Lots of designs can be developed by shuffling repeat segments to achieve desired textures.
Here, the same number of stitches is hand transferred using multiple prong tools, and selections are aided by electronic or punchcard needle selection with the knit carriage set to knit with no pattern buttons pushed in.
The maximum number of stitches moved is 5.
The post on hand-transferred lace with color striping explores variations with transfers that share the concept.
In a spreadsheet, potential results can be visualized, i.e., placement of eyelets once stitches are moved, locations where transferred stitches are placed in each sequence (yellow columns), and easily adding personal notations.
Each of the designs is 24 stitches in width, suitable for punch card models as well. 
End needle selection is canceled.
A manipulation beginning with transferring single stitches, followed by inverting the shapes
24X24, 
and with transferring groups of 5 first, followed by inverting the shapes 24X24. 
Results are similar. 
A brick configuration, 24X48, will form chevron shapes of knit stitches between transfer segments.
And finally, a brick alignment, 24X24.
In the bottom of the swatch, the full eyelets are retained, moving toward the top they were reduced in size by picking up from the row below on each side of the transfers.
The resulting 3D textures were referred to as dragon scales in previous posts, some with better results than others, at times with the transfers toward the center of the groups made on each side of an undisturbed center stitch as opposed to on it.
This version from Single bed scales made with stitch transfers
was created following the associated chart.
A review that includes single and double bed samples can be found in Revisiting 3D scales and shells, automated and not
3D printed slider, drop stitch lace review
D sliders, also known as P carriages in Studio-Silver Reed language, only move/ push the needles; they do not manipulate any stitches.
The needles are pushed to various working positions, B, C for Studio, D for Brother, depending on the starting position of the needles.
Drop stitch “lace” is also referred to as drive lace in Studio pubs, and summer fair isle in Passap ones.
The first samples of the stitch type I was exposed to were shared at a Passap Seminar that explored the built-in console color separation techniques in the E6000, introduced in 1988. Two passes with no yarn, and both locks were required until the Passap version of the D slider was developed in Australia. The E6000 magazines then began offering designs producing what they named as summer fair isle, and in seminars, added reader techniques that were shared for use when planning to knit designs in 3 or 4 colors.
Many brand-specific magazines provided patterns produced with devices or accessories as they were introduced, with pubs on the topic ebbing and waning with the passage of time.
The first reference I have been able to find on the Studio P carriage dates back to the introduction of the SRP50 ribber in 1978. A grainy copy of the early manual is downloadable and illustrates its use on page 12, applied to drive lace on pages 36-38, and to pile knitting continuing to page 42.
This post is intended to address using sliders on Brother models, in theory, to facilitate the process of dropping stitches when continuous design patterning is in use.
Links to my historical posts on the definition and execution of this “lace” on different machines using varying methods are provided at the bottom.
The resulting knit benefits from the use of yarn that responds to blocking by lying flat and retaining scale differences between the different stitch sizes.
Knitting begins with all stitches on one bed, and loops formed on the opposite bed, that dropped at varying intervals, depending on the intended pattern, to produce elongated stitches between stocking stitch ones.
Dropping the stitches can be achieved manually with any tool on hand, by sliding the ribber carriage only back and forth if loops are formed on it, or with the aid of stitch ditchers/ dumpers.
Maintaining proper needle selection and not having needles accidentally pushed back to the A position, resulting in possible pattern errors, is made easier and quicker with specific tools, often called sliders and sometimes referred to in early manuals as carriages, although they have no moving parts.
Knit bubbles and “stitch ditchers/dumpers” and Brother KMs “pile knitting”/ ribber stitch dropping tools share images of such tools.
Usual dropping sequences in Brother models are made from right to left on needles in B position, with a return of the needles to B after the stitches have been dropped. The next preselection pattern row is made as the paired carriage return to the left, then repeating paired rows.
The appearance in machines that keep the needles in the equivalent of Brother B position after carriage pattern passes, i.e., Studio, Superba, Passap, with the possibility of dropping stitches every row, can produce shapes composed of simple long stitches.
To maintain Brother preselection, if the knit bed is used to form loops for the long stitches, there will be an added knit row on the ribber as the carriages return to the left, with a different final appearance.
I was able to obtain a 3D printed model for the Brother 4.5 mm machine from cults3D at the time of my blog post; the site is often unavailable according to forums, and the present pricing is said to be set to discourage downloads pending resolution in a related court case.
For those without access to 3D printing, this site may be worth exploring for direct purchase of items, ie, the slider, for $21.
The use of the tool is clearly demonstrated here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGjPwGqFJhQ.
Note that sliders presently available are used on knit beds with slotted rails, as in the 930 on the right, and it is open to question if the use is possible on the solid and slightly narrower rails found in earlier electronic and punch card models. Also an issue, if the rail happens to disrupted in any way in the center. 
The Studio slider is shown in the center, and, on the right, the only Brother-produced slider, intended for use on the bulky machine.
The needle butts enter unimpeded and follow the tracks marked with arrows. 
They can be used on both the knit and the ribber beds.
Just as easily, stitches on the ribber can be dropped using only the ribber carriage for 2 passes.
The traditional method in published designs found in punchcard volumes uses alternating black pixels/punched holes to produce the loops that are, in turn, dropped, and all-white/unpunched rows, which allow for the loops being dropped when there is no pattern selection on the top bed.
For the 3D model, it is useful to “read the manual”, or in this case, follow the video.
I chose to mark my slider for future use.
The proper placements on respective needle beds to match the traditional method. 
This top bed placement is wrong, needles are still brought forward, moving right to left, but are left out to D, not B, on the return to the right. 
Beginning with single color samples.
A Studio drive lace published repeat for use with the technique
knit 2 rows, drop, repeat
12X16
test knit on 37 stitches 
results are in hard to read stitch size differences
breaking the common rules and appearance for this type of fabric, a “what if” version, double height, 12X32 
test knit on 50 stitches, 
knit 4 rows, drop, repeat. 
