A tale of crustaceans and critters

Ancient filet crochet books are often a source of inspiration for potential knits.
The files resulting from the PNG conversions collected here are not necessarily knit ready if they are to be used for DBJ.
If the planned design is to be used as a continuous pattern, with a return to row 1 after reaching its top, the designs must be an even number of rows in height to start with. 
Archive.org offers one search method for historical results.
The site is free to use; small donations are optional.
I have seen many references from this site and from https://mkmanuals.com/ downloaded and being sold online.
I live on the East Coast of the US, where crustaceans of all types are easily available in seafood sections of markets and restaurants.
This plate from a 1912 pub initially caught my eye.
The first repeat tested was knit in DBJ with birdseye backing,I was not happy with the swatch, measuring 8.75 X 8 inches, and got distracted, as often happens, by other rabbit holes.
The present 76X76 PNG  was used to test knit in DBJ with striper backing; the result was definitely more square, measuring 11X11 inches.
Although the two swatches share the same color way, they are knit using different yarns.
Plied yarns were problematic with feeding evenly and getting hung up on gate pegs, a first in my many years of knitting DBJ.  After several stubborn starts and switching to a different single ply shade of white, knitting went smoothly.
Each lobster occupies less than a quarter of the full repeat, 19 stitches, illustrating some of the limitations in detail when reducing identifiable images to 8-bit small designs. Not to be left out, the crab in the lower border, on the same page, 30X25

Inspired by the above and other filet crochet references:
an army of frogs that began with a border chart;  the 27X83 PNG  

in half drop, 81X83

a punchcard version, 24X56

Other design repeats from the same and similar other sources to play with in electronic DIY:
ladybug, 27X27 bunnies:
30X29103X37
squirrels
41X1roosters
39X3939X4159X59fictional
30X2931X31
50X5161X52

75X76Bordered, larger-scale tiles
57X57
87X8587X8787X8787X8792X91

93X9395X95previously shared 165X230 to trim, edit, and make your own, 202X134.A touch of mythology, 152X81.For an updated list of links to previous posts, please see the  blog index, new listing DESIGN REPEAT COLLECTIONS

 

Playing with cube shapes

A collection of geometric design blocks built with squares, rectangles, and lines looked at combinations that were 2D but could play with the illusion of movement, these repeats look at cubes in growing sizes.
The larger repeats have long floats, and are more suitable for DBJ than FI.
Fore easy manipulation mirror the images horizontally.
To mirror punch cards, flip them over and insert them into card reader. Depending on the complexity of the design, numbering the back of the card can be useful.
8X14

Its mirrored version8X22
10X20
10X20
12X2220X10
Exploring mirroring and rotations of the design repeat to achieve the start of DIY secondary shapesLarger design repeats become more suitable for DBJ, the conventional max in FI  single bed knitting is 5 needles knitting in either or both colors
24X44The opportunity to explore 3 colors per row
36X59

Exchanging colors to match yarn stash or to find secondary shapes in RGB/ expanded palette mode. Choosing from previously developed design repeats, DIY 3 color versions can easily be achieved through filling in dotted areas.testing the changes in orientation using ArahPaint toolsto mirror first horizontally and then vertically.
A different design with a vertical orientation, 12X26repeated to the same number of pixels/ potential stitches as the above. Developing a more complex geometric shape, 24X20, built by taking away or adding color pixels to create new forms. Working in multiple colors, software assistance visualizes complex shapes built from small units rotated to form new ones.
These were gleaned from Wolfram Math exploring Neat Alternating Tilings of the Plane, in their computational design format, CDF; the linked tilings site permits testing live interactive demos. The version of the CDF player operating on my Mac is 13.3. Nothing appears to be working properly in the latest available one, 14+, tested and now uninstalled.
Triangular unit variations ie,are found in the blog post Truchet/Smith inspired designs 2 meet ArahPaint.
Side-by-side stitches forming lines or intersections in pairs of pixels are unavoidable.
Here, there are vertical lines that form and will shift with the rotation of the files. The colors can easily be replaced in coloring book style to match yarn colors or personal taste.
A small unit, the vertical line is highlighted in the closeup image, 8X824X24different color-way, altering the visual impact by mirroring or rotating the file to shift the placement of the dark color
More collections to explore are listed below. For an updated list/ more, see blog index, new listing DESIGN REPEAT COLLECTIONS
Hound’s tooth FI variations were in a very early post, which offered only charts. PNGs for the designs are now in the process of being added
Playing with diamond and argyle repeats
Developing tiled repeats suitable for multiple stitch types includes some optical illusions
Seasonal knits inspired by published repeats 1 winter, holiday
Seasonal knits inspired by published repeats 2, hearts
Weaving drafts as inspiration for other textile techniques
Seasonal knits inspired by published repeats FW 2025
Working with diagonal patterning in machine knitting

