PurlbedPleats and folds › Vertical pleats
Integrated Knife Pleat
Pleats that all face one way and lie almost flat. Each pleat shows a crisp outer edge, with a shadow line where it overlaps the next panel. It reads like a pleated skirt or a stack of overlapping slats, directional and asymmetric.
- Two beds
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.
The full card
- What it looks like
- Pleats that all face one way and lie almost flat. Each pleat shows a crisp outer edge, with a shadow line where it overlaps the next panel. It reads like a pleated skirt or a stack of overlapping slats, directional and asymmetric.
- How it behaves
- Lies flat in overlapping layers and fans out when pulled widthwise or when it hangs (giving flare and movement). The pleat never drops out because the fold is part of the fabric structure, unlike a pressed-in pleat, which knit cannot hold.
- How it works
- Two DJ section widths alternate: a long section A (the visible face) and a short section B (the underlay). Fold bands between them alternate bed. Because B ≈ A/2, the short section tucks wholly behind or in front of the long one.
- Machines
- As for the vertical accordion.
- Parameters
- A (20 fine gauge; ~10 domestic), B (default A/2), F = 4, repeats n. Pleat depth ratio r = B/A: - r = 0.5 lies flat. - Raising r (larger B or smaller A) puts more material into each pleat, giving more overlap and bulk. - Lowering r (smaller B or larger A) gives shallower pleats with less take-up. - The book's prose and its sample captions use "bigger/smaller pleat" in opposite senses, so always specify the ratio, not the word. - Fabric take-up is ≈ one third extra width, as for a sewn knife pleat. 1. Cast on N = E + n·(F+B+F+A) in DJ (E = edge DJ panel ≈ A). 2. Layout repeat: E DJ | [F front-only | B DJ | F back-only | A DJ] × n. 3. Knit the required length. Bind off. 4. Pleat direction: a fold band on the front bed makes the underlay sit behind the face; a band on the back bed brings the underlay in front. Swap the two bands to mirror the pleat direction.
- Charting
- Like the vertical accordion. Brackets above the chart mark the A and B widths. Needle diagram: label the sections with braces "A" and "B" and show the transfer arrows for both fold bands.
- Limits and common problems
- r far above 0.5 makes the underlays overlap, which is bulky. Loose yarn makes the pleats roll instead of lying flat.
- Combines with
- box-pleat (mixed in one panel), colour-in-folds.
- Pieces and assembly
- Knit as a flared skirt or panel. Join to a waistband or flat piece across the top edge, which can be knit in plain DJ in the same piece (simply knit DJ rows before setting the layout, then transfer).
Written in our own words from machine manuals, knitting references and swatching. Knit a test swatch before a whole piece.