Archive of Thread: Jacquard Back

4 years ago
Hi  - a rookie question:
Is there such a thing as single bed jacquard, or does jacquard always involve a ribber?
I have a KH970 and a single bed colour changer and I am just trying to figure out what I can and can't do.
I also have DAK - which I am just learning the ropes of.
I could just experiment and see what happens  but I thought I might waste less time and yarn if I tried to understand the principles first.
Any explanations or pointing towards resources will be gratefully received!
Thanks,
Anita

4 years ago
Hi Anita, I don't think you can without a ribber.
Best regards
Joy

4 years ago
Anita,
GOOD QUESTION!  I consider myself a fairly advanced machine knitter and I've wondered the same thing.  I've seen the terms single-bed jacquard and double-bed jacquard in machine knitting magazines and I, too, like Joy, thought you had to have a ribber.  Could your question be related to single bed and double bed color changers?  I've wondered about those two terms, too.
Sandee in Washington State

4 years ago
I've never heard of "single bed jacquard".  I always understood "jacquard" to mean a fair isle-type fabric which is created with both beds, such that the ribber produces a backing layer which encloses the floats created by forming the coloured pattern on the main bed.  I suppose if people use the term "single bed jacquard" they just mean what most of us call fair isle.

When I was very much a newbie to the ribber I was misled into thinking that a double bed colour changer would automatically create jacquard.  This is not the case - it merely facilitates the process by making it quick and easy to change the yarn in the feeder every 2 rows.  Likewise, the single bed colour changer does not create multi-coloured fabric, it simply allows you to change the selected yarn as required.

Jenny 

4 years ago
Jenny,
I think I now see, thanks to your explanation, what was undoubtedly meant by single-bed jacquard.  I'm sure you're quite right that it's just referring to plain old FI on the single bed.  That definitely makes sense. Thanks for the clarification!

4 years ago
Thank you, Joy, Jenny & Sandee!
At least I don't feel so silly for asking the question now 
So I guess I should master full needle rib before attempting jacquard then.
And can I assume then that the main functions of the single bed colour changer would be for stripes on the single bed, or for fair isle with more than 2 colours (but only 2 colours per row) - ie for changing the contrast colour easily?
And if I want more than 2 colours per row, then the only way to achieve it is with double bed jacquard? Is that correct?
Thanks again,
Anita

4 years ago
You don't need a colour changer to do FI with just 2 colours in a row, because you can set the carriage for FI and thread 2 colours at once.  You can do what looks like FI with 3 colours in a row  but you use the single bed colour changer with its own carriage and the machine is set to Slip (or Part).  Of course, you need punchcards which are intended for this purpose - not the ones you would use for ordinary 2-colour Fair Isle.  If you are producing, say. a red, blue and white pattern, what you are doing, in effect, is knitting 2 rows where only the red stitches are created, then 2 rows where only the blue stitches are created, then 2 rows where only the white stitches are created.  You could even have 4 colours in a row, but bearing in mind all the strands across the back, that is going to be a very bulky fabric.

Jenny 

4 years ago
Thanks, Jenny.

4 years ago
This is a very helpful explanation but I'm also wondering about designaknit with singlebed fair isle using more than 2 colors per row? In DAK if you set the method of knitting to fair isle on a brother 970, it won't let you use more than 2 colors per row without generating errors. I guess you could set DAK for 4 color jacquard and then only use a single bed. Anyone tried that?

4 years ago
Hi LaRae,
If I'm understanding correctly you want to knit more than 3 colors in a row and have DesignaKnit create downloadable knitting instructions for you.

Is that correct?

Can you sketch out and share an example of what you have in mind?

When set up correctly, DAK can separate multiple colors in a stitch pattern and send the correct instructions to your 970 row by row

It's my understanding that the word Jacquard just refers to more than one color per row.
Double Bed Jacquard includes the ribber, but the colorwork and stitch patterning still occurs on the main bed.

The instructions for Jacquard start on page 365 of the DAK 9 manual and page 167 in the DAK 8 manual 

"Jacquard refers to patterns in which some or all rows have two or more colors and each color is worked separately.

DesignaKnit will select only the needles to be knitted in any given color,
and the carriage (or lock, in case of Passap machines) will be set to slip past the unselected needles.

This can result in fabric that can be used on both sides as the yarn is 'woven in' rather than looped around the backand floated, as is the case with Fair Isle knitting"

4 years ago
Sue, you are understanding correctly. I've uploaded a picture of 2 possible patterns that would demonstrate the question. In pattern 2, DAK9 will only let me call that 4 color jacquard which seems as through it could only be worked as a single bed pattern (using slip/part buttons and o color per pass of the carriage) rather than either a single bed or DBJ. I'm assuming the method of knitting in DAK would be 4 color jacquard (not fairisle). For pattern 1, would DAK be set the same as 4 color jacquard and also only doable on a single bed?  I've got a brother kh 970 and ribber with a 4 color changer. Thank you for the references in the manual....will look at them more closely. 
 

4 years ago
Let's get our terminology straight so we are on the same page
Fairisle - 2 colors knit with 2 yarns in the main carriage and 2 colors knit per row

Jacquard - 2 or more  colors knit in multiple passes of the carriage (usually with a color changer to facilitate the changing of colors)
The term Jacquard in DAK does not have anything to do with the ribber.

__________________________

 
A fairisle stitch pattern represents selected and de-selected needles

this is what a punchcard would look like for the above fairisle pattern (this is what would be sent to
an electronic machine)

4 years ago
So, by definition, every time I use a color, I need to have it appear for 2 rows high, yes? Compare pattern 1 to pattern2 on my drawing. The colors end up on the right side of the machine or on the even row back to the left, there are no needles selected (all slip and there is a freepass) and I would get a float the width of my work? 

Working on samples today....fingers crossed.
thank you all for you input

4 years ago
My two cents… you don’t HAVE to have each color knit two rows, but by doing so, your yarn is always on the correct side when you want it again. Several years ago, I knit an interesting plaid stitch design that had only one row of gold every so often. I had two balls of gold, one on each side of my knitting machine. There weren’t that many rows between the single row of gold, so I could pull the yarn up from the previous use. Am I making sense? I hope I didn’t confuse you.

4 years ago
By having an even number of rows per color, you can take advantage of the color changer.  

Otherwise you'll have to change the color(s) manually on the off rows opposite the color changer

4 years ago
This is all so helpful - I just noticed all the other comments on the post. I didn't realise you could do more than 2 colours per row using only the single bed by using slip - for some reason I assumed you needed the ribber for jacquard. I'm looking forward to playing with this. And I'm glad you clarified the terminology, Sue.
Thanks so much for the helpful explanations and discussions everyone.
I'm looking forward to the Conquer Floats replay too ðŸ˜Š