PurlbedPleats and folds › Origami structures
Origami Crease-Pattern Translation Workflow
Any paper-origami-like object (crane, box, faceted vessel) where the shape comes from creases, not seams. Convert the paper crease pattern to needle × row coordinates using the finished stitch:row ratio, then assign each crease a bed by its M/V type and angle class.
- 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.This card is a way of working; the demo is one small crease pattern to start from.
The full card
- What it looks like
- Any paper-origami-like object (crane, box, faceted vessel) where the shape comes from creases, not seams.
- How it behaves
- The knit folds up like the paper model, with softer facets.
- How it works
- Convert the paper crease pattern to needle × row coordinates using the finished stitch:row ratio, then assign each crease a bed by its M/V type and angle class.
- Machines
- Needs a double bed. An exact square blank is knitted as a rectangle and only becomes square after shrinking.
- Parameters
- Stitches and rows per 10 cm after finishing, the shrink ratio, crease coordinates. 1. Fold the design in paper and unfold it. Label the creases M or V. 2. Fix the yarns. Knit a tension swatch, finish it (steam or heat), and count stitches and rows per 10 cm. 3. Compute the needle and row counts for the target finished size (e.g. an exact square). 4. Measure each crease's endpoints on the paper and scale them to needles and rows. 5. For each crease: if its finished angle is above 45° it is vertical-class (M = front, V = back); if below 45° it is horizontal-class (M = back, V = front). 6. Chart row by row, listing the fold actions for each row. 7. Knit, then iterate. Several attempts are normal.
- Charting
- A full-size chart, 1 square = 1 needle × 1 row, with a per-row action list.
- Limits and common problems
- Changing either the outer yarn or the plating yarn means repeating steps 2-6.
- Combines with
- diagonal-moving-fold and all the tessellations.
- Pieces and assembly
- Usually a single piece with no seams. That is the point of the method.
Written in our own words from machine manuals, knitting references and swatching. Knit a test swatch before a whole piece.