Added play with lace designs 1

This experiment began with this full published punchcard chart, 24X40 cellsThe related PNG, 24X20, was tested on the 930 electronic machine.
Weight and tension adjustments led to avoiding dropped stitches, familiar to many with experience using the lace carriage (LC) to make the needle selections and transfers.
The side borders can be planned to be vertical columns of knit stitches or with shaping created by the transfers. Reverse engineering, from punchcard repeat to a hand technique chart begins with color coding the transfers, cyan to the left, magenta to the right.
The punchcard machine automatically reverses programmed motifs, but in charting for hand techniques place the symbols and their direction are as intended with the purl side facing.
This  startled to the first draft for use on the bulky.Needle beds and tapes may be marked in a variety of ways to help track hand techniques. Custom needle tapes on any model can be printed to scale and inserted under needles for similar guidance.
Claudia Scarpa has published tapes for a large range of needle spacings on her blog. They are numbered and in colors to match factory tapes for both full needle beds.
Mac experiments on printing needle tapes and punchcard templates to scale and other tips shares 4.55mm bed downloadable documents.
Each table cell in my bulky DIY measures 22X26 points in a Mac Numbers, an editable spreadsheet: bulky tape
The related PDF file, needle tapes only bulky , printed to the correct scale using these setting adjustments.The 23-cell table screen grabbed, opened in gimp, cropped to content, 1177X91,
also printed to proper scale and offers the opportunity to fill individual cells or blocks with specific colors using the fuzzy select/ magic wand tool
The 9mm tape is shown in place with markings chosen to match the chart for alternate pairs of rows.The result is with knit rows after each series of transfers.A side-by-side view/comparison,  highlighting differences in the number and size of the eyelets. Readjusting the repeat, shown in progress; the rows marked with red cells take into consideration the actions of the automated LC selection.
The transfer in each segment is made first, and then subsequent selections and transfers are made until the final eyelet is formed in the desired place for each of the following segments.
The yellow cells represent blank rows in the cards.
Multiple transfer tools, in this case a 2-prong one, can be used to make the multiple stitch transfers in single moves.
The final repeat is collapsed to place eyelets in the proper location and is reduced to 8 rows in height.The knitting in progress on the bulky machine illustrates transfer rows, and shares its appearance with this test on the 930 knit using 3/8 wool

Seasonal knits inspired by published repeats FW 2025

With the approach of fall and winter once again, the post with Seasonal knits inspired by published repeats 1 was discussed in Ravelry.
This share adds to the library of collected repeats, aiming for daily updates.
When choosing any design, view or print the tiled image or selected portions magnified as much as possible, after giving the eyes a rest, before committing to knitting, which can sometimes be followed by disappointment.
Recently, I have begun to use the 930 Lace Carriage for preselecting needles in B position, moving toward the knit carriage, and then removing it, instead of switching to slip stitch for a free pass when needed and risking confusion in returning yarns to their proper position or forgetting to switch cam buttons for proper technique.
Charts will be provided for designs suitable for punchcard use.
18X24
22X2022X2224X22 24X24

24X24
The difference achieved by inverting colors in the PNG or switching placement of the yarns in their feeders:

25X2626X2626X2626X2626X2626X26
27X27 two ways
30X30 with half segments repeating39X3034X3234×32  color inverted tiling40X40
42X40isolated from tiled repeat, 42X4046X46 two wayscombining repeats
48X48
65X6572X72
Developing DIY repeats for color striping or with color-inverted tiles can begin with any motif drawn in repeat with areas where pixels repeat in even numbers across rows or columns, lining up horizontally, vertically, or both.
If the goal is to knit a single bed fair isle, consider float management to secure the 10 stitch floats, as in this case, alter the repeat, or simply choose another.
There are several approaches for generating new designs from those already developed. One is to begin with a tiled version, choosing possible breakup points, which are highlighted here in magenta. The manually isolated repeat, 27X54, with the bottom half color-inverted.The design, drawn in repeat X 3, formed alternating color inverted horizontal bands with pairs of pixels at the tiling vertex. Making the choice based on personal preference to eliminate the extra pixels, using ArahPaint mirror X-1, 53X54.Color inverting each quarter for pattern blocks, 53X54,mirrored X-1, 52X54A slightly different approach, starting with the 27X27 file, undisturbed, draw in repeat X2 in height, and using rectangle select choose the part of the design with the double row of pixels as the point for dividing the image into 3 segments, using rectangle select and colors > invert all, to form the new 27X54 file, for the horizontal repeat.The same file drawn in half-half-drop repeat for alternating tiles of the pattern, 54X54.The 27X27 doubled in width, 54X27,with the center 27 pixel section color inverted,for vertical stripes. Adding a few pixels for float control?
Problem area 1Problem area 2The proof of concept, knit on 61 stitches.Punchcard knitters can also add holes to specific areas for float control, such as in the 24X22 repeat shared at the top of the post.Card programmed designs are centered, mirrored horizontally, and repeated in fixed locations across the needlebed. The needle tape markings serve as guides.
When making pieces, if the goal is to place the center of the design other than in the default location, one solution is to move the work to a different place on the needle bed; the other is to shift the motif before punching the card.
Here, the chosen design is drawn in repeat to 48X22, the center segment is isolated, and cropped to the new 24X22 motif, shown on the right with the new holes to punch highlighted in magenta.The chart for the full card, the PNG.The proof of concept swatch: repeating motif components on a more open background, beginning with 50X50From A tale of crustaceans and critters, a large tile, 87X87,
from Color separations for larger-scale mosaics and mazes

Alternating color tuck stitch shapes on striped ground

The post Single bed tuck and slip stitch fabrics 1  reviews some of the differences between the two stitch types, and the characteristics of appropriate pattern repeats.
Single bed tuck and slip stitch fabrics 2: adding color introduces visualization and samples, executing both with frequent color changes while Visualizing maze or mosaic potential from tuck or slip stitch repeats begins with designs that are already developed/published and constructs the visualization of the potential results with frequent color changes.
DIY repeats bring together approaches and ideas developed over time.
A color separations post published more than a decade ago, first looked at achieving this design repeat using Excel, and the topic was revisited this year in Revisiting old color separations, testing present software methods, leading to present testing of the concept using the same software tools to produce a tuck knit pattern with alternating color shapes while observing the conventional tuck stitch rules.
In this case, if each color is to knit tucks for 2 rows, then it must be represented by cell units that are formed in single width, and 2 rows in height/ across each pair of rows.
Using only BW pixels, the process began with a 13X26 PNGdoubled in height to 13X52, redrawn on a larger canvas, to 14X56using ArahPaint drawn in half-drop repeat, offset by 28 or by 1/2 using the pull-down choice.    28X56Relatively small designs are easy to manage.
A first alternative: in one half of the repeat, erase or fill in with white the first 2 rows of black squares in the design, while in the second half of the repeat, do so with rows  3 and 4, and test alignment by drawing the design in repeat.Visualizing placement of tuck stitches on striped ground:
1. the original repeat
2. the revised repeat
3. the striped ground in any chosen colors
4. #2 with white color to alpha copied and pasted on #3
5. in any final knit when programming the design, the black cells in #4 need to be white for tuck stitches, and the ground a solid black.
Both #4 and #5 prove that held stitches/tuck loops in both colors are not represented together on any pair of rows. A second alternative uses ArahPaint on half the repeat at a time to allow for the 2-row upward shift between designs
1. adjust the grid width to 14, providing a vertical guide along the vertical midline
2. fill a 14X56 new image with a first 4-row brush3. copy and paste it on #1 right, after rendering the green color in 4 transparent5. a new 14X56 image filled with a second 4X4 brush6. copy and paste it on #4 left, after rendering the magenta color in 4 transparent7. the final repeat The test knit repeat, 28X56, is centered in a 60X56 canvas with an added two-stitch vertical border on each side; end needle selection is canceled.   The repeat may be used as is. To meet tuck rules, it then must be color reversed using the machine’s appropriate button after downloading, or color reverse the PNG before saving, and use that as is. The change to the second lighter color yarn was made to facilitate the ability to visually check the proper formation of stitches on the purl side during the test knitting of the swatch. The repeat may be reduced for use in punchcard models.and is drawn in repeat to obtain the brick configuration on the left, and then the software tool is used to find the single 24X48 repeat on its right.
The colored chart visualizes the placement of the tuck loops on a 2-color striped ground.
Punchcard knitters may mark the black cells and follow with punching all other squares, as indicated by the black cells in the chart on the far right.
24X24 PNG before the color separation for electronic knitting, before color reversal, and after it. It is possible to use the punchcard reader to repeat each row twice. The 24X24 version of the separated repeat,however, would need to be punched twice to accommodate the length necessary for the card to roll properly continuously, so not labor-saving.
Punching as required without added adjustments, such as using elongation, can make it easier to correct any errors during knitting.
Exploring the appearance of a smaller repeat by comparing results using the same yarns:

