Category: Uncategorized

WORK IN PROGRESS

I have had requests for detailed tutorials or videos on specific older samples.
The most recent posts on any stitch type do not offer detailed instructions; blog searches lead to the historical development of the designs and present additional information.
The blog index is an added source for browsing by topic and offers direct links. That said, it is due for an update with the blog topics added in the past several months.
Proof of concept swatches usually follow the associated repeats.
A reminder, most are knit on Brother km models and rely on its preselection feature, absent in other models, ie. Studio. Using the provided punchcard repeats to automate needle selections may require more than just shifting the starting row number to match the results.

I endlessly encounter new sources of inspiration, adding them to the stack of saved stitches to explore, and reviewing old posts can also spark new ideas.
This post will not be restricted to any stitch type but will include knit structures that currently attract my attention.

Tuck lace: all white columns correspond to needles out of work.
Sometimes, subtle is enough; here, EON is taken out of work. The punchcard repeat is 24X36. The swatch was knit on 63 stitches that included 3 knit stitch borders on either side.
The setup on the needle bed. The yarn used in the bottom was a 2/13 wool, the top a 2/8. This chart illustrates a 24X40 repeat suitable for punchcard models.
Although the minimum repeat segment suitable for electronic models is far smaller, I prefer to program based on the full number of stitches in use on the knitting machine and add row height to reduce the number of beeping reminders.
My 29X50 swatch repeat, including added side border knit stitches repeated twice in height, knit in 2/18 wool.  In the design, the yarn tucks for 4 rows, generally the limit for loop tolerance on 4.5 mm machines. The number of tuck loops can be reduced if planning to test thicker yarns, such as in this 3-row version.   Using 4-row tuck designs and adding wider NOOW/needle out of workspaces: the 3 stitch NOOW columns are represented in this punchcard 24X40 repeat chart by the pale green vertical columns.
The placement of the needles required to be in work may depend on which model knitting machine is used.  The swatch was knit on 51 stitches, with added all-knit 2-stitch borders on each side. Returning to an EON setup: also suitable for punchcard machines, the 24X40 chart shows NOOW placements and locations for potential color changes   The PNG for the test single color swatch, including 2 stitch knit columns on both sides, 63X24the test adding the second color; gentle blocking helps retain the 3D quality of the surface on the knit side
The last swatch in the post on Building more textures in needles out of work spaces was executed with hand manipulation using short rows, following this charted concept. Frequently, more rows may be tucked with manipulating needles than with automatic pattern selection. The design was automated, reducing the tuck loops on any needles to no more than four.
The proper needles must be pushed back out of work to produce a successful automated tuck lace knit. Depending on the machine models, the proper needles must be pushed back out of work,  ie, 930 vs punchcard, the design may be automatically mirrored horizontally.
The working chart was developed in a spreadsheet. The 24-stitch repeat may be used in a punchcard machine a 24X16 PNGmy programmed 51X16 repeat ensuring an all-knit vertical border on either side, the working needle arrangement the proof of concept using only one color and changing colors every 4 rows

Slip stitch textures
There are many ways to automate folds, including selecting the same needles for skipped stitches.
The rule of having limitations on the height of the vertical white bars does not apply.
The yarn creating the elongated slipped stitches must be strong enough not to break.
Single bed tuck/ mostly slip stitch fabrics 3 included this chart and sample for deep folds interrupted by plain knit horizontal bandsits 30X84 repeat Applying the concept to a more overall design the 47X72 PNG the swatch knit on 71 stitches, using a 2/8 wool and a lone variegated sock yarn ball from my ancient stash Using repeated slip stitch blocks to produce folds and rufflesIt is possible to play with taller color stripes or other DIY variations.
Selective weighting and adjustments in yarn thickness and tension may be required to “make things work.”
The yarn lengths between returns to specific colors may need to be cut and woven in.
The hand manipulation involved is often referred to as ruching.
“Winging it”: the test swatch was knit using 2 rows of white and 6 rows of each color on an even number of stitches, the work in progress on the machine the result For more deliberate placements, the color changes and locations for lifted stitches can be planned in a spreadsheet Single bed tuck and slip stitch fabrics 2: adding color
included this image from a Japanese Studio magazinein executing it, although the electronic repeat does not need a row adjustment, there are other factors to consider.
The Brother color changer uses numbers rather than letters.
This is the design plotted in a spreadsheet, the 10X22 corresponding PNG color reversed for use with tuck patterning instead of using the button available in the machine the programmed PNG for the proof of concept swatch, 48X22The color changes are not in a sequential order, and there are lots of yarn ends to weave in or disguise in a final project. The surfaces have more of a 3D quality than if knit using the slip stitch setting.
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WORK IN PROGRESS

