed. Main bed needles out ribber slips, main bed needles in B, ribber knits. After 4 circular passes, the ribber is again set to knit for 2 rows. The appearance during knit rows followed by float formation when only the top bed knits The resulting grid may be used as a guide for hand techniques off the machine in isolated areas or all over Repeating the experiment with 2 stitches on each edge, this time disengaging the ribber and knitting 2 rows only on the top bed only rather than knitting circular rows and changing ribber settings. The floats are brought closer together, the fabric is far quicker to knit. Needle arrangements may be varied to accommodate thicker yarns, or alter the texture by varying both the number of knit rows and circular ones Windowpane bourrelet: beds are supposedly at full pitch, I had better success at half-pitch. The same bed is used for single bed rows as for basic bourrelet, a color change to try: every 6 rows Because the top bed needles are in pairs, the EON selection remains evident, each of the first 2 passes completes one row of knitting.
When only the top bed knits, floats are formed between the needles in work Knitting went more smoothly when 3 needles on the top bed were used on each end The ribber carriage was disengaged to allow the pattern to knit only on the top bed. When there are needles out of work, floats will be created between the needles in work. The length of the swatch was determined when I noticed the yarn was not properly placed in the feeder, and I had already begun to drop stitches on the left side. It is one of the things to watch for, and which may merit a small preventive hack to keep the yarn from accidentally slipping out of its proper place. Half Milano with tucked long stitch: the main bed needles will tuck one row, then slip one row. The ribber needles will first knit a row, then slip a row while the second bed knits both rows. Then the ribber needles knit one row then slip a row while the second bed knits two rows. I have had no success with trying to execute my interpretation of the directions without getting floats on the top bed, and the photo in Machine Knitter’s Guide to Creating Fabrics is not clear enough to distinguish if there indeed are floats on the surface of the fabric. The experimental repeat Having the ribber knit every row produces many more rows on the purl side than on the knit, so the vertical all knit columns do ripple a bit. In this stitch version, with pattern knitting beginning from the left, the main bed is set to alternately tuck and slip using the half-pitch setting row one preselected for knitting the first row has been knit, the second knit row preselected the second row knit, no preselection for tuck or slip the tuck row is formed with the knit pass to the right, no preselection the row of stitches is skipped on the way to the left, preselecting for the next first knit row, tuck loops visible on top of the hooks of the selected needles the process is repeated. The resulting fabric: Tucked pique: knit the same as for pique, but with cams set for tuck on the top bed, set beds at half-pitch.In DIY the potential for exploration is endless. As always, if needles are out of work on the main bed, end needle selection is canceled. Here slip setting in both directions is used, along with needles out of work on both beds, the 1X1 needle repeat is programmed. Set up is with ribber needles in work between needles preselected for knit stitches on the top bed. Beginning patterning on the left after the initial preselection from the right, the ribber setting:
the result has floats on the purl side, a slightly pleated look on the knit side. Playing with color and texture: use 2 or 3, change colors every 2 rows, every 4, or at the end of each full pattern repeat.
Change one or both cams from slip to tuck.
Try adding racking when using tucking on the main bed
Vary working needle arrangements with interlock settings.

The ISO illustrations gave clues as to whether the same number of needles are at work in any pass on each bed. The intent with the second pass in each pair of passes is to create a slipped, tucked, or knit stitch in between the alternate needles on the opposite bed.
Cross miss interlock: in this instance, tuck loops alone with no in-between knit stitches are created on the top bed, in the same spots where stitches were slipped on the previous pass. Starting side does not matter, but being consistent makes experimentation easier to understand and follow. The lili buttons, set to slip in both directions remain unchanged on the ribber carriage throughout. The knit carriage is set to slip in both directions as well as to hold. My swatch began with a knit stitch selection on the top bed, marked with a red line the length of the repeat below, and needles were arranged accordingly. The tuck loops are created using a hand technique and holding combined with patterning
This shows the elongated stitches between ones that will be knit on the next pass. On rows 3 and 6 of the pattern, there will be no needle pre-selection, but the elongated slipped stitches will still be identifiable. After both no preselection row bring alternate needles out to hold using any EON needle tool. In my case, COL, I began with needle 1 on the left on row 3, alternating beginning with needle 2 on the left on row 6. The number of rows in between hand techs is an odd one, so sides for the hand tech will alter as well. This shows the tuck loops formed EON as the carriages travel to the right.
Prior to resuming pattern knitting, needles with loops on them need to be returned to the B position, maintaining the EON needle preselection for the next pass
Repeat the process when design row 6 is reached, beginning with needle 2 on the left. The texture appears on the purl side of the piece, shown on the left
This repeat uses 6 passes as well. The tuck loops on the top bed occur above slipped stitches in the previous pass, which may be replicated, but the real problem is that every third row on the ribber is also having to tuck on specific needles with no knit stitches between them. The tuck loops happen directly above knit stitches formed in the previous row if the tucking lever is changed manually from R to P on those rows. That is a lot to juggle, a no. Here the eon tuck would fall on slipped stitches in the previous pass, so that is doable. It is possible to fool the lili selection into believing there are extra needles in work on each side of the ribber, which can “make” the first stitch on either side knit rather than slip or tuck. The method is used in creating a striper backing in Brother DBJ and would require fiddling with needles on the ribber in an irregular selection repeat as well as the hand technique on the top bed. Another definite no. This pattern repeat is a short one, the changes are more regular on the ribber. The hand tech tuck stitches could be formed for 2 rows with all stitches getting worked back to B position in between those preselected for the next pattern row. The lili buttons need to get fooled after alternating pairs of rows, the start of several nos for me.

