If you have ever used or seen a domestic knitting machine, you have seen the weights hanging on the knitting that's coming from the machine. These weights make sure the stitches on the needles don't jump up and drop. The rollers of a Kniterate serve the same function.
Right underneath the needle beds, two rollers catch the fabric and pull it down. The amount of force with which they pull the fabric down is called the takedown.
In this article, you'll read how to work with the rollers and how to set the amount of takedown in the design app.
How much takedown is needed?
The amount of takedown you need is highly dependent on the yarn and knitting technique you're using. Below are some tips for how to adjust the rollers to solve certain issues:
- If stitches are dropping during transfers, try increasing the takedown in the row before the transfer.
- If stitches are breaking during transfers, try decreasing the takedown.
- If you are using stitch sizes higher than 10, use more takedown. (not for transferring stitches)
- For jacquard knits use a high takedown.
Here are some guidelines for you to use:
| Situation |
Suggested initial takedown |
| Plain single jersey or double jersey | 450 |
|
Jacquards: 2-color Multicolored |
500-700 600-800 |
| Rows with transferring stitches | 0-50 |
| Row before rows with transferring stitches | 0-50% of takedown |
| Last row after many consecutive rows with transferring stitches (This little tug can help to avoid dropping stitches) | 50-100 |
How to set the takedown
You can edit the roller value using the options boxes in the "Edit options column" command or directly on the Options column with the "Free edit" command.