Purlbed

Cables and lace › Dropped stitches and ladders

Dropped stitch design

Light, open fabric with long dropped ladders that step from side to side. Single stitches are knitted on front needles spaced out along the bed, with the rear bed knitting all across. Then the yarn is taken out and the carriage passes to drop those front stitches.

Machine types that can knit it

Demo swatch

Drawn for: Double-bed hand flat (V-bed)
Approximate preview worked out from the bed chart, not a photo.
Bed chart
15101520253035→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←+40+4Back bedBoth beds (double jersey)+1Rack to this position before the row (0 = home)1 square = 1 stitch × 1 row · read from the bottom · Hand flat (V-bed), 36 needles, half pitch
Needle notation, first steps
1. Rows 1–8: knit 8 rowsBed-selected motif (back 32 / both4)carriage →backfront2. Transfer 4 stitches to the backbedbackfront3. Rows 9–10: knit 2 rowsBack bed onlycarriage →backfront4. Rack the back bed to 4 needlesright of homebackfrontShowing needles L14–R10 of 36; repeat across the working area.

Carriage settings on a Dubied

Dropped stitch design
RearFront
  1. rearfront1111
    1. Knit several rows. Transfer all front stitches to the rear bed. Put all front needles out of action.
  2. rearfront1100
    2. Lower the racking handle all the way down to the right. Knit several rows. Carriage on the right.
  3. rearfront1110
    3. Bring in the front needles as set out. Knit 8 rows.
  4. rearfront0011
    4. Cancel the yarn and leave the carrier on the right. Knit 2 rows to drop the front stitches. Rack 4 needles left by raising the handle. Repeat from the third setting, changing the rack direction each time, and pick the yarn up again.
Dropped stitches are moved first, to the rear bed or a neighbouring stitch. Otherwise they run to the bottom of the sample. A neighbour cannot be dropped until it too has been moved.
How to read the cross
  • The four quarters are the carriage: top rear bed, bottom front bed, left moving left, right moving right.
  • Corners, knit/miss cam: 1 knits; ½ knits on high butts only and misses low butts; 0 is out of work.
  • Diamond, tucking cam: 0 no tuck; ½ low butts tuck, high butts knit; 1 all needles tuck. An empty diamond is all 0.
  • Numbers on the line are tension dials, 0 tightest to 20 loosest. A + means looser than your usual size.
  • Set-out: long tick high butt, short tick low butt, dot out of action.
Racking handle: up moves the rear bed left, down moves it right, up to 6 notches. Rack only with the carriage clear of the needles.

Steps

  1. All-needle rib, set-up, welt, several rows.
  2. Transfer all front stitches to the rear, front needles out of action.
  3. Handle down, several rows on the rear.
  4. Bring in the front needles as set out, knit 8 rows.
  5. Cancel the yarn, 2 rows to drop the front stitches.
  6. Rack 4 left.
  7. Repeat from 4, changing the rack each time.

The full card

What it looks like
Light, open fabric with long dropped ladders that step from side to side.
How it behaves
Open and drapey, quick to make.
How it works
Single stitches are knitted on front needles spaced out along the bed, with the rear bed knitting all across. Then the yarn is taken out and the carriage passes to drop those front stitches. The ladder stops where those needles came into action, so it does not run to the bottom [inference]. A rack of 4 needles moves the next group.
Machines
Dubied. Handle all the way down to start.
Parameters
Front 1 needle in 8. 8 rows, then 2 empty rows. Rack 4 needles.
Steps
1) All-needle rib, set-up, welt, several rows. 2) Transfer all front stitches to the rear, front needles out of action. 3) Handle down, several rows on the rear. 4) Bring in the front needles as set out, knit 8 rows. 5) Cancel the yarn, 2 rows to drop the front stitches. 6) Rack 4 left. 7) Repeat from 4, changing the rack each time.
Charting
Bed chart with front needles marked and rack positions.
Limits and common problems
Without moving a stitch first it runs to the bottom of the sample. Don't forget to pick the yarn up again.
Combines with
fringe-ladder, plush-fabric, pulled-stitch-transfer.
Pieces and assembly
Light tops and layering.

Written in our own words from machine manuals, knitting references and swatching. Knit a test swatch before a whole piece.

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