Larger designs can be more effective, 24X22
rendered double height, 24X44 
EOR rendered all white/ erased for traditional use and approach. 
Test knit on 48 stitches. 
I have a perennial curiosity in terms of using nearly anything in a way other than that intended when designed.
This is a first experiment using the 24X44 fair isle design,
with each row selection repeating twice and changing the position of the slider on the needle bed, no blank rows are required.
Stitches are still dropped when moving from right to left.
The slider is turned around and placed on the bed in front of the rail to move stitches forward. Note the relative position of the needle butts and the nub on the slider.
From left to right, to drop stitches, the slider is placed to rest on the rail, with the nub pointing down. 
With the knit carriage set for slip stitch, and the pattern programmed as fair isle, the black pixels or punched holes will be selected forward, when the carriages move to the left, picking up loops on the selected needles on the next carriage pass to the right. 
With carriages on the right, the stitches are dropped.
The small proof of concept. 
A larger test, the first PNG, 20X40 
in brick configuration, doubled in length, 20X80 
and then doubled in width for a guess at better aspect ratio, 40X80. 
After loops are formed, left to right, the slider operates from the right, 
will advance all needles out to E as it moves to the left, 
and drop all loops as it returns to the left.
The needles will be empty and aligned in B.
The next pass will preselect the next row of the design on the top bed, and the process is repeated. 
When planning to drop stitches on the ribber, the designs often include racking to form secondary shapes.
The traditional placement is on the left after loops are formed. 
As the tool moves to the right, needles are raised, moving all loops behind the latches. With its return to the left, loops are dropped, forming the long stitches. 
The stitches on the ribber are hand selected each row, knit, and dropped, with the top bed knitting single rows rather than 2 for each row of the design when the beds are reversed.
This giant swatch shows the results; the stitches in the dropped pattern tend to get larger as they move further away from the knit stitches beside them. 
These were my earlier samples testing my hacked Studio tool, which failed double bed, then reverting to using the uncoupled ribber carriage to drop stitches.
Knitting details in the 2022 post Geometric shapes in drop stitch lace 4, stitch release, added racking. 
A larger test, with the idea begun in a spreadsheet including shapes in black, knit rows in purple, racking positions in green text with row numbers in black: 
keeping it more practical. 
The slider may be used, as described above, the tiny swatch. In my experience, moving the uncoupled ribber carriage back and forth is quicker. 
The difference in the stitch formation that happens with the ribber knitting two rows with automated loop formation patterning for dropped stitches on the top bed, while the top bed knits a single row between formation of loops on hand-selected needles on the ribber, with loops dropped after being formed on each row.
End release may be used on simple geometric shapes that do not contain knit rows. If the repeat or the item being produced is long in the number of rows, it can be performed periodically.
The knit carriage is set to slip in both directions, including on the first preselection row.
End needle selection is canceled.
It is best to use a tightly twisted fiber that does not split.
When programming the number of stitches for the number of needles in work, black pixel columns may be added on as borders on the left and right to stabilize the knit edges.
Contrary to other slip stitch designs, in automating the process, there are mostly blank areas, which will result in knit stitches on the ribber, while the black areas will result in the loops for dropping on the knit bed.
These shapes do not have vertical lines. As selection changes, the initial loops will be held until the last ones in each shape are formed.
The 10X24 repeat chart. 
When there is no needle preselection, rows 7 and 19 of the 24 rows, 
stitches on the knit bed are dropped.
The programmed repeat is 40X24. 
On the 930, the programmed designs match the direction in which they appear on the purl side. 
End release long stitches on the left, compared to those with the traditional paired row method used in the flower shapes on the right. 
Previously published related post links in reverse chronological order, followed by a low- resolution collage of some of the test swatches explored in them
Multiple color drop stitch lace using img2track and more
Revisiting drop/release stitch lace 1
Drop stitch lace using Ayab software 2/ HOP
Tuck stitch/ combination fabrics
Drop stitch lace using Ayab software
Geometric shapes in drop stitch lace 3, end release
Geometric shapes in drop stitch lace 2, Brother KM
Geometric shapes in drop stitch lace 1, Brother KM
Drop stitch lace, 2 colors per row, Passap KM
Drop stitch lace, 2 colors per row, Japanese machines
Revisiting knit “bubbles” brother KM
Brother KMs “pile knitting”/ ribber stitch dropping tools includes a downloadable PDF with instructions published by Brother for their KR 260 compatible slider model
Dropping whole rows:
Long stitches meet transfer lace
A tuck stitch combination fabric
Working with block shapes
More knit bubbles
More play with dropped stitches
Knit bubbles and “stitch ditchers/dumpers”
Working out the kinks in my drop stitch lace saga
If DBJ is preferred, an interesting variation using thick and thin yarns produces a stable and reversible knit with an interesting peek-through evocative of drop stitch lace.
On select machine knitting tools, old and new
I began to knit in the heyday of machine knitting, when local, national, and international seminars were held with accompanying marketplaces that made imported magazines and tools available directly from factories in Japan and Europe. As a result, I accumulated a huge stash of tools, including those for the Passap models, which also included duplicates of the Japanese tools with 5mm spacings.
I no longer own my Passap equipment.
My present shares address 4.5 and 9mm tools. Of those pictured below,
most were easily and commonly found, except for the accessory at the upper right and the gadget that accompanied the one on the bottom right (which I do not own). 
A few more:
Some have been frequently used, others were handy in demos, and a few have been waiting to meet machines or knits.
My remaining stash of 9mm tools is not pictured; that said, several pairs of now hard-to-find tools marked MT Stitch Tender are among them. 
Both German and Japanese manufacturers, at one point, provided an accessory to help in manual needle selection in patterns. Some were called Jac-40s, and the Brother model immediately became rare.
Adding to the confusion in terms of branding is that Knittax and the all-metal German-made KnitKing were closely related, effectively the same product marketed under different names in different regions during the 1950s and 1960s. Knittax was a 5mm machine.