16X24 color reversed and tested on 48 stitches, 48X48 PNGThe repeat may be made usable for a punch card machine by spacing the design to 12X24 stitch vertical segments and punching the white ground. The addition of a few pixels forms continuous shapes. The design drawn in repeat and color reversed for test knitting on the 930, 48X48 pixels,  results in appearance and movement with a change in colorway, with more 3D texture than appears in the images.

Tuck and garter stitch: from hand knit to machine knit 2

I don’t usually write posts narrating in the first person, but here I am making an exception.
At the end of 2015, I attempted to reproduce a free hand-knit pattern shared and published on the Purl SOHO website and on Ravelry beautyberry-blanket-600-12-315x441on the machine, and the related test swatch was a whopping 9 stitches wide.
At the time, I used the hold setting in the knit carriage to form alternating loops.
With my bulky now set up again, I wondered about a different approach.
The necessary loops can form with the use the tuck <-> setting.
The carriage needs to be on the side where the yarn is available on every pattern row before following carriage passes.
Using the hold button to bring the carriage to the opposite side after turning the work over would require all needles to be in the E position, making consideration for needle manual preselection for 2 positions necessary.
For this swatch, I chose to take the carriage off the bed and move it to the appropriate side as needed.
The knit carriage can perform tuck or slip functions without the addition of automatic patterning.
Needles hand-selected to the D or E position will knit; any remaining in the B position will tuck.
In this instance, colored cells in the chart represent D or E position needles, and white cells represent needles in B.
The repeat is an odd number of needles in width, 6 rows in height. The work is turned over after selecting and knitting rows 1 and 2, 4 and 5,  but not after rows 3 and 6. The only row that knits with the carriage starting from the left is row 6.
Tools that can increase speed: any flat, hard-edged one to push groups of needles forward or back, in this case, my single bed cast-on comb, one to facilitate every other needle selection, and a bulky garter bar. The bulky machine was equipped with a single bed cast on comb. I do not find it pleasingly useful, and resort to the single bed one if needed.
The yarns I initially chose were painfully prone to splitting, helping to expand my use of expletives.
Once I found a more manageable yarn pairing, the actions became rhythmic as the piece grew in length.
My hack for evenly distributed weight and stitch management was to use the standard cast-on comb poked through some waste yarn, with the addition of a small ribber weight placed in the center hole. Both were left on throughout the process.  When it was time to use the garter bar to turn the work over, with all the needles pushed out to the E position, it was easy to tug down on the comb and pull the knitting forward on the bed after checking that all the latches were closed and that the grooved side of the garter bar was facing up.
If some of the stitches are not moved properly and the work needs to be pushed back for another attempt, some eyelets of the garter bar may be stuck behind any closed needle latches and cannot come past them. Push the bar further back, make certain all latches are open, and it will then be able to move past them.
With the yarn removed from the carriage, the work can then be turned over.
With all needles in the E position, check that all latches are open, and replace stitches in the needle hooks.
After checking visually that the yarn is transferred properly and present in all needle hooks, the bar is shifted forward, free and away from both. It is possible at that point to use the straight edge to push the needle butts back to move all the needles/ stitches back to the B position, and then to pull down on the bar to remove it.
The carriage is brought to the opposite side, yarn is returned to the feeder, needle selection is made, and knitting continues.
The proof of concept:

Returning to thread lace, adding bulky knit samples

IN PROGRESS

Many knits are named referring to the resulting open spaces with the term lace.
Links to more information on the technique are listed at the end of this post.
Thread lace uses thick and thin yarns for the illusion of eyelets.
Beginning with published designs can provide a springboard for DIY, an opportunity to observe the size of eyelets and lines formed by the respective white cells/unpunched holes in cards, ot the companion black cells/punched holes.
This test is knit using #12 from the Brother punchcard set P. The thick yarn is a 4/10 wool, the thin a woolly nylon, which, although a good color match, proved to be a poor choice. It has some stretch, and off the machine, the resulting illusion eyelets were far smaller in size than expected. Steaming with light pressing and a mild tug to enlarge them broke the nylon in several places, as well as making the knit surface appear irregular.  The results improved vastly with a switch to sewing thread as the thin yarn. Representational designs can have blurred details from the floats of the thick yarn showing through the thinner yarn stitches. This rose design was used in a garment years ago, and began with this 24X56 file.
Some needle selection was eliminated in the card used in the piece to allow for the transition to a new, smaller design repeat.
The standard KM version was knit using contrasting colors using wool-rayon and sewing thread
The thicker yarn in this test on the bulky is an unscoured worsted with natural oils, intended for hand-knitting on #7 or 8 needles to produce 5-4.5 sts per inch. It was stiff and hard to knit on the machine, required a loose tension, and the eyelets were quite large. It took aggressive pressing and steaming for the best reading of the design; any final piece would likely grow in length over time. I unraveled the swatch before realizing I had not measured it.
A slightly different, continuous repeat, 24X60was knit on the standard using wool and a nylon thread, and the bulky, using worsted-weight acrylic and the same nylon thread.The size of both swatches, knit on the same number of stitches/rows, compared in size.A return to a leaf shapes knit using a 3-strand worsted-weight wool yarn and a 16/2 durene, and the Brother 25p card.  This was in my stash of self-punched cards; neither side has any marks of any kind.   The 24X54  matching PNG used in other samples, scaled and gridded as a guide for punching

Thread “Lace”
Revisiting Fair Isle, thread lace, 3D surface potential 
Tuck stitch meets thread lace repeats and vice versa 

Unconventional uses for punchcards 2: thread lace cards for “filet” mesh 
Thread Lace on Brother KM bulky samples
Thread lace and punchcard knit carriage use on Brother 910_1 
Thread lace and punchcard knit carriage use on Brother 910_2   ribber  

The setting may be used to achieve textured knits and mock cables using elastic ie as seen in:
Knitting with “unusual” fibers/ elastic 1

 

 

Experiments on Brother 260 bulky KM 1

IN PROGRESS

I no longer own any Passap equipment.
The added space has allowed my setting up the bulky model, perhaps the most underused of my km collection over the years, except for the winter season felt hat production. screenshot_80screenshot_84Although my yarn stash was reduced dramatically with my downsizing, there are still some balls and cones remaining from those days, or certainly, multiple strands of thinner yarns may be used together.
The post Brother machines, punchcards, and their use offers basic info, while the one sharing symbols and card samples will help identify suitable designs for potential knit settings.
Decades of knitting on the 4.5 mm models make for interesting adjustments in the switch of materials and scale.
I am including some results here that are found through searching through former posts, but were not categorized as bulky knits at the time they were initially published.