Interlock explorations 1

Interlock is produced commercially on special circular machines and some double system flatbed knitting machines. The patent for the associated circular machine was applied for in 1907, and a copy may be found in the google patents archive. The stitch originally commonly used cotton, in machines that were able to produce a gauge of 20 stitches per inch, often used in T-shirt knits. As technology expanded so did the possibilities for a wider range of gauge and expanded structures.
I have found references to accordion, fleecy, Piquette, cross mix, and bourrelet interlock versions, enough to make one’s head ache when considering forming them on home knitting machines.
The fabric lies flat, relaxes in width but is fairly stable in height. It has good shape retention, raw or cut edges don’t curl, and it will unravel only from the last row knit. There are many variations including eight-lock, bourrelet, Ponte di Roma, and waffle weaves. Many directions are included in Machine Knitter’s source. Interestingly enough, they are shared in the chapter on knit weaving. The instructions given are for punchcard machines, often accompanied by a hand selection of needles in either or both beds. Hand selection on the ribber is easier to track by having an even number of needles in work on the ribber, bringing the first up on the left, then the first up on the right, so the illustrations for stitch formations are written that way, the selected needles knit. Lili button selection begins with slipping the first stitch, followed by knitting the second stitch on both sides. In most fabrics, as long as the remaining repeat aligns starting with a slip stitch on the ribber does not matter, as the complete repeat is shifted over by a needle. The structure can be knit with color changes to produce vertical stripes of various lengths. My initial proofs of concepts are usually in single colors.
In interlock, alternate stitches are knit on each bed, so it takes two complete carriage passes to complete a single row of knitting, making the resulting fabric thicker and heavier, with the same appearance on both sides, making it reversible. Carriage passes need to be distinguished from design rows. Charts indicate both, but not necessarily numbers reflected on mechanical row counters.
The usual rib configuration Planning for interlock:

The fabric may be executed on Brother knitting machines by programming 1X1 needle selection on the main bed, with the smallest component bordered in red. The Brother ribbers have a matching needle selection to when the lili buttons are used with the machine set to slip in both directions. Studio or Knitmaster knitters would require an RJ1 ribber carriage. I refer to the marks on the Brother ribber needle tape as blanks and dashes. When lili buttons are in use, one must work on an even number of needles. Pairs of both are required. The starting placement on either of the 2 marks does not matter, the first needle on the carriage side on the left will always slip, with the last stitch away from the carriage always being knit. This observable if one “air knits”, slowly moving the ribber carriage from side to side. As in any pattern knitting, needles selected to D or E will knit, the ones lined up in B position will slip or tuck. The needle selection needs to be coordinated so that needles opposite each other are not selected at the same time. Since the first needle on the ribber will slip, the first needle used in the pattern preselected on the main bed must be selected forward to knit, and the number of needles in work set up accordingly. Many published illustrations begin patterning from the right. I prefer to do so from the left. My final repeats were planned with needle placement shifted over by one so as to begin with a knit stitch on the top bed, a slip stitch on the ribber due to the fact that the ribber lili selection is fixed to always begin with a slipped stitch. Starting with the carriages beginning on the left side, the first needle in work on the ribber is on the left, the last needle in work on the top bed is on the right, an even number of stitches are in work on each bed. The setup after the first preselection row, with COL: Imagining the sequences required to complete a single row of knitting. I prefer to start with a knit stitch on the left, top bed, end needle selection is canceled
When testing new ideas, particularly in rib setups, I often begin on a small number of needles and in a way that feels “safe”. This was my first test, with the ribber set at half-pitch. There is an obvious difference in rib before the slip stitch segment and the every-needle, EN, segment. Using a very thin space-dyed cotton, tension 4 on both beds, produced a soft, drapey, squishy fabric. Because once the cast on and needle set up are complete, the knitting occurs on every other needle in alternate directions, full-pitch is used without any problem even though every needle is in use on both beds. These fabrics will knit both at half-pitch and full-pitch once the pattern needle selection is established. The difference may not be noticeable depending on yarn choice and tension, or ribs may appear to group together in pairs. Pleating in interlock may be produced by removing needles alternating from each group. The tuck setting may be used in these experiments as well, resulting in additional width.
Pique variants: rows 1 and 2 complete one row of knitting using both beds
row 3 knits on the main bed alone
rows 4 and 5 complete one row of knitting using both beds
row 6 knits on the ribber alone
charting out possible actions and repeat adjustment. The rows where only a single bed knits will create long stitches due to their being skipped on the opposite bed. Reversing and alternating the selections make the fabric reversible. The tricky part would be canceling out lili action on the ribber every 6 rows when the top bed alone needs to knit, row 3 in the design repeat. To accomplish this, after row 3 is preselected with the carriage on the left by releasing the ribber carriage, lean it forward so it will not engage any needles in work on the ribber resulting in dropped stitches, and moving it to the opposite side of the machine. One can actually get into a rhythm doing this. As the knit carriage moves from left to right, only the main bed needle selection will knit. When the KC reaches the right, engage the ribber carriage, and knit until the same design row is reached. The blank row at the top of the 6-row repeat automates and allows for the carriages to knit from right to left on the ribber only, again creating some long stitches on skipped needles.
The selection continues to be EON after proper needle set up, so the full pitch setting is used once again prior to continuing in the pattern. This is an instance of cast-on and bind-off edges that will tend to be pulled a bit wider than the remaining knit. Depending on the final use for the fabric, that may or may not be a consideration.
I usually begin with tentative charts in a spreadsheet to consider what components may be automated and what might be the most advantageous selection of patterns on the main bed. At this point, my solution for no stitches knitting on the ribber for single rows remains to knit the carriage forward and remove it from the equation for that row.
Swiss pique or overknit is a half-pitch fabric. It looks like French pique but is a little narrower. Looking at completed knit rows, identifying the top bed patterning, isolating patterning selections carriage passes required The ribber here knits in one direction, slips in the other. The first preselection row is made toward the color changer, needle set up is checked as for previous samples, the ribber is set to knit to the right, slip to the left the appearance of the stitches when both carriages knit after only the top bed knits with slip stitch floats behind every skipped stitch, which, in turn, will appear longer on the knit facePonte di Romathe modified version of the repeat used in my test swatchPairs of rows of interlock are followed by pairs of circular rows. The repeat was changed and the second color was used to define the difference in stitch formation between the two groups, color changes were made every four rows. Using a single pair of carriages and having to constantly change cam settings appears far too complicated to manage for producing any length of fabric. My hack for making things easier and faster was to resort to knitting with 4 carriages. One pair was set for interlock operating from the left, the other set so as to achieve tubular knit. The ribber carriage is set to knit from right to left and to slip from left to right when the main bed knits. The knit carriage is set to slip in both directions so that the pattern selection remains continuous. It will slip all stitches while moving to the left on rows with no needle preselection, knit on all preselected needles on its return to the right.
Extension rails are used since both KCs are selecting patterns. I wrote about the concept of using 4 carriages in 2019, in the Geometric shapes on ribber fabrics with tuck stitches: knitting with 4 carriages post. The difference here is that the carriages on the left do not have the added benefit of support from the color changer. The elastics placed as shown may have been more for my psychological well-being than for the continued proper function of machine parts. There is a limit to the width of knitting that may be produced this way with the carriages coupled on each end. The knit carriages may travel off the top bed and onto the extension rails safely, but the ribber carriages must remain anchored enough on the rear rail so as not to go flying off on their own while clearing the end of the belt on each side. I prefer leaving the slide lever in the center position in all my rib knitting and am not convinced as to a visible difference between knitting at half or full pitch in the swatches with the yarns I have used so far.
Bourrelet is characterized by horizontal relief ridges on one side, is made with an interlocking base, is sometimes referred to as ottoman rib or ripple stitch, is sometimes referred to as Evermonte, is knitted at half-pitch. The combined carriages knit for 4 rows, followed by four rows knitting on the top bed alone. Seeking a workaround other than disengaging ribber carriage or canceling lili selection and leaving the carriage on the slip setting in both directions on rows where only the top bed knits, one option to speed up the process is to hack a main bed sinker plate. The result is the ability to use a second knit carriage to select and knit patterns on the top bed only, operating from the opposite side. Four passes on either bed complete 2 rows of knitting. The post on ribber fabrics produced with 2 knit carriages selecting needles describes the process in more detail. To use the yarn from the right, only before the first carriage pass to the left, its end needs to be knit through a stitch on that side to anchor it. A different cone or ball of the same color and weight yarn may be used, or in my case, I used a thin, different fiber in a second color.
The swatch was knit in four-row sequences, there is a subtle ridge apparent on the knit side created when only its rows knit, which could easily have enhanced by knitting more rows on the single bed. In eight lock hand selection is required on the ribber, the technique reminds one of the double-faced aka reverse jacquard fabrics. My initial test was to knit twice as wide a repeat, thinking it might be easier to identify stitch formation, working on 4 X an odd number of stitches, in this case, 36, beginning and ending with knitting on the top bed, but 1: I actually cast on 34. In a swatch, such adjustments 2: are easy to make. The only automated selection of needles on the ribber is EON using lili buttons, in any other configuration there is no choice but to hand-select needles in between selected needles on the main bed. Casting on at half-pitch begins with the first needle in work on the top bed, the last in work on the ribber. Once the first row has been preselected, and the pitch is changed to P the ribber moves to the left, leaving an even number of needles in work opposite each other on both beds. Both carriages are set to slip in both directions. The knit carriage will knit the automatically selected needles, slip the unselected, while the ribber knits needles brought up manually to D position, skips the remaining ones in B.
A 2X2 needle selection tool for a 9 mm machine or a 7 prong transfer tool may be adjusted and used to help bring up the proper needles to E position on the ribber. single row pockets are formed. Even though the needles are in full pitch, if an error in needle selection 3: happens across a row a tip-off will be that floats are created on the main bed between selected needles, and there will be a textural change across the row of knitting unless the error is corrected.
If another yarn end or a second color is added, as always, check and make certain the first few stitches knit. Proper lighting and using a yarn color and thickness that can actually be distinguished on the needle bed are useful to avoid 4: dropped stitches not being noticed. The color change 5: shows that a single row is indeed completed with every 2 passes of the carriages, and there is a shift visually in the linear pattern. The same process could be applied to the charted repeat. A needle selector can speed up the manual work on the ribber for 2X2 selection