The KnitKing name later became associated with Japanese plastic and metal Brother machines.
Some knitting machine history may be found in Daisyknits Brother compatibility charts and history, and Knitting machine history and information, Silver Reed +.
Information on the Passap Jac-40 and how to use it can be downloaded for free in two versions:
https://mkmanuals.com/downloadable/download/sample/sample_id/1001/
https://mkmanuals.com/downloadable/download/sample/sample_id/1002/
The Brother Jac is described as having been blue, 
while the Passaps were supplied in more than one color, sometimes marked with made in Germany. 
Early studio 9 mm metal beds came with no card reader or pattern selector.
My first machine was one, a Singer SK 150 metal bed. The PS 150 became available, a 12-stitch pattern selector that used punch cards as well, a collection of such card designs.
An excerpt from the PS manual: 
The first few pages of how to use the 9mm version pictured at the top right of the first photo begin to explain its potential use for manually selecting and knitting patterns, sometimes with changes required every single row.
Added images in More on Brother DBJ, including KR 260 bulky KM options.
As built-in card readers were added to machines, adjustable tools were modified, with some are still available to aid in hand selection of needles or pushers, ie, the Passap 30 count model for 5mm machines, 
and now, with the advent of 3D printing, a version for the file for a 4.5 mm version with 36 slots: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5252410,
the description by the designer; 16.5 cm long ruler with 36 spaces for removable needle pushers for a flat bed knitting machine. Can be used to create unique patterns with a 36-stitch repeat. Designed for a standard gauge knitting machine, the spaces are 4.5 mm apart. Works equally well on a 9 mm gauge bulky knitting machine, just omit every other space.
Accessories and tools can be a boon in repetitive needle selections on either bed when automatic pattern selection is not available or possible.
I do not own a 3D printer, but have been able to acquire the adjustable selector and a stitch ditcher-slider for use on my 4.5mm Brother machines; info on its use to follow in a separate blog post. 
The 3D printed 36 selector operates akin to the factory-manufactured ones discussed above.
On wider needle groups, if moving from left to right, match some of the selections on the left of the tool to those on the needle bed on the right, and continue to select from there.
Some literature refers to the small companion pieces as needle pushers, in eBay Passap listings as pusher teeth, and here they are referred to as pins.
Some tips: not consistently inserting the pins in the same direction leads to incorrect spacing, as seen in the two groups on the right. 
To avoid that, mark to identify the facing side, and insert pins consistently with the nub side up or down. Having additional color pins or tools can help with irregular needle selections. 
One possible use of the tool on the single/ knit bed is to use it to make repeated selections in short rows. Pins may be inserted for needle arrangements between opposite beds at custom intervals. For illustration, here the selections are fixed.
Placing the required number of pins on either side of the tool, the rest can be used as a handle to maneuver the pins to move stitches out to the hold position or push them back into the work position.
When working on both beds with the ribber pitch set on P:
pins need to be inserted consistently, ie, beginning with nubs up in the slots on the top and nubs down into the slots at the bottom. 
This was my test selection; 
there is consistent spacing between and touching of adjacent pins across both sides of the tool. 
When the ribber pitch is set to H, the spacing is altered between the groups on the top bed and those on the bottom, as seen on the left, requiring adjustments. 
The tool, used with the marked side up and with pins inserted with nubs facing down, toward the back of the marked side, resulted in the following selection. The single pin on the left serves as an aid in its placement.
Pins are so easily moved/ turned that custom placement can be tested to fulfill desired needle selection sequences.
More DBJ variations: tubular FI, quilting, backings
Recent FB MK posts shared Toyota Simulknit samples.
The company offered attachments for pile knitting and for Simulknit. 
The latter produced a FI pattern on one side, with a solid color backing on the reverse.
A Brother imitation, DBJ with a solid color backing, is a method that will knit each color in each design row twice, resulting in expected elongation of the design, not a factor in single-bed FI.
Each two-row sequence must be identical, unlike the double jacquard fabric, where each row in a sequence may be different. This remains true even if the KRC-style separations are programmed to start with preselection from the right.
The Knitmaster SRP 60N ribber changes the cam settings automatically from slip to knit and back to knit, saving some time. The ribber carriage must be taken to the extreme left of the needle bed for the autocam lever to trip the driving cam.
From the manual 
The original file was chosen randomly based on the number of side-by-side squares in either color, since the color not chosen for the backing will form floats between stitches knit on the top bed.
End needle selection is on.
The backing color is worked with the ribber set to knit in both directions, the alternate color is knit with the ribber set to slip in both directions for two rows, and setting changes are made manually.
Since each repeat is 8 stitches wide, it is usable in punch card models.
The separation is 32 rows in height, enough to squeeze by in terms of punched areas. The usual recommended height for smooth, continuous rotation of cards in the drum is 36 rows; a second 32-row card could be punched and joined if needed.
The visual summary of the process.
The starting 8X8 PNG, 
doubled in height to 8X16, 
color separated, inverting every other row, then rendering the result double height so that each color in each design row will knit twice, 8X32, 4 times the height of the original 8X8, 
test knit on 40 stitches, but programmed for 48. 
The work on the machine, illustrating the pairs of floats formed by the light color after it has completed its two passes only on the top bed. 
A sinker plate hack for knitting on the top bed only with the ribber in work.
More ideas for working in one or more colors to produce knits with pockets in them, listed in historical order from latest to first
Blistered stitches DBJ single color
References for double bed single color fabrics with pockets
Quilting using Ayab software
Revisiting machine knit “quilting” includes Passap info
Quilting on the Brother KM 2, solid color back DBJ
includes a method for producing a single color background with the same color outlining/ joining the planned quilted shapes in the second color; the repeat is not separated, is a design where the original is rendered double height, is not color separated, 
and additional ribber cam lever settings changes are required. 
