PurlbedRib › Rib textures and blocks
Plated transfer motifs (reversible two-colour image)
Flat, crisp two-colour picture (geometric optical illusions, cubes, Fair-Isle/jacquard-like motifs, single figurative motif), no floats, back side shows same image in inverted colours. Moss-stitch areas read as a speckled third tone for shading. Bed map = image.
- 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.
Steps
- Swatch: stitches and rows per 10 cm.
- Rescale motif: cell height ≠ cell width; drawn on squared paper the chart looks elongated but knits true.
- Chart grey (front)/white (back).
- Knit row by row, transferring per chart.
- Steam flat.
The full card
- What it looks like
- Flat, crisp two-colour picture (geometric optical illusions, cubes, Fair-Isle/jacquard-like motifs, single figurative motif), no floats, back side shows same image in inverted colours. Moss-stitch areas read as a speckled third tone for shading.
- How it behaves
- flat (steamed flat); slight relief at boundaries.
- How it works
- Bed map = image. Plating places colour A on knit faces and B on purl faces, so front-bed cells show A and back-bed cells show B on the face. Transfers at each colour boundary, down to 1-stitch detail.
- Machines
- Double bed + plating feeder (domestic plating feeder or V-bed carrier). Industrial independent carriers allow "inverse plating" with 3+ colours. Punch-card patterns can be reused as bed maps (but transfers are manual).
- Parameters
- motif size, colour pair, moss-fill zones, stitch/row gauge (swatch 10 cm).
- Steps
- 1) Swatch: stitches and rows per 10 cm. 2) Rescale motif: cell height ≠ cell width; drawn on squared paper the chart looks elongated but knits true. 3) Chart grey (front)/white (back). 4) Knit row by row, transferring per chart. 5) Steam flat.
- Charting
- 1 cell = 1 st × 1 row; grey/white plus checkered moss areas.
- Limits and common problems
- Every boundary change is a hand transfer → slow for large motifs. Hairy yarns blur the image.
- Combines with
- block-transfer-checker.
- Pieces and assembly
- Reversible → good for scarves, flaps, folded parts where both faces show.
Written in our own words from machine manuals, knitting references and swatching. Knit a test swatch before a whole piece.