Full automation of “held” shapes using slip stitch alone is possible, involves careful planning of the design repeat, an understanding of necessary sequences in “holding” techniques, and results in large, long repeats for recurring shapes.
The starting side for preselection rows varies depending on the design.
Pattern knitting is worked with both cam buttons set to slip, end needle selection must be canceled.
All stitches on the knitting bed must be cleared with each pass of the carriage from side to side.
As shapes grow, test periodically for any yarn loops accidentally caught on the gate pegs.
The overall downloaded program needs to include repeats planned for the number of stitches in work on the needle bed. This is the standard requirement for Ayab, on my 930 the default img2track programming is for a single motif.
If working on an odd number of needles, whether the needle selection is pushed to the right or left of center varies depending on the brand of machine used and changes if horizontal mirroring of the design is added.
It is helpful  to begin with small, narrow repeats for practice. Assorted samples from previous posts:
a ruffle also using the garter bar a couple of zig-zags only one of many pleat variations that may be enlarged and planned for the width of the bed in knitting items such as sideways skirts repeats planned for texture bumps and slits shell shapes Testing the idea on a limited width with small intended shapes helps one iron out errors in logic or knitting sequences,  I prefer to start with a colored chart, making it easier to follow movements of the yarn, carriages, and color changes The chart was then loaded in Gimp, the Mode changed to bitmapped B/W, and the image then scaled to the final width of 74 X 96. For this exercise, I chose to keep the shapes equal distances apart (marked in green), mirrored the image on my 930 to produce the shapes in the same direction. In this instance, as is often encountered in lace knitting, an odd number of rows between repeat segments will allow for the carriage to start from the opposite side in order to reverse the direction of the shaps. The first preselection row may start from either side depending on whether the downloaded image is mirrored or not, whether by intention or automatically by the machine model’s auto settings. The default isolation in img2track is fine, ayab knitters are required to program the repeat in width to match the number of needles in use, so this would work for both I did run into an operator problem: had managed to save the repeat so rather than being all B/W there was a single row of color at its base, which caused mispatterning only when that #1 design row was knit.
With that amended, the selection problem was eliminated The same shapes always starting on the same edge A will distort that edge. Extra rows of the alternate color can vary shapes of the striping between them. Single shape rows could be floated much farther apart on solid ground, or one to which other colors or techniques are added, and finally, the reversing shapes produce a more balanced height at both sides.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Copyright can be a touchy, sometimes murky subject. In my teaching days at a design school, each instructor was responsible for accumulating what amounted to a “textbook” with any expected readings and required information for students attending the classes. There was an arrangement with a single copy center that actually paid a fee set by the government in order to be allowed to provide a service. Teachers supplied boxed material on a single-sided copy per page sheets, withdrew it at the end of the term. The copy center would make double-sided copies from each sheet in the original, bind them, making them available for purchase for only the cost of what it may have been to customers using copiers to make their own per sheet. My intro to knitting “book” evolved into 330 pages, costing students as far as I can recall about $30. An overall bibliography and often credit in sections were included. This all was happening pre-internet browser searches and easy downloads.
I have often not included a definition for some of the terms used in my posts. Also, I did not share information from manuals and company publications until they, in turn, became easily available online, long after the companies that published them went out of business.
A list of common abbreviations: Test and gauge swatches

From the Brother Knitting Techniques Book
I personally prefer to measure gauge on the purl side, where to my eye the start and end of the color transitions appear clearer.
The Passap advice was quite different. This is from the Duomatic 80 manual
and it was followed by tables that helped with calculation conversions based on measurements. When using Japanese machines while executing some DBJ or highly textured stitches, a larger swatch should become the go-to when measuring gauge for garments by default. Using 100X100 combined with the use of metric measurements facilitates the maths and use of devices such as the knitleader, where measurements in millimeters are required.

A “long swatch” exploring a card from a “censored” selection from the factory-supplied punchcard packet in as many techniques as possible became a required assignment In KM model manuals a list was sometimes provided suggesting what cam settings might be suitable for each card
Factory supplied cards were usually marked with a number and letter as seen above, but oddly as model numbers changed, sometimes either or both of the latter would change as well. A table of my own after a quick review of my stash:
1S, 2R,3J/S, 3P, 4D, 5J, 6P, 7G, 8S/J, 9G, 10D, 13G, 101, 102, 103, 107, 108, 109

Macknit was a short lived magazine published for a few issues in the 1980s. This was published in their spring/summer issue 1986, p.7