Butt-height colour patterns and manual colour options on Dubied

Machine types that can knit it

• Single bed, punch card
• Single bed, electronic
• Single bed, no patterning
• Single bed (punch card) + ribber
• Single bed (electronic) + ribber
• Double bed with pushers (Passap type)
• Double-bed hand flat (V-bed)

Steps

1. Draw the 2-colour repeat; columns are high or low butt.
2. Rearrange the needles to match (time-consuming; plan once).
3. Pass set A: colour 1, cams on all needles.
4. Pass set B: colour 2, cams on high butts only (low butts slip or tuck).
5. Repeat; vary the row counts or rack between sets for movement.

The full card

What it looks like

Fixed geometric checks, squares, zigzags, dominoes and scallops in two colours, repeating across the full width. In tuck versions (2-colour half/full cardigan), soft vertical colour ribs.

How it behaves

Mostly double-bed rib-based fabrics; slip versions are firmer; tuck versions are thicker and wider.

How it works

Needles are physically set up as high- or low-butt before knitting. The raising cams can act on all needles or on high butts only. A middle key position floats the yarn past the low-butt needles (knit/slip). Knit colour 1 with all needles, then colour 2 with high butts only (low butts slip). The butt layout is the "card". Autocam/discam drum devices change the cam settings per pass automatically, but they do not select individual needles.

Machines

Dubied with the "H" designation (high and low butt needles), e.g. NHF2/NHF4. Older MR/MM models have no patterning beyond hand transfer.

Parameters

butt layout repeat (any width, but fixed for the piece); rows per colour (2–4 typical); racking adds diagonal displacement of the pattern.

Steps

1) Draw the 2-colour repeat; columns are high or low butt. 2) Rearrange the needles to match (time-consuming; plan once). 3) Pass set A: colour 1, cams on all needles. 4) Pass set B: colour 2, cams on high butts only (low butts slip or tuck). 5) Repeat; vary the row counts or rack between sets for movement.

Charting

Needle-layout strip above the chart (H/L per needle per bed). Row column with colour + cam mode ("All", "H only", "Tuck L"). The colour chart is derived (cells computed).

Limits and common problems

The layout is per piece, not per row, so no pictures. Swapping needles mid-piece is impractical. Hand selection per row on a Dubied (pushing needles out of action and back for each colour) is theoretically possible on small areas but slow and error-prone [unverified as practised; inference]. True jacquard, intarsia pictures and reversible DBJ on a Dubied: impractical. Practical Dubied colour palette: stripes; butt-layout checks; plating (incl. plated rib); tuck/cardigan colour; colour ripples (partial ottoman, front bed only); transfers in colour.

Related techniques

• Two-colour Fair Isle
• Multi-colour Fair Isle by feeder changes
• Single motif
• Elongation / double length
• Float control (latching, hooking up, bird's-eye dots)
• Double-bed jacquard (needs ribber)