Transferring is used on many occasions in knitting, such as shaping, binding off, and knitting textures. Read more about transferring stitches and when this can be used.
In this article, you can read how to program transfers into your design, explaining how to get a stitch from one bed to the other, for making ribs and moss stitch for example. If you want to know more about the basics of transferring a stitch to neighboring needles, for example in cables, shaping, and lace, read this article (coming soon).
Transferring stitches from one bed to the other
The safest way to transfer a row of stitches is by transferring every other stitch in one row, and then transferring the remaining stitches. Because of this, transferring multiple adjacent stitches always takes two rows.
To transfer a stitch, while making sure your knitted rows (the rows with actual knitting) remain the same, you start by adding two rows.
Now it's time to add the transfers. In the Stitch Selector, select 'Transfer Front to Rear'. Select the pencil drawing tool and draw the transfers as in the video below.
In the Stitch Selector, select 'Rear Knit'. Using the rectangle drawing tool, draw all rows above the transfers to become single jersey on the rear bed.
IMPORTANT: Set the speed and takedown!
Transferring stitches is a delicate task, and should be done at a low speed and with little to no takedown. If the speed or takedown is too high, this can result in stitches breaking or dropping and even broken needles.
We recommend using 60 for speed when programming transfers. After a successful test run, you can choose to increase the speed to 100.
In the row before the transfer row - in our case row 10 - you want to use the rollers less than you've been using for the rest of your knitting so that there is some ease in the stitches to be transferred. In the transferring rows, set the rollers between 0 and 50.
- If stitches are breaking, try using less takedown in the transferring rows and/or the row before the transferring rows.
- If stitches are dropping, try using more takedown in the transferring rows and/or the row before the transferring rows.