Vertical Accordion Pleat

Machine types that can knit it

• Single bed (punch card) + ribber
• Single bed (electronic) + ribber
• Double bed with pushers (Passap type)
• Double-bed hand flat (V-bed)

The full card

What it looks like

Lengthwise ridges, evenly spaced and alternating mountain and valley, running the full length of the piece like corrugated card or a pleated lampshade. The panels are equal width. Light and shadow fall in vertical stripes. The piece is much narrower than its cast-on.

How it behaves

Gathers widthwise into a deep zigzag. It cannot lie flat. Pulled out it stretches wide; released it springs back.

How it works

After the cast-on, set a fixed needle layout across the bed: a DJ panel of P needles, then F needles with stitches on the front bed only (back needles empty and out of action), then another P panel, then F needles on the back bed only. Repeat. Each band stays put for the whole length, so you simply knit rows after the setup.

Machines

Needs a double bed. Transfers happen once only. The domestic ribber must be in half pitch. Wide repeats use many needles, so domestic beds limit the number of repeats.

Parameters

P (panel needles; 20 on fine gauge, ~10 on domestic), F (3-5), number of repeats n, edge panel E (=P, so neither selvedge is a fold; optional). Cast-on N = n·2(P+F) + P (the book's equivalent is a multiple of (P+F) plus P). 1. Cast on N needles in DJ. 2. Starting from the left: skip E. Transfer F back-bed stitches to the front bed and put those back needles out of action. Skip P. Transfer F front-bed stitches to the back bed and put those front needles out of action. Skip P. Repeat. 3. Knit the required length with no further changes. Bind off.

Charting

1 square = 1 needle × 1 row. Grey columns = DJ. Red vertical stripes F wide = front bed only. Blue stripes = back bed only. Stripes run the full chart height. Needle diagram: one transfer row with curved arrows pointing in alternating directions across the bed, then the OOW needle positions shown as empty dots on the vacated bed.

Limits and common problems

Empty needles left in work refill and erase the fold. Unequal P values turn it into a knife pleat. Loose yarn turns it into a rib-like fabric.

Combines with

herringbone-fold (it is the herringbone's base layer), colour-in-folds (plating shows only on the fold bands).

Pieces and assembly

Knit as a flat panel. Joining the side edges makes a pleated tube (lampshade or vase). Seam inside DJ panels so a fold is not interrupted.

Related techniques

• Integrated Knife Pleat
• Integrated Box Pleat
• Raised Box Fold (Over-filled Box Pleat)
• Right-triangle transfers (knife pleat)
• Horizontal Transfer Fold (Accordion)
• Diagonal-boundary chevron transfers