Ottoman with held-stitch needle placement (machine "lifted stitches")

Machine types that can knit it

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

Steps

1. Full-needle cast on yarn A; transfer Y-bed stitches not in pattern to X.
2. DJ 2 rows yarn B.
3. Yarn A, X-bed only, k rows.
4. Change to B; transfer/re-select Y placement per chart; DJ 2 rows.
5. Repeat 3–4.

The full card

What it looks like

Back face: graphic pattern (blocks, chevrons, diamonds) of short vertical stitches from the resting bed, identical in look to hand lifts. Front face: rolls pinched where held stitches anchor, ballooning where none—smocked/quilted or flaring zones. With elastic yarn: strongly contracted, very tactile, stretchy "reveal" when pulled.

How it behaves

Puffs/gathers; relief proportional to roll rows and shrinkage of held yarn.

How it works

Main fabric knits on bed X (author prefers back bed); bed Y has only selected needles in action. Roll rows knit on X only, while Y's selected stitches hold (= lift). DJ rows in contrasting yarn build loops on Y's selected needles. To change placement: after the roll rows, at the colour change to DJ, transfer no-longer-needed Y stitches to X, take those needles out, bring new ones in; empty new needles build loops over the DJ rows.

Machines

Double bed. Needle selection by transfer only on V-bed hand-flat (no punch card); domestic + ribber: also manual on ribber; forcing needles available on domestic only. Transfer tools.

Parameters

roll rows 4–6 (V-bed), more on domestic; DJ rows 2; placement chart (blocks of 2–10, chevron, diamond); held yarn elastic/shrinking (polyamide, nylon, shirring elastic) for max relief.

Steps

1) Full-needle cast on yarn A; transfer Y-bed stitches not in pattern to X. 2) DJ 2 rows yarn B. 3) Yarn A, X-bed only, k rows. 4) Change to B; transfer/re-select Y placement per chart; DJ 2 rows. 5) Repeat 3–4.

Charting

Technical: rows coloured by yarn/bed; DJ rows with stitch symbols on placement needles; up-arrow cells = transfer Y→X. Simplified: placement grid (filled = Y needle in action) per roll.

Limits and common problems

Same yarn throughout gives little tension unless SJ/DJ stitch sizes differ; isolated sparse placement lets rolls flare outward.

Combines with

colour change per block, gauge change (domestic vs fine V-bed).

Pieces and assembly

Tight elastic versions behave as technical/compression fabric; plan finished width after shrink.

Related techniques

• Basic Ottoman rolls (double bed)
• Double-sided Ottoman
• Ottoman Ripple Fold
• Ottoman with floats (ripples on placement bed)
• Float hook-up and latch-up embellishment