Cables can be hard to achieve across full needle beds because the yarn is forced to move across fixed distances on metal beds.
The links to the full series of previous posts on the topic can be found in the blog index.
This sequence was tried first on the standard; resulting crossings were nearly invisible.
The bulky swatch took some coaxing on the knit rows, and a very loose tension to make it possible.
The how-to: after casting on an uneven number of needles and some base rows, cable crossings are made every other row. Either side of the bed can serve as the starting side, depending on personal preference. If beginning on the left,
1: COL, begin cabling with the first pair of needles on the left, moving pairs of stitches in the same direction across the row; there will be a single remaining stitch on the right
2: knit one row to the right
3: COR, skip the first stitch on the left, and begin cabling with the second pair of stitches, moving them in the opposite direction of those in the first cable crossing row until COR is reached
4: COR, knit one row back to the left
Repeat steps 1-4

Lace
Producing large eyelets with hand manipulation of stitches is possible on the bulky machine as well.
Planning vertical straight bands in a spreadsheet: Some steps are illustrated in progress below.
The yarn used is a 4/10 wool with a soft hand.
The repeat is a multiple of 3+2 stitches that serve as single stitch vertical borders, along with single stitch eyelets on each side.
Transfers are made toward the center of each 3-stitch group every 4 rows.
The illustrations:
1. After the transfers are completed, there will be side-by-side empty needles. As the next row is knit, each empty needle will hold a loop. The method used to help them become stitches, except for the first row of eyelets, is one illustrated for buttonholes in a Brother manual.
2. The double loops are dropped
3, 4.  A single eye tool is inserted from the back of the loop, twisted to the front, and the e-wrapped yarn is rehung on the first empty needle. The process is repeated with the second loop/empty needle
5. Formerly empty needles now hold twisted/wrapped yarn
6. The eyelets on the machine are approximately the size of a dime. The finished swatch, knit on 26 stitches, measures 6.25X4.25 inches in the patterned areas after steaming and pressing.   In a different needle arrangement,  the loops are secured by the next set of transfers. Every other group of transfers is planned for single eyelets along the side edgesAt the top of the swatch, rather than e-wrapping, the empty needles were brought into work alternately over 2 carriage passes, creating a pair of smaller eyelets
A 2013 post looked at ladder “lace”, with the use of a card to aid with proper needle selection, yielding the bulky sample below. This pattern is created by forming large eyelets as well. Symbols and charts exploring designs have evolved over the years.
Using the method seen in some of my latest posts:The series of double eyelets can be shortened, as seen at the bottom of the swatch.
The long floats created by the double empty needles are handled as described in the previous share.
The swatch was knit on 26 stitches, measures 6 inches in width. More inspiration may be found in the post on textures in needles out of workspaces.
Revisiting lace leaf design repeats 2 shared a 12X52 row design knit on 38 stitches. Lace punchcards_use on the Brother 260 Bulky offered a few methods for using both Brother and Studio lace published repeats.
This sample was used with a longer, 24X68 row punchcard using 2 carriages and extension rails.
The extension rails on the bulky have arms that are different lengths. The bulky rail is shown compared to the one for the standard, with a white tag on it. Their placement is easy to assess, but if the front arm has not clearly snapped into place with an audible noise, the rails can make it hard to push the carriage out to the needed position or even become flying projectiles.
Using 2 carriages
Knit some base rows.
The carriage used to select needles need not have a sinker plate in place.
Its end needle selection is cancelled, and it operates from the left side as the LC does on the standard.
It holds no yarn.
Deactivate its row counter.
Push in both its part/slip buttons.
The carriage used for the 2 knit rows separating design segments operates from the right, is set to knit, and does not advance the punchcard. Activate its row counter for future gauge calculations.
Knitting:
1. Lock the card on the first row as would be done on a standard machine.
2. COL, the first selection row is made left to right. Subsequent transfers can then be made by hand in the direction of the arrows on the card if they are available, or simply away from the carriage. All needles must be returned to the B position. When the KH carriage is set to slip, it is the selected needles that actually knit stitches. If the carriage moves across those same needles with no yarn in the feeder, selected needles will drop their corresponding stitches.
3. COR, set the card to advance “normally”, transfer selected needles to the left, and move the carriage itself to the left.
4. COL, transfer preselected needles to the right, and follow with a knit row to the right.
Continue to make transfers that the lace carriage would have made. In this instance, there will be 2 passes of the selecting carriage with no preselection, indicating the place for the next pair of knit rows from the right, end COL.
4. COR, knit 2 rows, or more if the lace pattern requires it, end COR.
Return to needle preselection with the selecting carriage from the left.
Although the bulky offered single bed cast on combs, the ribber cast on comb and a single small ribber weight seemed to be the best way to ensure proper knitting.   Areas where 3 stitches were placed on single needles needed occasional coaxing for the stitch in the next row to be knit through them completely.
The swatch was knitted on 37 stitches, for 2 full repeats in height, and measures 13X9.25 inches. Exploring a lace repeat in multiple ways: the punchcard repeat was developed from the hand transfers chart, shared with corresponding standard gauge LC automated swatch, and hand transferred one on the 260 bulky.
The bulky swatch was knit on a multiple of 6+3 stitches, with a planned 2 stitch border on either side. A custom needle tape was in place to aid in proper needle selection, the repeat is an easy to track once the pattern is established