Quilting on the knitting machine 1 single bed
Tubular fair isle is possible, 
the problem is that the backing fabric is often loose when compared to the slip stitch FI patterning.
The blog post includes Passap info.
The color separation used in the swatch for solid color backing can be altered to produce a tubular fair isle. 
The preselection row is from right to left. End needle selection is on, and the first and last needles in use are on the ribber to produce the beaded, sealed edging.
Each color will form a single float behind the needles/stitches that are skipped and do not knit.
The carriage settings for each bed and work in progress. 
The first test was knit using matching tensions on the main bed and ribber, 4/4, with poor gauge balance between the sides of the tube. The difference is due to the slip stitch in the patterning bed, making for a narrow and short knit. 
A much improved result, with the tension changed to 7 on the knit bed. 
Birdseye backing meets a different color separation to result in each color in each row knitting only once: the 8X8 design did not knit properly when separated with that goal in mind, using manual separation, the Gimp script, and finally, the KRC function in the 930.
All needles were selected every few rows, spaced in different numbers for each method, with no indication of software download or machine issues, leading to this exploration using the same color separation as above. 
The concept should apply when working with more than 2 colors as well.
To avoid extra rows being knit on the ribber, slip/ lili/ birdseye backing is used. 
A side-by-side comparison of the change in the aspect ratio of the design using the single color DBJ backing on the left, as opposed to the birdseye version on the right, although both were knit at the same carriage tensions. 
Seeking blisters using a new design with a change in ground to contrast ratios, beginning with testing whether the design, simply doubled in height, and using tubular settings, can provide an alternative to color separations:
18X18
18X36
knit repeat, 40X36 with added borders. 
The carriage settings, making certain the tuck lever is not “accidentally” placed in the up position, 
both colors form floats. 
The resulting pattern is very different from the programmed repeat, forming a maze-like design; there are interesting bumps on the purl side, with alternating color single-row stripes.
The dropped stitches are from my having to cut yarns that got tangled around gate pegs just below the waste ribbing. 
Is more less? The repeat is now color separated, so each color in each design row knits twice, bringing the total of rows to 4X the original, 18X72. 
Visualized in 2 colors, the 18X72 separation was expanded with the intent of having the contrast knit for 4 rows only on the top bed, and the background for 2 on both beds.
The ribber settings change from A when knitting with the background color, to B when knitting with the contrast on only the top bed. 
As the ribber set to A and moving from left to right knits the pre-selected needles on the top bed, the floats in those areas will be encased.
The swatch includes 3 errors in switching the ribber slip lever on the right from knit to slip, and are identifiable by the rows with every stitch in the same color.
The result does not immediately evoke the original design. 
Programming the 18X72 row color separation produced successful blisters with the identifiable design. The light color yarn is a tightly twisted rayon. 
To explore further the blister dimensions formed by blocks and lines, this repeat is drawn from one referencing Truchet tilings, which explored varied techniques and pattern management, including DBJ pockets in single color knitting with repeats drawn on dotted grounds such as this, 36X36.
The starting repeat, 21×18, 
doubled in height to 21×36, 
and color separated so each color in each design row is knit twice,
21X72, 4X the height of the original, 
test knit on 42 stitches. 
There are large areas of non-selected needles when only the contrast knits on the top bed, forming long floats, which did not appear to be problematic. 
In ArahPaint in knit design 5, some fonts were tested and produced clean BW text for knitting.
Here, several rows in only the ground color are included in the repeat.
44X37 
doubled in height, 44X74, 
color separated, 44X148.
In this method, as the ribber is set to knit and the carriages move to the right, they knit every stitch on the ribber bed and any preselected stitches on the top bed; those areas seal some floats in. As the carriages return to the left, floats are formed behind the alternate color. 
The end needle selection is needed to seal the sides.
As in fair isle knitting, in areas patterning with several non-selected needles on the top bed at the side edges, before any carriage movements, end needles should be moved forward to D or E positions manually.
Conversely, when knitting only on the top bed and the whole row is not selected except for the end needles, push them back to A manually to avoid a float forming from one side to the other; the result is seen at the bottom of the purl view on the right. 
A birdseye version from Truchet tiling design inspiration 1 .
used to explore wide floats on the top bed as only the contrast color knits, the starting repeat 48X112, 
doubled in height to 48X224, 
color-separated, 48X448; 
img2 track on the 930 broke the design into multiple tracks, the first track, 180 rows, was test-knit.
With the ribber knitting the contrast with the levers set to slip from left and knit to right, there were consistent issues with dropped stitches when these areas were reached. 
As a compromise, the ribber was then set to knit in both directions when knitting the ground color, and issues with dropped stitches were eliminated. Pockets/blisters still formed, and the floats in the contrast were trapped between the background knitting on both beds, with visible horizontal lines bleeding through. 
Blistered stitches dbj single-colorwork 
pockets formed over whole rows
Pintucks 1 vs shadow pleats, fair isle pintucks 
Pintucks 2, ripples in knits using the ribber some published designs, racked variations, more links
Pinterest inspirations vs implementation, tuck and lace combos 2
This post will be a growing companion to Pinterest inspirations vs implementation, tuck and lace combos 1, addressing designing repeats for automation of such designs on electronic machines.
Lace transfers made in the same direction will lead to the knit biasing in that direction.
Reversing the direction of the transfers at intervals will balance some of that bias.
In the post on A return to lace with automated patterning, adding color striping, the LC transfers were charted moving diagonally as well, 
achieving this result. 
In this inspiration source, the transfers are made in rectangular blocks. 
Assigning symbols and BW fill to cells in turn, 
expanding the repeat following arrow markings pointing to the LC selections and transfers in the correct directions. 
The single repeat, 20X42. 
In the bottom design rows 1-13, the LC makes 2 passes followed by 2 rows knit, in the top 14-41 rows, 4 LC passes are followed by 2 rows knit.
The test knit on 51 stitches. 