Tuck variations: tuck, cross tuck, royal, texi plique. So far these are my tentative charts for the stitches, each pair of rows represents a full single row of knitting. There are situations where cam settings would require changing from slip to tuck and some locations where the same needle selection repeats on subsequent rows, leaving lots to ponder about and proof, my starting charts are often edited and at times abandoned as the work progresses and both eyeballs and brain have had a break. In this instance, the topic will be reviewed again in a future post.

Since most of my swatches are experiments and I work by trial and error, I am now rethinking my repeats and reached the what am I doing? point.
I have some interesting or even pretty fabric swatches so far. Illustrations in published sources are often shown for interlock fabrics on every other needle, my supposition has been that with every needle in use on both beds, at half-pitch placing the needles on one bed in the center of those on the other and working in thin yarns the same repeats would work for achieving knits in these families, so in my illustrations, the symbols are placed to represent needles in work between each other on alternate beds, rather than truly on every other needle. To review, the differences between pattern selection using the slip or the tuck setting: with every needle in work on the ribber, the repeat is programmed on the top bed with the first preselection row from right to left, the needle setup, depending on the starting and ending needles used. With both part buttons pushed in, in every needle rib, the needles in D will knit, the ones in B get skipped completely. As the carriage passes to the right, the needles for the next row are preselected, come forward holding only the skipped stitches in the row just knit, while the alternate needles are set up to be skipped on the next pass to the left After the two passes one full row of knitting is completed on the patterning bed. The needle preselection is now on the next row of the repeat, in this case, row 1.Tuck setting using the same repeat behaves differently. With both tuck buttons engaged, by default, the needle on either side of the tuck stitch will knit, with every carriage pass. The starting preselection is the same as for the slip stitch version, after the first pass to the right, the preselected needles to D will have been knit, with tuck loops formed on the previously non-selected needles. Because the repeat alters needle positions every row, as the right side of the bed is reached, the tuck loops from row one will appear on the shank of the newly preselected to D position needles, ready to be knit, and the alternate group of needles is held back to create the next row of tuck loops as the carriages return to the left. The process repeats throughout. Two passes complete a single row of knitting. The carriage actions for completed passes 1 and 2 The result is a very pliable fabric that when relaxed off the machine and stretched shows the tuck structure more, is reversible. The basic repeat elongated on the top bed creates a vertical striped pattern if color changes are added, coordinated with needle selections, and are made every 2 rows. As an experiment, the double-length patterning was tried at the top of the swatch. At that point, the fabric is no longer reversible unless the 1X1 fixed needle selection is altered manually on the ribber. My yarn is thin, and the tension used on the loose side. The close-up begins to make the tuck loops a bit more visible. The swatch was knit at half-pitch. Using full pitch in patterns that allow for it, diminishes the appearance of “ladders” between rows of stitches, indicated by cyan arrows.
More basics: on the ribber, whether using lili buttons or not, these are the lever and change knob positions available Manually the tucking lever position can be changed from R to P for a single row or more of tucks and then returned to the R placement. Switching between the 2 stitch types on the ribber is far easier and less complicated than changing cam buttons on the main bed, however, there are no rows where only tucked loops are created without knit stitches beside each of them if the lili buttons are in use. Using the slip-tuck Brother selection on the main bed allows for slip and tuck settings to be used at the same time in the same row as long as opposite cam buttons are in use. Some of the old punchcard books include patterns referred to as “lace-like” using the setting. The starting side makes a difference in results as to whether one leads with a slip stitch float or a tuck loop in the actual knitting. Swatches in this post have begun with the first needle in work on the ribber and a forward, to be knit, stitch selection on the first needle on the top bed, with an even number in work on both beds. The end needle selection is canceled unless stated otherwise. The cam setting used for these tests the setup row with the first preselection row knit from the right, ending COL as the carriage moves back to the right, the previously not selected needles will slip and get a tad longer while being preselected forward to D for the next carriage pass. Once the pass is completed, the needle selection has reversed, the now non-selected needles will tuck as those same needles are preselected for the next pass from the right.
The appearance COR After the return pass to the left, the tuck loops are evident on top of the needles preselected forward to knitting position on the next pass to the right. Two carriage passes fill one row of knitting, here ending COL. On the ribber, as seen in the thumbnails, one may choose slip or tuck in one direction alternating with an all knit row in the other, or tuck or slip in both directions in an alternating pattern EON_EOR, on an even number of needles with the addition of lili buttons. The appearance on the ribber of the formation of the loops echoes that seen on the main bed changing needle placement unless the carriage is set to tuck in only one direction. A variant of the single bed capability for changing stitch type formation with direction may be achieved on the ribber by manually changing the tucking lever from R to P when the other side of the knitting is reached. A test can quickly be made to observe the stitch formation with the main bed set to knit every row. I chose the left tucking lever down to R when the carriages were on the left, up to P when the carriages reached the right. The tuck stitches with no further action line up over the knit stitches in the previous row There often are aaargh moments in knitting. This has happened to me with some 7 prong transfer tools before, here it did with a double eye tool on my transfer row prior to binding off. There must be a split in the eye of the tools not visible to the human eye resulting in the stitch entering the eye. So far I have been able to rescue the stitches involved, but not without lots of fiddling and some cursing Experiments outside the interlock family: the two-by-two repeat is supplied in most packets of cards that come with the purchase of a punchcard machine. At one point in time, Kate Armitage published a book containing 104 variations of knitting using the card, both single bed and combined with ribber use. There was also the equivalent for card #3, the point being variations are limited only by time and imagination. Because I am now completing posts over time online as opposed to working offline and then publishing, the opportunity is there to share mistakes as well as what appear to be successes at the moment. Once again I fell into the not-writing notes because it is so obvious mode and there was enough time lapse between my first knit swatch below and my writing about it that I was no longer certain about the settings used when sharing it. The knit has more stretch and texture than seen in the photo Re-swatching for possible variations, with notes this time and with lili buttons in use. If the cams are not in the up position on the ribber carriage, stitches will knit, not slip. N is king, without cam buttons in use in either bed, stitches will knit even if a pattern is being selected. There is an adequate stretch at the top allowing the fabric to relax achieved by transferring to the main bed and using a latch tool bind off around 2 gate pegs. The possible variations are endless, note to self: remember to keep good notes.