From 2015, a hand technique, A block lace pattern on the machine

 

Short rows
A leaf lace never fully completed, from 2017

Thread lace
2025 Returning to thread lace, adding bulky knit samples

It will be a while before my ribber will be set up. In the interim, previous posts with related info
More on Brother DBJ, including KR 260 bulky KM options
carriage settings and tips
Revisiting drop / release stitch lace 1

Slip stitch patterns with hand transferred stitches, single bed 2

The previous post, Slip stitch patterns with hand transferred stitches, single bed 1 grew quite lengthy; this one will host newer experiments.
This stitch pattern reminded me of bowknot/butterfly stitch design. Samples explored in the past were executed using both knit and ribber beds.  This version is knit using the single bed.
The smallest repeat, 14X40, the plan is for a swatch 46X40 repeat, with a color change at the midpoint,   the PNG. Knit the first 2 design rows. When the first row with groups of three non-selected needles occurs, bring the center needle of each group out, indicated by the red cell, moving from one side of the bed to the other, and knit the stitches through using a length of ravel cord, leaving some slack between them. Return the emptied needles to the B position. They will be skipped/slipped along with their pairs of side-by-side companions, forming floats. When the first row of every needle preselection occurs, beginning on either side, tug down on each stitch with the ravel cord, elongating it (L image), insert a tool through its center front to back, lift it on the empty needle (R image), lining it up in position D or E.
The ravel cord can be unthreaded after each step while continuing the process, moving to the opposite side of the needle bed, or after reaching the opposite side.  The first repeat used a yarn from a cone that “unexpectedly” ended 

Manipulated slip stitches using the ribber:
Slip stitch patterns with hand transferred stitches, double bed
Bowknot aka butterfly or dragonfly stitch in more than one color
Bowknot/ Butterfly stitch on the machine