The side knit borders are 2 and 3 stitches, respectively. Next to the 2-stitch one, the eyelets are slightly compressed, appearing smaller than those next to the 3-stitch border.
There are charts worked out for fully automated tuck and lace combinations using both the LC and the KC to tuck.
Many are published in the Brother punchcard volume #5, but
they are not usable as provided in electronic machines.
The punch card machines repeat selection when the patterning carriage is retrieved for use from the opposite side.
The final charts in the DIY electronic versions will appear quite different, and although they may still be in repeat widths suitable for punch card machines, they are not interchangeable.
Electronic models advance the design for a row with each pass of carriages set for pattern knitting.
An idea using similar, alternating loop and lace diagonal shapes. 
In terms of fabric qualities, tuck stitch is short and wide, and lace tends more to long and wide.
Casting on and binding off may need to be adjusted to be looser in final projects.
Jumping right to the use of black and white pixels, following the arrows to track movements of both carriages to achieve the 24X36 final repeat.
Two all-knit rows occur after completing tuck segments, avoiding LC attempts at transfers containing tuck loops far beyond LC tolerance, capable of producing interesting LC carriage jams: 
The swatch was tested on 50 stitches. 
My seemingly endless supply of white yarn has reached its end, hence the color change and restart. As usual, the tuck texture is more evident on the purl side. 
These were published in a Japanese knitting magazine from the late 80s, with accompanying symbol charts. Counting up from the bottom, it looks as though they were intended for use in Brother models, with row 1 marked 7 rows up on the right of the proposed punch cards. 
Tentative planning in a spreadsheet for each repeat with arrows indicating the respective carriage movements.
The first preselection row is from left to right, and both begin with tuck patterning.
Testing the first 24X28 design
quickly identified a problem area where already formed tuck loops with added yarn from the lace transfers try to meet more tuck loops. Cyan T cells represent tuck loops, the magenta cells the loops formed when emptied needles are brought back into work as the next row is knit. 
1: The first pair of tuck loops is complete,
2: and meet the pair of lace transfers stitches to the left and to the right.
3: When needles emptied by the lace transfers are advanced to knit, the center needle between them is meant to tuck once more, but refused to do so with the next all-knit pass.
Often, the limit for the number of stitches or loops on any one needle to knit off properly on 4.5 mm machines is 4, unless the yarn is thin. 
A solution is to add an all-knit row to the design repeat, marked with blue cells. 
The amended design, drawn in repeat, checking alignments, 
programmed on 48X28 for test knitting, and mirrored horizontally on the 930
enabled sorting out likely places to watch for any added issues, i.e., location and reasons for any dropped stitches. 
The second repeat, tested on 48X52, with the pair of added all knit row as above, still posed issues; 
all-knit rows between the lace transfers must be programmed for execution by the knit carriage traveling from right to left and back to its home on the right. 
Programmed 48X52
Test knitting required mirroring on the 930
More tuck and Lace combos:
Lace meets tuck on Brother machines
Tuck stitch/ combination fabrics
Large diagonal eyelet lace
Combining tuck stitches with lace 2 (automating them)
Combining tuck stitches with lace 1
Pinterest inspirations vs implementation, tuck and lace combos 1
A companion to this post: Pinterest inspirations vs implementation, tuck and lace combos 2. Both are subject to edits and additions over time.
This has become an interesting rabbit hole for me. I am sharing working notes so far while I explore and document additional textures and combinations that move me forward, making them available to anyone wishing to participate in the journey.
Several images of tuck stitch combined with lace eyelets and diagrams with instructions in a foreign language not clear enough to attempt a translation led to this first exploration of what appeared to be the most complex pattern.
The source image: 
Pubs are not always in agreement as to the significance of specific symbols. In the published chart, the black dots are assumed to indicate stitches in hold or tuck, building up loops on the machine on the associated needles, the black triangles pointing to the left and to the right, the doubled-up stitches after transfers, and the curved shapes, the place where eyelets are formed after needles are emptied.
Many of my lace posts use cyan cells to symbolize transfers to the left, magenta for transfers to the right.
Starting with a symbols chart, in DIY, one may assign symbols that make sense personally. 
Conversations with self:
A row of knitting must happen in the location of the emptied needles after each lace transfer.
Each held stitch/ tuck gather in the source image is textured enough to indicate 2 loops represented in tuck stitch by pixel units of 1 in width, 2 in height.
Transfers should occur in the same rows as the first tuck loop formation.
The next carriage pass forms the second tuck loop, with single yarn loops on the needles emptied by the transfers.
Concurrently, the double tuck loops are moved forward on needles to the knitting position, along with preselection for the next first tuck row, and for the next transfers.
Transfers are made after every pair of rows before the next carriage pass, and the process repeats, manipulating needles and their stitches as needed, while also maintaining proper needle selection.
Watch for needles accidentally taken out of work after transfers.
Bring each pair in the transfer groups out to D or E; they need to knit on the next pass.
Getting started: this is a chart that also includes a plan for beginning and ending a program on equal repeat segments, with added cells marked in green.
Charts can contain as much or as little information as to be useful. 
The tuck stitches and the transfers in the final draft are both programmed as white pixels, resulting in the corresponding preselected needles remaining in the B position. 
The swatch was planned with 2 all-knit vertical columns on each side edge.
In many tuck designs, both single and double beds, having a pair to a few stitches on the edges, can provide a serviceable rolled edge that follows the pattern movement.
Since the programmed tuck side edges here are not symmetrical in my test PNG pattern, it was mirrored horizontally using the built-in function in the 930.
Leaving the carriage set to knit for beginning selections helps to identify the anticipated placement of the eyelets.
After the pattern was established, the work on the machine appeared to provide enough clues as to stitch transfer directions to develop a rhythm in making them. 
This far “simpler” design was planned from the outset in BW pixels. 
Simplifying the automated repeat, starting in only black and white: 
all transfers are made toward the center needle in each of the groups of 5 unselected needles.