Double bed embossed patterns

Some of the previous blog posts containing applicable samples:
Ribber fabrics with stitch transfers between beds 1 Slip stitch patterns with hand transferred stitches, double bed Brother shadow lace, rib transfer carriage Combining knit carriage needle selection with racking Racked patterns 5: Passap/Brother 2
directions and samples from manuals including racking on tuck stitch and other ground variations, this on a tucked ground, in a thin yarn

Embossed, raised textures are familiar in single bed work using stitch structures such as tuck, slip, weaving, gathered and ruched hand techniques, and in double bed as pile, blister, lace, and ripple patterns.
When embossing is done double bed, the background fabric is knitted in purl stitches on one bed, and the raised design or panel in knit stitches on the other. The first method produces double knit patterns where all needles are working on the back bed, coupled with selected needles for the pattern on the opposite be. The raised, embossed portion is a double knit, showing relief on a purl ground. The second method is to use knit/ purl combinations, easiest to execute with a G carriage.
The striped ground occurs in areas where there are no needles in work and selected for patterning on the main bed. A cabled pattern to try: color changes in these instances are every 2 rows.
Because there are needles completely out of work on the main bed along with pattern selection, this is an instance where end needle selection must be canceled.
The first preselection row is from right to left toward the color changer.
Any transfers or stitch manipulations between or on either bed are made before the first pass to the right with the next color.
The knit carriage is set to slip both ways on the first pass in pattern from the left and stays there, the ribber is set to knit in both directions throughout. Depending on the yarn and the pattern distribution the all striped areas will be longer than those gathered by slipped rows. As usual, begin with a plan. After the first preselection row, transfers are made down to the ribber as indicated at the top of the chart. Cable transfers are made after every 14 knit rows, with stitches crossed on rows 15 and 31. After the cable cables are twisted, the stitches in the color that is going to knit in the next pass are brought out to E so they will knit in that color before the pass to the right, and again before the pass to the left, rows 16 and 32, Y.If the intent is to have solid vertical columns of color, those areas as in column marked A, need to be adjusted for using alternating colors as well. Using the repeat on the left of the chart After the first preselection row to left, transfers are made down to the ribber, stitches that will compose cables are selected in the pattern,
colors are changed after return to the left, and every 2 rows, stitches in the color that does not knit become elongated. Because column A was not color separated for alternating colors, each color in the corresponding needles will knit with every two carriage passes, and the result will be a striped vertical column Cable twists should be planned to retain the correct movent, can alternate each time or repeat in series, charts for location and direction of twists are helpful to avoid errors. The solid vertical columns here are planned in only one color, could be programmed to alternate as well. The repeat used in my swatch includes a solid column on each side of the finished piece, the color swap in the twist at the top can be an unplanned error or serve as a deliberate design change