A tale of lace knit counterpanes

Decades ago, long before English language magazines intended for machine knitters were published, several Japanese language ones were available.
I recall a particular dealer who used to attend seminars and made them available in the associated marketplace, occasionally with free issues for anyone able to execute and knit a “guess how this is made” handout.
Publishers included Nihon Vogue, ZaZa, Studio/Silver Reed, and Brother.
Before electronic machine models became available, pattern repeats were offered for use on punchcard models or simply as hand-knit charts.
This Brother pub introduced counterpane-inspired designs, such as seen in this hand-knit version found online, from an unclear source. The circular lace movement is created by the gathers at the cast-on edge of flat horizontal knit bands.
Partial repeats from the pub, a 16X14and a 20X16both designs may be scaled in size, adjusting width, height, and the number of transfers.
Many previous blog posts here have analyzed how to convert hand-knit patterns for automated lace knitting on Brother machines.
Hand-knit patterns often show transfers on the knit face side, making it necessary to mirror the charts horizontally to match them on the machine, where only the purl side is in view to the knitter.
Punchcard machines mirror punched designs horizontally automatically.
On electronic models such as my 930, downloaded PNGs are automatically mirrored, necessitating one of 2 choices. One is to mirror the PNG before downloading it to the machine, and the other is to use the built-in image reverse button to do so.
Testing a single repeat first helps isolate pattern errors. If 2 needles are selected by the LC side by side, the cause may be that the image needs to be mirrored due to the machine brand/model or the download software being used.
Assigning colors to the left and right LC transfers is useful in expanding hand transfer charts to automated designs.
Cyan cells indicate transfers to the left, magenta ones indicate transfers to the right, in this 14-stitches by 12-rows repeat.
The expanded chart that follows was created using Mac Numbers to develop a repeat for a square pane using four petals.
A blank column on either side edge will include transferred stitches and will be used to seam the knit.
Yellow/ blank rows do not always reflect knit rows in the chart; in some cases, they include passes needed for the LC to return to its proper location on the left side.
A single design repeat is expanded to 14X44. Following the built-in machine prompts rather than the row counter, the red cells indicate knit rows after each transfer segment is completed.  With pattern mirroring, needles 28L to 29R are in use. 57X44 matching the chart, used with the 930 #1 reverse key.To reduce the bulk when the band is gathered at the end of the knitting, e-wrap cast-on every other needle, leaving a long tail to be used for gathering the center of the square.
To gather the loops formed by the cast on, the same yarn may be used, or even a thinner, stronger yarn. Testing on a small swatch helps one make the choice.
The technique can happen off the machine, but it is also possible to thread through the loops close to the start of the piece on the machine.
To knit:
E wrap EON, from right to left
hang the cast-on comb,
knit 5 rows, ending with COR,
begin using the lace carriage,
when the piece is completed, bind off around 2 gate pegs for enough stretch, leaving a long enough yarn end to seam the piece together.
The completed band, ready for bind offSteam/press the finished band for the initial blocking, and seam it into a tube.
Gather the loops from the cast-on with the gathering thread around, over the join, up to two times, pull tight, and secure the thread.
Lightly block once more into a square. To knit a pentagon, a fifth repeat is added, mirrored 71X44 PNG, ready for download and knitting on the 930 needles 35L to 36RThe design can be expanded to achieve a 24-stitch repeat usable for automated patterning on punchcard model machines.
The chart is scaled up first in size to 24X26 to be followed for a possible hand-transferred lace. A single segment was tested on needles 13L to 12R; transfers proved challenging, with stitches dropping, yarn splitting, and generally resisting group moves. Finally, a 2/20 wool, with one operator error, a missing transfer/ eylet, completed the test. The 24X26 design, now expanded for use with a punch card, 24X184.
The repeat, rendered in BW. The PNG for the 4-petal +1 repeat, mirrored and ready to knit on the 930, 97X184,   was divided into two tracks by img2track, with the first 50 rows in track 1, the remainder in track 2, changing the machine prompt numbers if relying on those for row numbers rather than the counter.
A 24-stitch portion of the design, avoiding the multiple tracks.  The swatch was knit on needles 48L to 49R, using 2/8 wool commonly used at tension 8, too thick for the LC to transfer without problems.
I chose to proceed manually with transfers occurring away from the knit carriage, checking that no needles were accidentally pushed back to the A position or that extra stitches were not transferred if wrong needle selection is affected when correcting dropped stitches.
1: the e wrap cast-on on every other needle with the comb in place, leaving a yarn end longer than the width of the needles in work
2: the first pass knits to the opposite side
3: the cast on comb is brought forward
4: the yarn end is threaded through a needle, and gradually stitched over, under the yarn loops moving across the row
5: the completed band, about to be bound off around 2 gate pegs. After binding off, the piece was removed from the machine and steamed and blocked lightly. After seaming it into a tube, the cast-on edge was then gathered, and a bit more ironing and steaming followed. Comparing the size of the two square pieces. This is a throwback swatch, knit in a softly spun rayon, which proved to be out of control in terms of forming a hexagonal seamable shape.
Yarn choice and tension contribute to successful sizing or fails. The quickest version, a 16X22 repeat forming a pentagon, knits with a programmed pattern to guide stitch transfers beginning with a 7-prong tool.
The yarn is 2/8 wool, knit slowly and with more patience.
The chart may be printed and followed as an added guide.
Needles 40L to 41R, 16X22 PNG
81X22was programmed in addition with the 930 #1 reverse key selected.
A nylon cord was carefully threaded through the cast-on loops at the start of knitting.
The intent was to steam/ iron the band lightly as the initial blocking before seaming, the universe intervened, letting me know it is time to replace my iron as part of the piece was immediately scorched and the cording spot melted.  Regrouping, the cast-on loops were visibly clear and easy to gather at the center after seaming using a saved long yarn end from the cast-on row. This pentagon, compared in size to the red yarn version
For some 2D doilies, see:
From automated lace edging pattern to doilies and ruffles
Doilies: Lace meets hold and goes round