Construction through shape
Increasing and decreasing
1 The fully fashioned shaping technique,
showing decreasing (left) and
increasing (right).
2 Asymmetrical dress by Juliana Sissons,
which has been made using the
partial knit technique and shows
fully fashioning. Photography by
David Wilsdon.
Construction through shape
A single stitch or many stitches can be transferred in one move by
using a transfer tool. This movement increases or decreases the
total number of stitches being knitted. Shaping can be used on an
outside edge or to form darts within the body of the knit.
Shaping by ‘fully fashioning’ involves transferring groups of stitches
at the edge of the fabric. When decreasing or narrowing the shape,
a group of stitches is moved in one go; the inner-most stitch of the
group is placed on top of the stitch adjacent to it, thus losing one
needle at the edge. You must remember to push this edge needle
into non-working position to avoid it knitting back in with the next
row. It is also possible to move the stitches two or three needle
spaces across, losing two or three needles at the edge. Repeating
this action along the outer edge of a knit creates a wale line, a neat
characteristic of fully fashioning.
When increasing stitches outwards (making the knitted piece
wider), a space is created adjacent to the inner-most needle of the
group being moved, which leaves an eyelet hole in the knit. Knitting
in this way will form a line of eyelets on the edge; these can form
a decorative trim as part of the design or they can be filled in by
moving a stitch up on to the empty needle from the previous row. To
increase by more than one stitch at a time, put the required number
of needles into working position and cast on using the e-wrap
method in the normal way.
These transfers are also used to create eyelet designs for
decorative trims. When a single-stitch transfer is used, the stitch
can be placed on top of the stitch of its adjacent needle, to be
knitted together in the next row; or it can be placed on to the empty
needle on the outside of the knit, forming an eyelet when the next
two rows are knitted. Note: if the empty needle is put into non-
working position, a ladder will form.
On a double bed machine it is possible to transfer stitches from one
bed to the other using a bodkin, which has an eyelet at each end,
making it easier to transfer a stitch from one bed to the other.