Analyzing the stitch structures involved for planning 2 color DIY:
two-color ribs on a striped ground require cards or electronic repeats that select each color alternately. Fabric where the backing on the ribber or back bed in machines such as Passap knits all stitches every row is often referred to as half or full Milano. The backing may be also be knit using slip/ tuck settings.
Working in a single color, in half Milano and every needle rib course is followed by a plain knit row on the opposite bed, it is a 2-row repeat. In full Milano fabric, a row of every needle rib is followed by a plain knit row on one side of the fabric, and then by a plain knit course on the other. The repeat is three rows high. On every third row, the ribber carriage must be set to slip for one row, in the direction in which the carriage will be moving, prior to knitting a row with every needle preselection on the top bed. The setting is changed back to knit for 2 rows when the carriages reach the opposite side. The required cam change will happen on alternate sides. Both sides of the fabric have small stitches alternating with longer ones formed by slipped rows. half Milano full MilanoOften an all slip setting is used on the top or front bed, the result has less elasticity than a full needle rib, and the knit will have a tendency to curl toward the side which shows fewer knit rows, so in a finished piece side borders in the same stitch type should be considered.
Adding color changes in the ground requires altering the repeats.
Hand techniques may be used to modify ribs by cabling, racking, transferring stitches to the backing. When knitting again on empty needles, if you want eyelets, simply keep knitting. If not, hang the pull loop from the adjacent stitches on the opposite bed before resuming knitting.
Cable color placement must be reversed at the cable crossing.
Racked sequences are made along with stitch transfers.
To emboss other than vertical ribs the needle selection needs to be changed every 2 rows. This can be done manually, following a chart, or with programmed patterning whether with punchcard or electronic options.
Plaiting can produce 2 color variations without color separations.
When increasing stitches, moving the adjacent stitch onto the new needle, leaving it empty, will change the eyelet location a stitch away from the edge.
When moving stitches for decreases, lateral transfers may be made with multiple stitch transfer tools for different effects.
Transfer carriages can speed up the process.
To start the pattern one can begin with a cast on only on the ribber or back bed, or transfer non-selected stitches after the first preselection row on Brother as seen in most of my previous swatches, with 2 rows knitting on the backing alone, and 2 rows of the main color knitting on both beds. With either cast on, the preselection row is made toward the color changer with needles in work position on the main bed, so the knit carriage needs to be set to slip so as not to pick up unwanted loops on the top bed as it moves toward the color changer, and will remain set to slip both ways throughout the pieces.
As mentioned, the term Milano refers to ribs composing weft knit structures where one side of the fabric knits more rows than the other.
In half Milano, a single long stitch is created in the pattern color, in full Milano small stitches alternate with a row of longer stitches created when traveling back to the color changer.
The preselection start is determined by the type of long stitch, and how the repeat is programmed. I prefer to start my repeats with knit rows.
A half Milano swatch is begun with all stitches on the ribber bed, COR: the needle actions for each design row if patterning were on every needle are shown below. Designing may be easier to plan or chart on a template, followed by actions for each pattern design row with the second color. Half Milano on left, full Milano on right for use in 2- color-work. Half Milano stitch formation on the left, full on the right Planning for a half Milano shape design outlined with added borders and with vertical columns at intervals in the alternate color: every 4th row is marked in yellow as the underlying template. A simple shape is charted out, marked with black cells, the pattern starts with a knit row. Preselection in slip stitch is made toward color changer, black pixels will pick up stitches moving to the right, slip top row moving to the left. Decreasing to maintain the dominant color shape is not necessary, while the border, in this case, is shaped by decreases made by transferring non-selected needles to the ribber before knitting with that color from left to right. Border cells are added immediately up and to the side of those planned for knitting on the previous row, their respective cells are outlined in green. Software programs make it easy to alter the repeats and add borders if wanted
Actual knitting will indicate whether adjustments are needed in making the repeat continuous vertically or with some added striped ground only rows in between. I had not noticed a stitch hung up on a gatepeg, explaining the distortion in the row marked by yellow arrows, where the yarn was caught and pulled up.

These techniques share some features with the category of double bed appliqué, where one bed knits the main fabric while the other creates the shapes, which are attached to the fabric as you knit. In the finished fabric the purl side is the right side, the ground may be created in a solid color or striped. Both shapes are knit at the same time, as opposed to performing the technique on a single bed. As usual, the color changers should be threaded so that yarns feed smoothly and do not cross. With simple shapes as in shadow lace, no punchcard may be necessary, while cards or electronic repeats simplify the steps and help prevent mistakes.
In Japanese machines, for each row in the charts 2 rows are knit in the background first on the ribber, followed by 2 rows in the shape color on the alternate bed.
Smooth yarns and contrasting colors that still allow identifying knit structures easily are best. There is a limit to the number of colors that may be knit at once. Beginning with hand techniques: it is good to chart out the design before tackling it, and with color changers limited to holding 4 colors, if planning several shapes, the sequences in the color changes may need to be plotted out ahead of knitting as well.
Purl loops are the tops of the stitches in the row immediately below the stitches on the needle on the opposite bed, marked in green, while sinker loops consist of the yarn that is between the stitches on the needles, marked in red. Hanging the purl loops will help to eliminate or reduce the size of the eyelets. Take care not to use the sinker loops between the stitches, marked in red. In executing the fabric as a hand technique, the main bed is still set to slip in both directions, the ribber to knit every row
1. Knit 2 rows on the ribber alone
2. Bring needles to be worked in the pattern at the upper working position D or E, hang loops from ribber if there are increases if preferred, knit a row
3. Bring needles in pattern manually to D or E again, knit the second row of the appliqué
Repeat steps one and 2
In published directions color 1 usually refers to the ground color, which knits on the ribber only. Color 2 generally knits on the patterning bed as well. When most needles are in work on either bed, the tension for the yarn on that bed approaches the one used for that same yarn if it were being used single bed.
Punching all squares in 2 consecutive rows, or programming 2 all-pixel rows filled in completely across followed by two unpunched blank or all white pixel rows makes the process quicker. Punching or filling in single rows may be done as well, but requires elongation X2. Increases or decreases may be done on more than single stitches, and less frequently than with every pattern pass.
Fully fashioned shaping alters the edge of the appliques and places the eyelets in pattern, at or away from the edges. In Brother machines preselection of needles needs to be retained after any stitch manipulations.
Adding shapes with additional eyelets: practice shaping, keep notes, fully fashioned=FF Begin with simple shapes, examining the quality of increases and decreases, whether single or multiple, eyelet formation. Picking up from the row below before the next pass with the contrast color eliminates eyelets
picking up from row below at any point during knitting decreases in the number of stitches, in contrast, may be made by transferring down to the ribber prior to changing back to the ground color Simple increases or decreases are made by moving stitches laterally in either or both directions. Increases may be made by moving contrast color stitches laterally, followed by the choice as to whether to fill in the empty needle or allow it to create an eyelet. Fully fashioned increases or decreases are made by moving a stitch or a group of them to the adjacent needle/s to the left or the right and then taking the double stitches back to the original position, leaving a single empty needle for the planned eyelet formation. There should not be multiple needles with no stitches on them unless the goal is to expose a stripe of ground typically, in these exercises, there should be single empty needles after transfers, making certain proper needle selection for the pattern group is maintained Combining eyelets with lateral increases When transferring stitches, watch for any loops getting caught on gate pegs, as seen on the left below, increases and decreases may be pre-formed on more than single stitches

