PurlbedShort rows (partial knitting) › Hold basics
Wrapping & float discipline
Wrapped turns give a clean, continuous diagonal line. Unwrapped turns leave a diagonal dotted line of small eyelets, which reads as a lace accent. Long horizontal strands on the back mean float errors.
- Single bed
- Hold
Machine types that can knit it
Demo swatch
Drawn for: Single bed, punch cardApproximate preview worked out from the bed chart, not a photo.Short rows change the shape of the piece. The preview shows where extra fabric builds up, not the real curve or flare.
Steps
- For centre-only knitting with the carriage at right:
- hold the left group,
- knit one pass to the left,
- now hold the right group,
- wrap,
- knit the centre. When bringing groups back, return the group on the side the carriage will reach first.
The full card
- What it looks like
- Wrapped turns give a clean, continuous diagonal line. Unwrapped turns leave a diagonal dotted line of small eyelets, which reads as a lace accent. Long horizontal strands on the back mean float errors.
- How it behaves
- Flat detail. Wraps make held regions close up slightly tighter.
- How it works
- With the carriage on the same side as the first held needle, pass the yarn under that needle and back over it before the next pass. Moving a single needle to hold on the carriage side wraps it automatically. The float rule picks which side to move each group on.
- Machines
- Any hold-capable machine. Done by hand.
- Parameters
- wrap every turn | only at block edges | never (eyelet aesthetic).
- Steps
- For centre-only knitting with the carriage at right: 1) hold the left group, 2) knit one pass to the left, 3) now hold the right group, 4) wrap, 5) knit the centre. When bringing groups back, return the group on the side the carriage will reach first.
- Charting
- "C" hook glyph in the cell of the wrapped needle on the turn row. Long floats are drawn as a dashed line across held cells. Flag them as an error state.
- Limits and common problems
- Repeated wraps on one needle (e.g. 6+ rows of a bulge) add bulk, so knit that row gently. Floats longer than about 2.5 cm, or about the machine's gauge in needles, can lift the yarn out of the hooks and cause dropped stitches. Hold the yarn down by hand for the first stitch.
- Combines with
- all shaping cards.
- Pieces and assembly
- Wrapped edges give cleaner seam allowances where shaped pieces meet.
Written in our own words from machine manuals, knitting references and swatching. Knit a test swatch before a whole piece.