Two-colour Fair Isle

Machine types that can knit it

• Single bed, punch card
• Single bed, electronic
• Single bed (punch card) + ribber
• Single bed (electronic) + ribber
• Double bed with pushers (Passap type)

The full card

What it looks like

On the knit side, a crisp two-colour motif repeating every 24 stitches (or a factor of 24). Every row shows exactly two colours, and the fabric is flat and smooth. On the purl side, horizontal strands (floats) lie behind every colour run. The fabric is noticeably denser and less stretchy widthwise than plain stockinette. Motifs look horizontally squashed compared with the graph.

How it behaves

Flat, with low lateral stretch because of the floats. Floats that are too tight cause puckering and pull-in; floats that are too long make loops that snag. The fabric is thicker and warmer than single jersey.

How it works

MC button pressed, change knob K.C. Punched = needle to D = knits the yarn in feeder B (CC). Blank = needle stays at B = knits feeder A (MC). The CC yarn also passes through the sub take-up spring. Selection for row n+1 happens during pass n.

Machines

KH-821 yes. No ribber, lace carriage or brushes needed. All 24-st punch-card machines can do it (SR: cam dial F).

Parameters

Tension about 1 number looser than stockinette in the same yarn (alessandrina). Same weight yarn in A and B. Float ≤ 5 sts on standard gauge (≈ 1.5–2 cm of fabric) [verified rule; the cm figure is inference from ~3.3 mm stitch width]. 1. Knit a few rows plain, ending with the carriage on the left. 2. Insert the card, set it to row 1, lock the card lever (●). 3. Change knob to K.C.; knit one row left to right to preselect (needles move to D). 4. Release the lock (rotate). Press MC. Thread MC in A, CC in B (via the sub take-up spring). 5. If an end needle did not come to D, bring it out by hand before each pass (manual instruction). 6. Knit, pulling down evenly and checking floats every few rows.

Card design rules

Maximum 2 colours per row. Keep runs of the same colour ≤ 5 sts, counting across the repeat boundary (column 24 wraps to column 1). Vertical repeat must reach ≥ 32–36 rows in total (punch short repeats several times). Add 2 overlap rows top and bottom. Data rows start at the bottom; the visible row 1 is 7 rows above the first data row.

Charting

24 columns × N rows, row 1 at the bottom. ■ (filled) = punched = CC; □ (empty) = blank = MC. Colour key per row band if feeder B yarn is changed. Mark the repeat edge with a heavy line.

Limits and common problems

Long floats snag. Loose CC ladders at the edges (bring end needles to D). Puckering if floats are tight. The yarn in B drops if it isn't threaded when needles are selected (daisyknits). Motifs distort if aspect ratio is ignored.

Combines with

colour-change stripes (fair-isle-multicolour), float control, single motif (manual workaround), knit leader shaping (KH-821).

Related techniques

• 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)
• DBJ with bird's-eye backing