Planning a medallion: cyan cells represent transfers to the left, the magenta to the right. At the top of the single medallion, the stitches were transferred to the ribber prior to knitting with the same color once there was no needle preselection for it on the top bed.
Programming repeats to help track needle transfers as well: it is possible to start with a published repeat, though once the principle is understood, required markings for DIY become easier. Electronic machines leave one free in planning repeat width. In this test, a repeat from the Stitchworld pattern was used. In its built-in memory format, it will not work, the repeat needs to be altered. Each sequence of passes with the LC consists of 4 passes, followed by two rows knit with the KC. Two rows are added to each lace passes sequence, which will knit on the ribber only, in the contrasting color. Transfers to left and right are marked in cyan and magenta. The specific software used or machine model may require that the repeat be flipped horizontally prior to being knit, true on my 930. Markings on the left are for ribber actions and settings, those on the right for the main bed. K indicates that that bed will be slipping, K that it will knit. The first preselection row after the chosen cast on is from right to left with end needle selection canceled and the knit carriage already set to slip in both directions, with all required needles on the top bed in the B position.
Transfers are made prior to carriage passes made with the pattern color, in this case, white. If a transfer patterning row follows a white row on the ribber, extra white rows will appear on the striped ground seen in this test, where the ribber remained set to knit every row in both colors To eliminate the extra white rows, the main bed stays set to slip every row, the ribber settings alternate. It is set to slip for two rows immediately after knitting with the red yarn, then will be reset and knits for 4 consecutive rows. Transfers to create eyelets are made on selected needles on each of those two rows, always toward the carriage, even as the transfers themselves change directions as the angles of the shape decrease toward its center on the top half of the design. After the first transfer and the carriages travel to the right, a long float will be evident, will “disappear” on the return to the left. Patterning selection will reappear as the carriages return to the left. The color is not changed. The ribber is set to knit in both directions again, forming stitches on both beds for the first two rows, followed by a color change and knitting in the red, on the ribber only for 2 rows, completing a sequence of 4 knit rows before the ribber being set once more to slip. For consistency, I changed the settings on it to slip before picking up the white, changed it again after preselection of lots of needles meant the top bed stitches needed to be knit on both beds again. The first proof of concept, observing choices: as with other samples, the first patterning row after all stitches are transferred to the ribber requires a choice as to whether to pick up from the row below or simply allow empty needles to pick up loops on the next pass, the choice throughout here, marked A. Reducing stitches may be done by transferring down to ribber, B, or lateral transfers, C. D marks the spot for a possible shape design shape. Arrows on the purl side point to the direction of transfers, cyan to left, magenta to the right As with single bed lace, the first pass after transfers creates loops on empty needles, which here need to be kept in upper work, D position after transfers. For non Brother knitters, Brother positions are A, B, D, E, skipping C. Knitting over the loops on the next pass on that bed completes the stitch. This design is knit as continuous, the striping at the bottom is wrong because the red was not picked up after the first 2 rows knit in pattern with white, most sequences for the remaining fabric are 4 passes with white in the feeder, followed by 2 in the red. All eyelets here are reduced in size by picking up from the row below, all transfers for decreases are made laterally, the border is set to a width of 4 stitches, the pivot point for the repeat has been narrowed the differences at the edges of the shapes. Many of the same principles may be applied to designs using tuck stitch settings, where the striping will appear vertically rather than horizontally
2 color ribbed brioche stitch on Brother knitting machine 1
Lace transfers meet fisherman rib, 2 color ribbed brioche on Brother machines 2
Geometric shapes on ribber fabrics with tuck stitches 1
More on Lace transfers in single color rib

Origami inspired 2: more pleats and folds using ribber

WORK IN PROGRESS

Periodically I search out previous drafts, this post was started in September 2019. Drawn to folds in a variety of ways again, I am publishing it in progress with the intent of adding more and information and related swatches.

Some previous posts with related topics and technique swatches: origami-inspired pleats1, racked patterns Passap/Brother 2, ribber pleated fabrics, and some possible needle arrangements 3.
There are many considerations if long panels or wide ones are required when setting up repeats in addition to what happens at the edges of patterns in racking as one bed moves near or past the needles in work on the opposite bed. If something like a skirt is planned, the choice must be made as to which side of the knit is preferred, and the end stitches of each panel should be on the underside of the piece unless the join is a deliberate design feature. To achieve that, some panels may need to be wider than others. If the pleats are bulky and involve deep foldovers, panels may be attached to yokes to reduce bulk at the hips. If working from illustrations for pleats for another brand, the needle setups shown may need to be reversed, or, since many such fabrics are reversible, if manual set up and no additional patterning on the Japanese machines knit bed or European true double bed they can be knit as illustrated. Lock settings for the Passap are given with the back lock first (ribber settings on Brother), then for the front bed lock (top, knit bed on Brother). Cast ons must be fairly tight so there is no flare at the bottom of the pleats. They usually start on a standard needle setting. Needle transfers are usually made after the cast-on is completed, sealing the stitches with one row of all knit stitches. Swatches should be a minimum of 100 stitches wide by 100 rows if the end goal is a gauge significant garment. All fabrics with texture may change in both appearance and gauge after a period of rest. Some shaping if needed may be obtained by tension changes, OOW needle arrangements on either or both beds, or stitch type within folds (ie adding fisherman, half fisherman, EON patterning, etc.)
Pleat formation on the double bed is “easy” because the pleats are formed “automatically” according to the needle arrangement on each bed. That is true if the resulting folds are created by stocking stitches in vertical bands. My goal is not to provide patterns. There are many well-written ones easily available.

