Rib › Racked fabrics

Triangular points

Rows of zigzag points running across the fabric: chevrons that turn over at set rows. The set-out and cams are the same as chevron, with the beds lined up exactly. After 33 rows alternating, one row is knitted with no rack.

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.

Bed chart

Needle notation, first steps

Carriage settings on a Dubied

Triangular pointsHandle in the middle, with the beds lined up exactly.

Set-up, welt, 1 row of all-needle rib to close. Carriage on the right. Rack 1 up (left), knit 1 row; rack 1 down (right), knit 1 row; go on alternating for 33 rows. Carriage on the left: knit 1 row with no rack. Rack 1 down and knit 33 rows alternating again, then 1 row with no rack. Then start the next 33 rows with a rack up. Go on like this.

Each single row with no rack turns the lean over, and that makes the points.

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

Handle in the middle.
Set-up, welt, 1 row of all-needle rib.
Rack and knit alternately for 33 rows.
Carriage on the left, 1 row with no rack.
Go on with the opposite first rack.
Repeat.

The full card

What it looks like: Rows of zigzag points running across the fabric: chevrons that turn over at set rows.
How it behaves: Thick, with soft crosswise ridges at each turn.
How it works: The set-out and cams are the same as chevron, with the beds lined up exactly. After 33 rows alternating, one row is knitted with no rack. That turns the lean of the stitches over, so the next 33 rows slant the other way.
Machines: Dubied with high and low butts.
Parameters: 33 rows racked, 1 row not racked. Blocks of 7 needles.
Steps: 1) Handle in the middle. 2) Set-up, welt, 1 row of all-needle rib. 3) Rack and knit alternately for 33 rows. 4) Carriage on the left, 1 row with no rack. 5) Go on with the opposite first rack. 6) Repeat.
Charting: Bed chart with a rack position on every row. Mark the no-rack rows.
Limits and common problems: Long counts: keep a row counter. A wrong first rack after the turn loses the point.
Combines with: racked-chevron, racked-herringbone.
Pieces and assembly: All-over panels.

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

Open in the technique library All technique cards

Machine types that can knit it

Demo swatch

Carriage settings on a Dubied

Steps

The full card

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