The 10X8 repeat, 
programmed on 40X16 to include knit side edges, mirrored for use on the 930. 
The emptied needle and the one with the transferred stitch are brought out to E position, making certain the center stitch, the location of the tuck loop, remains in the B position.
The result is subtle, more evident on the purl side than the knit. The swatch was knit in 2/8 wool, first at tension 7, then at tension 10, an experiment in gauge and texture.
While on one side there is a 2-stitch border, the other has 3, and the eyelets on the 2-stitch side pull in a bit more and appear smaller than those on the opposite side, something to consider in planning finished pieces. 
Using the same concept, a yet untested design chart: 
the 10X20 repeat 
and 37X20 to match the chart 
Returning to a more complex design using a spreadsheet and a different approach:
reviewing the guessed symbols in the pub at the top left, with the colored cell significance for this exploration in the center column; 
in the table, 20 rows in height, every other row beginning with 1 at the top was hidden; symbols used previously and colored cells were added, including vertical columns in grey for planned needles out of work to heighten the effect of the tuck stitches.
and then with rows unhidden, colors were added in the needed locations. 
The placement of black and white pixels began to be considered. This 20X20 effort replaces the white pixels in the third column from left with black, the purple with white for tuck stitches. Eyelet locations are marked in black as well. There remain 2 issues. When drawn in repeat in height, there is an error at the center, 
which is eliminated by extending the height to 60 rows and shifting some pixels, now 20X60
tiles without errors. 
The 20X60 repeat, without all the added black cells, can be printed and coded to suit, with added clues, perhaps even as a guide in an all-hand-manipulated version.
Transfer directions and their respective rows are annotated in this chart.
In the column with cyan and black cells, the cyan indicates tuck loops or needles brought out to hold, and the black indicates the return of those needles to knitting. 
The last consideration is that the columns with lace transfers need to be color inverted, or all those white cells will tuck. 
Unselected single white cells will then point to transfers, and the ground in their respective columns is black, with all those stitches knitting.
The swatch was planned for knitting on 50 needles with 2 stitch knit borders added at each side. 
On the machine: ladder locations > NOOW on either side of where tuck loops will form.
Depending on the location in the repeat, transfers are made to the right or to the left on the center non-selected needle between ladders and areas with expected tuck loops, which are easy to identify as the knitting progresses. 
after transfers are made, both needle involved are brought out to E position. 
Single bed slip stitch vs ruching
The companion blog post: Reviewing single bed ruching, new designs shares repeats, and samples knit lifting sinker loops or ladders to form knit folds and textures.
In planning programmed machine knit designs, no matter which cam carriage settings are chosen, unless the carriage(s) are set to knit, N is king, the black pixels and punched holes knit in the pattern, the white pixels and unpunched areas do not.
Programmed slip stitch designs mimicking folds grow very quickly in length, with textures visible on both sides of the finished project that are more pronounced when there are larger knit stitch counts between the skipped ones.
Samples found in: New single bed swatches based on random sources of inspiration. 
In building textures, man-made fibers should be avoided; steaming or ironing could flatten them permanently.
If the yarn is too thick, it will make for a stiff fabric and also reduce the 3D effect.
Repeats can be designed with the slipped areas in black, but the final image must be color-reversed, whether as a converted PNG or using the selection option offered in electronic models. When applicable, punch card users can mark the white squares and then punch all the surrounding cells.
In this series of tests, the patterning of all white blocks several cells in width and height is explored. Multiple side-by-side stitches are skipped as opposed to every other stitch seen in the first two samples.
The purl side will have lots of floats; for some knitters, this is a deal breaker.
All uninterrupted large areas of black cells occurring at the side edges will ruffle unless white cells are added in select needle positions.
Usually skipped stitch areas form floats behind stitches held in those locations, which in turn become lengthened in proportion to the number of rows they are held; that feature is barely noticeable on the knit side in these tests.
The first PNG 16X42
color reversed, knit on 61 stitches. 
The same repeat can be executed as a hand technique where stitches are picked up and rehung to form hems.
A section of the resulting textures, knit in a thicker wool, was tested only on 31 stitches to inform the choices in developing additional designs.
There is an operator error included that may become a design feature or offer the opportunity to approve of and pursue less frequent ruching. 
A 24X64 larger repeat with deeper folds, executable on a punch card machine, in which case black cells are left white, and all white cells are punched offers possibilities for color changes in sequences of even numbers of rows
knit on 58 stitches, 
color reversed using the 930 function, 
no horizontal mirroring required 
The beginning of exploring using slip stitch blocks to form possible shapes, a 38X20 repeat, 
knit with a random yarn selection, on 58 stitches.
A 2- knit stitch vertical column is added to each side edge; 
identifiable shapes begin to appear. 
Expanding the design with the intention of deeper folds and adding color(s) striping, with 8-row unit multiples.
The adjusted repeat, 56X32.
The programmed test swatch repeat, 60X32, with equal side borders. Color changes alternate between 26 rows with slipped stitches, followed by 8 with all-knit contrast. 
Changing colors every 8 rows with an easy-to-track pattern. 
More bubbles formed by evenly distributed slipped stitches, with visualizations of possible color changes: 
the 18X28 repeat 
was knit tested on 58 stitches, with added all-knit vertical side borders. 
Symmetry can be maintained while exploring the uneven distribution of the slipped stitch pixels, 30X80. 
I became curious as to whether I could add FI or FI-like patterning to the folds created by the slipped stitches in the dark yarn, and tested the idea by choosing a very simple EON fill.
The fold areas must be knit in slip stitch as well, otherwise the fair isle setting will knit the white pixel areas with the color in the A feeder as opposed to slipping those needles. The fabric is quite compressed, with a lot of knit rows.
The EON pattern selection is familiar to users of the birdseye backing in DBJ, which the ribber executes when the lili buttons are used; two passes in a single color complete a one-row horizontal stripe.
The side edges ruffle noticeably.