How small can one go? A tiny pleat: It is easier to transfer stitches when the ribber is set to P (Passap handle up). Remember to return the setting to half-pitch before continuing. The pleat is reversible, shown on both sides, reminds me of shadow pleats racking by one position X3 at first, and then X 5 in each direction did not produce results worth the effort IMO, the result is subtle, the reverse side of the fabric is slightly stretched in the bottom photo. Here the fold is created by 2 stitches tucking for 2 consecutive, then knitting on the same needles for 2 rows on regularly spaced pairs of needles on either bed. Most knitting is on a single bed. A lacey series of eyelets begin to appear, and in some random racking at the top of the swatch, the possibility of developing a secondary pattern due to the combination of racking and tucking begins to show. The middle image is of the fabric slightly stretched. Passap Brother: the ribber can do the stocking stitch background, every needle in work, carriage set to knit. The setup is the same as the Passap diagram. A repeat with 2 black rows of squares followed by 2 white can be programmed on the top bed. On every needle selected rows, pairs of needles will knit, on the white, no selection rows the same pairs of needles will tuck for 2 rows. Moving away from vertical ribs becomes significantly easier if one has a G carriage. The alternative option is to create geometric folds that require transferring between beds. Any of these fabrics are best knit in a yarn that has memory and can spring back. Yarns such as acrylic can be permanently flattened by pressing, resulting in loss of texture. A quick experiment: black cells represent knit stitches, blue purl ones The needle setups: after casting on, transfer for a stitch configuration based in this case, of blocks that are 5 stitches wide. A single needle on the opposite bed is used on each outside edge of all needles in work. When there are no groups of stitches in work on both beds the pitch can be set to and remain on P, which also will make transfers easier, as needles will be point-to-point. The ratio used in the test was in multiples of 5. The groups were 5 stitches wide, 15 rows high, with all knit 10 rows in between the repeats. The fabric is shown first relaxed as immediately off the machine, then lightly steamed and stretched. The yarn is a 2/18 wool, far too thin for this use, and likely to flatten considerably with pressing. The close-up of the purl side offers a better view of the resulting folds The repeat, 10 stitches by 40 rows. More on Knit and purl blocks to create folding fabric_ “pleats”Pleated, plaited shadow lace Pleated one color “shadow lace” in Slip stitch patterns with hand transferred stitches, double bed

Pleated dbj A repeat that will spiral, usable in spiral socks Spaces between any and all blocks may be adjusted to suit one’s preferences.

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.

Brother shadow lace, rib transfer carriage

I have probably owned this accessory since the early 90s. After making a faint-hearted attempt at using it at the time and failing, it has been stored in the original box in the interim and just came out of retirement. The multiple languages operating manual for its use may be downloaded from http://machineknittingetc.com/brother-ka7100-ka8300-transfer-carriage-user-guide.html. There are several video tutorials available on Youtube. As a group, they generally illustrate simple transfers across an entire row in structures such as ribs used for bands and cuffs. This one is offered by Knitology 1×1, Elena Berenghean, a young knitter publishing very good machine knitting video instruction on a huge range of techniques.
The tool is designed for the standard gauge, transfers only from the ribber up to the main bed. It is best to use yarn that has some stretch. The recommendation in the manual and in youtube videos is to perform the transfers with the pitch set to H. My own ribber is balanced, I found I had problems with transfers in that position, several carriage jams, and to get things to work properly in half-pitch I had to use the racking handle to move the ribber needles slightly more to the left for the transfers. The needles containing stitches to be moved, need to be slightly to the right of the needles with which they will share yarn, that spot may turn out to also be just wide enough to allow for the pattern to be worked without changing the ribber pitch. The yarn used is a 2/18 Merino, knit at tensions 3/5. In terms of positioning the carriage, a wire that is akin to that found on Passap strippers is on its underneath. In positioning the carriage on the beds, check visually that it is indeed lying between the gate pegs of both beds prior to attempting to travel with it to the opposite side If any carriage jam occurs, it takes cautious wriggling to release the wire and carriage. Upon completion of the transfers, simply lift up to remove it from the beds.
Generally, the ribber tension used needs to be set on 4 at the minimum. The last row just prior to transfers will likely need to be knit at a looser tension than the remaining rib. If the stitches are too small they will not be picked up for the transfer. Folks familiar with lace knitting are aware that just the right amount of weight can make a difference in forming proper transfers. With these fabrics, too little weight may result in loops forming on gate pegs, too much weight, and stitches may remain over closed latches on the ribber needles and not share their yarn for transfers. Again, the transfer carriage operates only from right to left.
Studio instructions for their version of the accessory actually offer some different and more specific recommendations. When knitting full needle rib all the needles or pattern segments the machine generally will be in Half Pitch. Though there are needles in work on both beds, the ribber should be set to full pitch, aka P position, “point to point” prior to transfers, bringing them in close alignment in order to facilitate the process. Passap machines accomplish the same by changing the angle of the racking handle to other than the full, up placement in order to achieve the necessary alignment.
The Brother accessory and its parts, has clear imprinted illustrations for use

The change lever has only 2 positions, up and down respectively Its position is determined by the number of needles on the ribber one wishes to transfer.
The carriage manual recommends its use after knitting a last ribbed row to the left, but it is possible to use it with both knitting carriages on either side, as long as there is generous space to clear all stitches when the accessory is placed on the bed, moved to the opposite side, and removed. An extension rail may be needed to achieve that amount of clearance.
Operating slowly, one can watch the process of transfers while moving from right to left. Though skeptical, I found the transfers happened easily, with occasional skips. I worked with hand-selection of needles on the ribber to create a pattern, first with hand-selection, then with racking the ribber position to change the relationship of needles on one bed to the other, initially transferred after every 2 rows knit. The knit carriage was set to knit both ways, the ribber to knit in one direction, creating loops on the selected needles, and securing them in the other, allowing for the loops on the ribber needles to be transferred up to the main bed, before working 2 more rows. The “errors” in patterning were operator errors in needle selection as stitches were dropped, and not all the required needles were then returned to work position. Not a technique I would use for all-over fabric, but good practice. When the transfer occurs properly, the ribber needles will have yarn placed over closed latches, ready to be dropped, the yarn is shared and looped over stitches on the main bed, akin to tuck loops, outlined in the photo with the black oval. The first image is from the manual for the accessory, while in the photo, one improperly transferred stitch is outlined in red. To prevent dropped stitches from happening, any such locations will require a hand transfer to the opposite bed before dropping the remaining ribber bed shared stitches For my test I used EON needles on the ribber, planned alternating selection for each new transfer. This could be done by selecting dashes and blank spots on needle tape ie. dash in the above photo, blank spaces below It was faster to achieve the effect by changing the ribber relationship to the main bed using racking by one position ie 10, 9, 10, 9, etc. prior to picking up the subsequent set of loops. The errors in the test swatch were from failing to bring all the needles back up to work after dropping their stitches. Using a tool ie. a ribber comb placed over the out-of-work needles prior to dropping stitches made the racking process far less error-prone, will keep the appropriate needles from being accidentally taken out of work. My first attempt at creating shapes includes a band at the bottom where the EON transfers as above were made, but every row. Simply bringing needles into work on the opposite bed creates an eyelet. They can be eliminated by sharing stitch “bumps” on the opposite bed, but for the moment they are a design feature. The texture created appears in the areas involved on both sides of the knit It is possible to transfer single needles at sides of shapes ie or whole rows, but the change lever needs to be set to position accordingly.

