Purlbed

Dubied basics › The machine

The Dubied racking handle

Not a fabric: the handle that moves the rear bed sideways. The rear bed moves sideways by the racking handle at the front left of the machine. Lifting the handle moves the bed left, lowering it moves the bed right. Each notch is one needle.

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→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←+1+2+3+2+10+1+2+3+2+1Both 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 1–3: knit 3 rowsDouble jersey (all needles)carriage →backfront2. Rack the back bed to 1 needleright of homebackfront3. Rows 4–6: knit 3 rowsDouble jersey (all needles)rack +1← carriagebackfront4. Rack the back bed to 2needles right of homebackfrontShowing needles L12–R12 of 36; repeat across the working area.

Carriage settings on a Dubied

Moving the rear bed
  1. Bring the carriage clear of the needles. Lift the handle to go left, lower it to go right, and stop exactly in a notch. The maximum is 6 notches.
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. Bring the carriage out of the needle field.
  2. Lift or lower the handle.
  3. Make sure it stops exactly in a notch.
  4. For half rack, stop it at the pegs, and check every needle in action faces a needle out of action.

The full card

What it looks like
Not a fabric: the handle that moves the rear bed sideways.
How it behaves
None by itself.
How it works
The rear bed moves sideways by the racking handle at the front left of the machine. Lifting the handle moves the bed left, lowering it moves the bed right. Each notch is one needle. Two pegs on a chain, set in the left side of the frame, can limit the travel, so you can rack quickly without mistakes. They also fix the half rack, an in-between position where the needle tricks of the two beds face each other.
Machines
Dubied. Rear bed only.
Parameters
Up to 6 notches, 6 needles.
Steps
1) Bring the carriage out of the needle field. 2) Lift or lower the handle. 3) Make sure it stops exactly in a notch. 4) For half rack, stop it at the pegs, and check every needle in action faces a needle out of action.
Charting
Marked in the bed chart as a rack position beside the row: + right, − left.
Limits and common problems
Never rack with the carriage in the needles. In half rack, needles in action facing needles in action collide and do serious damage.
Combines with
racked-cardigan, racked-chevron, rib-2x1-rack-setup.
Pieces and assembly
Check the handle position written on the sample before you cast on: up, middle or down.

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

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