In this case, 288 carriage passes produce a knit that is a shade under 6 inches in height in the pattern area.
The 64X96 single repeat. 
One of the earliest posts on the topic, written in 2013, A random slip stitch, included these. 
There are infinite approaches to creating secondary shapes of varying size and thickness.
This 24X20 repeat with the floats easily identified on the purl side of the swatch, builds solid color slip stitch blocks on striped shapes in a brick configuration with color changes every 2 rows. 
Single bed tuck/ mostly slip stitch fabrics 3, offered a range of possibilities, opening up the option of adapting a previously explored or published repeat to a larger scale.
I taught in a design studio, and dozens of swatches about the specific lessons and assignments were added to or changed weekly, covering a large wall display area.
One of the repeats, 24X36, 
led to these variations 
and was now altered in width to 36X36, 
knit tested on 69X36 after adding knit side borders, mirrored horizontally for use on the 930,
with color changes every 6 rows, 
yielding a highly textured knit. 
The top and bottom of the swatch reflect the difference in width between areas that are knit in stocking stitch and those with slipped stitches.
Besides narrowing the pieces in width, these designs also compress height.
I have a sometimes love/ hate relationship with the Brother single bed color changer, but it is hugely helpful when frequent color striping is planned in even row counts.
Color striping before committing to final color ways in pattern helps to establish whether contrast in chosen shades works well, and whether the changer and its sinker plate work smoothly.
Reviewing single bed ruching, new designs
The companion posts Single bed slip stitch vs ruching, and Single bed slip stitch vs ruching 2 explore automated textures that could share design repeats.
Gathering knits to produce folds rather than clustered stitches can be achieved by using programmed slip stitch designs, or manually lifting stitches from rows below the last row knit in an endless variety of ways.
Hand-gathered stitch groups, in proportion to their numbers, produce a hem that is sealed more tightly than the slip stitch versions, whereas the skipped stitches become elongated.
Machine-knit hems 2 illustrates multiple techniques for picking up stitches, ie. by first finding sinker loops
Select few stitches lifted up on a tuck ground: Pretend/ mock cables 4 
Ruching 1: fern “pretender” and more, a charted repeat that moves sinker loop groups, a technique that begins to imitate smocking.
Randomly selected samples from former posts:
Ruching 2: more working with stitch groups
Shadow pleats knitting 
Adding hems to varied knits includes this knit woven sample
Color striping, “winging it”, in New single bed swatches based on random sources of inspiration 
Manipulating slip stitch floats Slip stitch patterns with hand transferred stitches, single bed 2 
Industry knit stitch vocabularies refer to the yarn portion that connects two adjacent needle loops in the same course/ row as a sinker loop, 
making what is often called a ladder in home knitting, an extended sinker loop. 
The spreadsheet plan aided by some copy and paste is to count down to specific ladders, and use their loops to rehang on specific needles after every 10 rows knit in a brick stitch configuration.
The vertical blocks of stitches between out of work needles that produce the ladders are 9 stitches wide.
A single full repeat is 20X20, the test is knit on 55 stitches, with 2-stitch borders added aside first and last ladders.
Counting down sinker loops 
rehanging 5 times on the left side
repeating 5 times on the opposite, right side, with 2 extended loops now on the center needle of the 9-stitch group
what can happen when one is so busy looking at and manipulating stitches as to forget to look up. 
An alternate method is to count down to specific sinker loops, magenta, then manipulating the knit loop aside the last one lifted,
or seek out the adjacent sinker loop, cyan, and pick up the one immediately below it, magenta.
In the test swatch, to maintain an easy row count, stitches were lifted up in a brick configuration after every 10 knit rows, on 38 needles, a multiple of 6+2, that included an added single knit stitch vertical border on each side.
All-knit rows can be added in each half repeat block, cells representing them are colored in darker grey. The single design repeat is 12X28, 14 rows are knit before ruching, and pick up starts with the 6th sinker loop down.
A side-by-side comparison 
This repeat is 16X42 pixels and may be used color-reversed for a slip stitch variation.
Here, ruching/ pleating happens with lifting stitches for 5-row folds after every 6 rows knit followed by 2 all knit rows, making each pattern full block 7 rows in height.
Whether lifting stitches or changing colors, the carriage will not stop consistently on the same side as each block of lifted stitches is completed.
If color changes are planned, changing the folded depth to 6 rows from 5 will make the use of the color changer possible and avoid extra yarn ends.
The yarns used in the test swatch were a 3/9 wool and a sock yarn remnant, knit at tension 10, resulting in a rather stiff knit. Individual stitches were lifted on each edge aside the large all-knit segments to avoid ruffling and attempt at a balanced length.
Spacing the ruched segments further apart and increasing their width may make lifting every other stitch adequate for the 3D desired effect.
In this 75 stitch wide test, each of the 7 stitches in the black blocks was rehung on row 9, followed by 10 knit rows for easy tracking, and the process was repeated in brick fashion in the allotted locations. 
Some double bed work:
Pintucks 2, ripples in knits using the ribber includes this Passap sample 
Pintucks 1 vs shadow pleats
Cable crossings meet eyelets and ladders
More on combining lace patterning with added stitch types looked at lace transfers consistently to the center of groups of 3, with stitches transferred down to the ribber between them, creating vertical columns of knit stitches on a purl ground alternating with lace patterning.
One of the related swatches: 
Those who prefer the look, or anyone without a ribber, can use ladders to separate the pattern groups.
The color and fiber content are contributing factors, as always. In addition, with time and wear, stitches aside, the ladders may grow in size, with the space between them becoming diminished. There are always pros and cons to any technique.
This design was tested on 31 stitches and on both a bulky and a standard machine.
Cable crossings that formed eyelets occurred after every 6 rows knit. The repeat was sampled on a multiple of 4-1.
My scrawled needle tapes for both machines to help track transfers. 
After the first few repeats, the knit itself becomes a clear visual guide to stitch movements and is easy to execute.
