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Transfer design of pulled stitches

Long stitches of the first colour pulled sideways across a second-colour ground, in staggered marks. A few front needles knit a stitch in the first colour. The rear bed then knits 6 rows in the second colour, so those front stitches wait and stretch.

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.
Bed chart
15101520253035→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←→←+40+40Back bedBoth beds (double jersey)Slip+1Rack to this position before the row (0 = home)1 square = 1 stitch × 1 row · read from the bottom · Hand flat (V-bed), 36 needles, half pitch
Needle notation, first steps
1. Rows 1–2: knit 2 rowsBed-selected motif (back 28 / both8)carriage →backfront2. Rows 3–8: knit 6 rowsBack bed only · slip 8carriage →backfront3. Rack the back bed to 4 needlesright of homebackfront4. Rows 9–10: knit 2 rowsBed-selected motif (back 28 / both8)rack +4carriage →backfrontShowing needles L12–R12 of 36; repeat across the working area.

Carriage settings on a Dubied

Transfer design of pulled stitches in two coloursHandle all the way down to the right.
RearFront
  1. rearfront1111
    1. Pick up the first colour. Knit 2 rows.
  2. rearfront1100
    2. Pick up the second colour. Knit 6 rows. Transfer the front stitches on to the rear as the notes' arrows show, and rack 4 needles left by raising the handle. Repeat from the first setting, alternating the rack and the colours.
Front bed tension looser than the rear, because the stitches have to stretch.
How to read the cross
  • The four quarters are the carriage: top rear bed, bottom front bed, left moving left, right moving right.
  • Corners, knit/miss cam: 1 knits; ½ knits on high butts only and misses low butts; 0 is out of work.
  • Diamond, tucking cam: 0 no tuck; ½ low butts tuck, high butts knit; 1 all needles tuck. An empty diamond is all 0.
  • Numbers on the line are tension dials, 0 tightest to 20 loosest. A + means looser than your usual size.
  • Set-out: long tick high butt, short tick low butt, dot out of action.
Racking handle: up moves the rear bed left, down moves it right, up to 6 notches. Rack only with the carriage clear of the needles.

Steps

  1. Handle down.
  2. Set the needles.
  3. First colour, 2 rows.
  4. Second colour, 6 rows on the rear bed.
  5. Transfer the front stitches to the rear.
  6. Rack 4 needles left.
  7. Repeat, alternating the rack and the colours.

The full card

What it looks like
Long stitches of the first colour pulled sideways across a second-colour ground, in staggered marks.
How it behaves
Slight relief where the pulled stitches lie.
How it works
A few front needles knit a stitch in the first colour. The rear bed then knits 6 rows in the second colour, so those front stitches wait and stretch. They are transferred on to the rear bed and the bed is racked 4 needles, so the next stitches land in a new place.
Machines
Dubied. Handle starts all the way down.
Parameters
2 rows and 6 rows. Rack 4 needles. Front tension looser than rear.
Steps
1) Handle down. 2) Set the needles. 3) First colour, 2 rows. 4) Second colour, 6 rows on the rear bed. 5) Transfer the front stitches to the rear. 6) Rack 4 needles left. 7) Repeat, alternating the rack and the colours.
Charting
Bed chart with transfers marked and rack positions.
Limits and common problems
Front tension too tight and the waiting stitches snap.
Combines with
dropped-stitch-design, dubied-racking.
Pieces and assembly
Accent panels.

Written in our own words from machine manuals, knitting references and swatching. Knit a test swatch before a whole piece.

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