Many knitters have one of these tools in their stash, they are sometimes referred to as “jaws”, intended to facilitate transferring between both beds, and patterning was intended for Studio punchcard machines. The enclosed punchcards: Shadow lace tools are marked side 1 and side 2. Some are blue on one side, cream or white on the other, the blue side is side 1. The process always begins with side 1, or blue. When the stitches have been removed, the jaws are closed, allowing the stitches to slide over to side 2. The jaws are once again opened, and the stitches are transferred to the opposite bed. Studio machines select and knit in single pass rows. Brother preselects for the next row of knitting while knitting any one row in pattern as well, so transferring in pattern from the top bed down with such a tool would be problematic to maintain proper pattern needle selection.
To transfer from the ribber up on any machine, place the teeth of the jaws on the needles on the ribber, holding it with both hands. Pull needles up until all stitches are behind the latches, then push down with another tool or one of your hands until all stitches are on the jaws.
Release the tool from the ribber needles, rotate it away from you, toward the main bed. Close its teeth so the stitches are transferred onto side 2.
Open teeth, place eyelets over main bed needles and stitches are transferred onto the main bed by rotating the tool away from you just a little and tugging down a bit.
On Brother, the possibility of having patterning on the top bed to help track patterning on the ribber in some way comes to mind. This was my start, with the first draft of electronic repeats. I stopped when I began to have some tension issues, loops on gate pegs, and a distracted brain.
Transfers of stitch groups, whether by hand or using the accessories are made on rows where no needle preselection occurs on the main bed This series is a proof of concept for my approach to developing electronic cuesThe original repeats were modified to include 2 blank rows between segments that allow for transfers between beds not hampered by needle preselection on the top bed. The motifs are color reversed, but not the blank rows between them. The knit carriage is set to select needles KC I or II, end needle selection does not matter. All needles on the top bed knit every stitch, every row, whether or not those design rows contain black pixels. No cam buttons are pushed in. Blank areas between black ones indicate the number of needles that actually need to pick up loops on the ribber to create shapes, filling in spaces between selected needles until an all-blank row is reached for making transfers. The chart on the far right illustrates a shape where the easiest method becomes one where stitches on the ribber are manually transferred to the top bed in order to reverse the shape and maintain every row preselection. The selected needle corresponding to the black square marked with the top of the red arrows is pushed back, the ribber stitch below is transferred onto it, the needle with the couples stitches is brought to E position, moving across the bed in proper locations prior to knitting the next row. In this repeat, the side vertical panels of ribbed stitches are added. The knit stitches on each side of them roll nicely to the purl side, creating what in some fabrics can actually be planned as an edging. My takeaway is to test the accessory with some patience, sort out the sweet spot for the ribber needles in relation to main bed ones in terms of handling transfers and yarn thickness, use colors that allow for easy recognition of proper stitch formation, keep good notes, and “go for it”.

One way to add color to the mix is to use the plating feeder.

In the first sample, equal thickness yarns were used, the colored yarn was a rayon slub with no stretch and slippery nature. The bottom of this test used a wool yarn of equal weight to the light color, which proved hard to knit. The red is a 2/48 cash-wooll A very narrow test for a possible pleated pattern

It is possible to construct the same type of fabrics on a striped background. It can be achieved low tech with graph paper and pencils if needed, using a simple paint program, Gimp alone, this is my process using Numbers and Gimp:
1. determine the desired shape, its width, and height, checking that it also tiles properly
2. create a table with square cells the same width as the number of stitches in your design, twice its height; use an even cell size ie 20X20 pt
3. hide all odd-numbered rows from the top of the table down, the table will shrink from 20 rows to 10
4. draw your repeat
5. unhide all rows
6. copy and paste the table; double the cell pt height only to 40, making the repeat twice as long
7. mark corners or part of the edges with another color to make it easier for Gimp to identify them, select all and remove borders, grab the image with an added surrounding colorless border
8. open the screengrab in Gimp, use crop to content, fill colored squares with white, change the mode to indexed BW, scale the result to the appropriate size, in this case, 18X40, export png Cast on for EN or EON rib. Transfer all the main bed stitches down to the ribber. Extra stitches can be cast on and transferred in addition to the planned width of the repeats to create a border on either side of the designs. During patterning there will be stitches in work on both beds at intervals, so the pitch needs to be set to H while knitting. When the top of the piece is reached, transfer all ribber stitches to the main bed and bind off.
The first preselection row is knit from right to left in the contrast ground color.
With COR bring all the needles to be worked in the pattern color to B position on the top bed.
The knit carriage is set to slip in both directions. End needle selection is canceled. The ribber remains set to N/N for the duration. Knit to the left and begin changing colors every 2 rows.
The shape increases are created automatically, with eyelets at the edges where each stitch is picked up for the first time on the top bed. COL when the first needle is preselected in this case for the start of the next shape, transfer all previously formed design stitches on the main bed down to the ribber, continue knitting If any stitches are pushed all the way back or in mixed alignment during transfers, be sure to return them all to B position, not disturbing the needles already preselected for the next pattern row, repeat as needed. Because one color knits with every carriage pass while the other slips behind it not knitting for those 2 rows, the striped background fabric will become distorted depending on yarn and stitch size used, most likely particularly noticeable at the top and bottom edges of the piece.

Pretend multi color ribs

WORK IN PROGRESS

A recent Ravelry post brought this topic to light. Using slip stitch settings makes the final fabric narrow and not stretchable. That said, there may be times when vertical columns of color would benefit the remaining design. This first experiment is on a Brother machine. The repeat used is for a simple 2X2 block It is programmed for 2 color knitting, set up for use with the ribber and color changer. The first KC row is from the right to the left, with color changes following every 2 rows. When the carriage is first on the left, the knit carriage is set to slip in both directions. In the tests the ribber is set to knit in both directions for the sample on the left, to slip to the left for the sample on the right. When the ribber is set to slip, the main bed only will knit in the corresponding direction, and floats will be created between selected needles on the main bed. The number of rows completed on the ribber are cut in half, the resulting knit fabric is more compressed, less elongated, and narrower A closer look The same repeat may be used to produce a tucked version. In many punchcard machines, a card is supplied with a 2X2 check. With the main color, in a suitable yarn, cast on for 1X1 rib. Set the knit carriage to tuck and the ribber carriage toknit. Knit 2 rows with the contrast color, followed by 2 rows with the main color, repeating for the desired length of the rib. Knit the last row in the main color with both carriages set to knit. Transfer the ribber stitches to the main bed to continue knitting single bed.