Start with every 4th needle out of work, knit 6 rows.
The center stitch in each group is moved over by 3 positions, and the emptied needle is moved back to the A position to create the new ladder.
Moving the needles out to the E position offers the opportunity to look for proper stitch transfers and any dropped stitches.
The formerly empty needle, as one moves across the row, is returned to the work position, and new groups of 3 stitches are formed and knit for 6 rows.
At that point, after repeating the actions on each group of 3 stitches, one returns to the same distribution as in the starting position.
The design 12 row repeat: circles represent stitch transfer location with the corresponding needles taken out of work, while orange cells point to locations where empty needles are returned to work, becoming the center stitch in each new group of 3.
The test swatch was knit using a softly spun rayon
scale compared to its bulky knit companion
Adding stitch transfers to the ribber along with a change in in the type of stitch crossings, eyelets are formed where empty needles are returned to work.
The work on the machine on a multiple of 12+2 stitches, with needle tape markings, and needles brought out to D position after crossings: 
Getting more complicated: the move of 2 stitches as one so as to leave empty needles, shares the same concept as in the last swatch, but over a wider space. The setup rows are on every needle, all stitches knit on every row, a border can be added on each side, what appear to be ladders are the result of the yarn getting tugged across needle spaces by cable crossings.
Stitch and needle arrangements on the machine after the respective completed series of transfer rows.
Closer looks: the pairs of stitches that will be moved to face the back of the work can be rested on their tool on the adjacent pair of needles, leaving the hands free to manipulate the remaining pairs of stitches. 
The stitch further away from the center group of 8 is moved first, onto the adjacent one, 
then both skip a needle and move one spot over, 
the held pair of stitches moves in turn, to fill the empty pair of needles, 
completing the first set of transfers
While moving across the row, as long as the needles are in B position, the needles with double stitches and the adjacent empty one may be used as the resting place for the double eye transfer tool while the adjacent pair is manipulated.
The test swatch was knit using a 2/8 wool.
The bottom includes testing tension and simple crossings.
Cables for me are an excellent way to not only test the machine and yarn tolerance, but that of the operator as well.
The back of this knit is textured and stretched taut between metal machine parts, so errors (or discoveries to follow up on, “design features”) are not immediately identifiable without careful checking. 
More to browse
Ladders with lace, (leaf) “making things work” 1
Ladders with lace, (leaf) “making things work” 2
Ladder lace
Ladders and Lace
MK ladders, and a bit of crochet includes a hand crochet edging
Cables meet knit-weaving
Although I claim a lack of fondness for cables, reviewing the links listed in the category in the blog index, I found that this present one can is #30!
The goal here is to combine knit-weaving with cable crossings.
When working with hand techniques, clues can help maintain accuracy, especially when knitting long pieces.
To enable the movement of the stitch groups, the tension for the knitting yarn, also used in the lace/ knit weaving samples, required changing the tension from 7 to 9.
Movement happened within groups of 5 stitches to maintain continuous vertical lines of color.
Personal preferences inform our choices in spreading out the hand technique, and for the presence or amount of aids in maintaining correct patterning.
More on similar planning may be seen in the post on Cables meet fair isle. 
I tend to program a repeat that takes into consideration the number of needles in work on the machine.
In testing, in this series, the choice was made to bring groups of 3 stitches to the front of the piece consistently to maintain the vertical color line placements.
All transfers were first made in the same direction, but can be planned with other variations.
The columns of blank cells result in floats of the weaving yarn on the purl side.
The added borders in the spreadsheet plan below add a beaded edging catching the weaving yarn; end needle selection is canceled to maintain patterning on the edges. 
The program for the swatch, 41X18
1. A partial repeat is shown; the printed needle tape was marked with magenta columns where the stitches remain manually undisturbed during knitting.
The blue cells mark the alternate areas where cable crossings will occur,
the black dots, the fixed needle preselection that needs to be restored/ maintained after moving stitches.
2. The segments with non-selected needles programmed in each pattern group, blue on the needle tape, are the areas for cable crossings.
3. The first two stitches on the left of each group are removed and held on a tool, which can be temporarily rested on needle hooks to the left, followed by the removal of the group of three stitches
4. The three stitches are returned to the needle bed on the left, and the group of two stitches is returned to the bed on the right
5. Needle preselection is restored manually before knitting the next row
The proof of concept swatch: 
It is easy to crop swatch photos to visualize the designs in wider repeats or with other changes or additions before amending the original repeat and pursuing the technique further. 
Varying the concept, testing crossings were made alternating in opposite directions. They and the number of rows between them can be adjusted in DIY.
The new design repeat, 18X22
was planned for use on 41 stitches, a multiple of 18X2+5.
The corresponding needle tape markings, groups of three stitches were again consistently moved toward the center of each non selected group, the pairs were then brought behind them and placed on the pairs of emptied needles. Preselection for the weaving pattern needs to be restored after the crossings and before knitting the next row. 
Markings on needle tapes can be made as preferred, here magenta cells again indicate groups of stitches that are left undisturbed, the blue and cyan, groups of unselected needles with opposing directions cable crossings.
The relates swatch:
Lastly, a test of placing multiple cables along single rows: the new design repeat, 7X18.
Magenta cells represent columns of stitches that are left undisturbed, the cyan, pairs of stitches that are removed first, to allow the group of three beside them to be removed and moved over to the front of the knit by two needles. Cyan pairs are then returned to the needle bed.
The next row of knit weaving is likely hard to push, merits knitting slowly.
The swatch was knit on 40 stitches, with undisturbed borders on each side,
and imagined with crop, copy, and paste, in a different rendition.
Untested at present: an added repeat variation that retains the manipulation in groups of 5 vertical columns, found in the FI post, 20X18, followed by an amended design. 
The smallest design repeat, 20X12, 
planned tiled X2 in width, with added borders, matching the spreadsheet chart 
33X12
mirrored horizontally if required by the machine model or download software