The Salty Knitter

English Rib for the Machine Knitter

English Rib, also known as Half Fisherman’s Rib or Shaker Knit, is a ribbing variation you can machine knit on any machine with a ribber. Above you can see swatches of English Rib, Swung English Rib and Fisherman’s Rib.

English Rib on a Singer Knitting Machine

To knit English Rib on a Singer machine, we start by casting on as we would for a 1 x 1 rib.

We can see in the above image the Operation Table from the manual for my Singer machine. The first portion deals with the cast on if you use that method, but we see in the second portion our settings for the stitch pattern.

Starting with the carriage on the left.

We aren’t using the punch card so we set the patterning lever to the circle.
On our main bed carriage, we set the left side lever to the circle and the right side lever to the triangle.
We set the cam lever to tuck.
On the ribber carriage we leave both set levers on ‘1’
Pitch is ‘P’ and swing set to 5.
We set the tension or stitch size appropriate to our yarn and the same on both carriages

Then we knit

On the first carriage pass knitting from left to right, both beds knit as usual. I expect as I learn more about using knitting machines this will be proven wrong, but to me it seems as if setting that side lever on the main carriage to triangle allows the carriage to ignore that the cam lever is set to ‘tuck’.

Knitting from right to left, the ribber knits as usual but on the main bed the machine just lays the yarn in the hooks without knitting it. It knits on the next carriage pass when we go from left to right.

We can reverse this and have the machine knit right to left and tuck left to right. We just need to set the left side lever to triangle and the right side lever to the circle.

More on English Rib

You can see a full demonstration of knitting English Rib on the Singer knitting machine on my channel. While you’re there don’t forget to hit the subscribe button!

Ribber Basics – eWrap Cast On for Ribbing

I prefer the eWrap cast on in all situations including when I’m casting on ribbing.

The zig-zag, or circular cast on shown in machine manuals involves multiple steps and changes to the carriage settings and I can count on forgetting at least one setting. I’ve had many FUBAR’s using the circular or zig-zag method suggested in the manual. But eWrap cast on has never done me dirty like that.

Look Ma, No Ripples!

You know what else the eWrap cast on doesn’t do? It doesn’t create a ripple in my work. Consider the swatches pictured below.

1 x 1 Ribbing knit on the Singer Knitting Machine

Or these swatches…

eWrap Cast on – 1 x 1 Rib

For a 1 x 1 rib, we set the pitch on our ribber to ‘P’ and the swing to 5. Using our 1 x 1 needle pusher we pull our desired number of needles from the main bed and the alternating needles of the ribber bed with our carriages on the right (COR).

We wrap our yarn counter clockwise around the needle, effectively we are forming the letter ‘e’ with our yarn around the needle.

For our ribber needles, we wrap clockwise. Knit one row and insert cast on comb.

2×2 Industrial Rib – eWrap Cast On

For 2 x 2 Industrial Rib, we set our pitch to ‘H’ or half pitch. Swing is set to 5. With our carriage on the right (COR) and using our 1×2 needle pusher, we pull needles on the main bed and ribber bed so they look as above.

Again, we wrap our main bed needles counter-clockwise and ribber needles clockwise. Knit one row and insert cast on comb.

Casting On with the Ribber – Singer Knitting Machines

Casting on with the Ribber was one part of machine knitting I really struggled with. I still struggle with it some days. Getting the first steps exactly right and then completely bodging it up in the next one because I missed a carriage setting is the norm for me. But this is how we do the circular cast on with Singer Knitting Machines.

The photo above is the Singer operation table for casting on with the ribber.

Row 1

Row 1 tells you your settings. Reading from left to right:

Punch Card – we’re not using it for ribbing, so set it to the circle.
Knitter Carriage – Set the Left Side Lever to the circle, set the Stitch/Cam Lever to Stockinette and the Right Side Lever to the circle. Unless you’re knitting part rows, Russell Levers are always set to ‘II’.
Next 2 items are on the ribber arm that connects the two carriages. One is in the image above between the 2 screws that attach it to the knitter carriage.
Tension Dials – here you are instructed to set the stitch size on both carriages to zero. The stitch settings need to be as tight as possible for this cast on method.
Ribber Carriage Set Lever left is set to ‘1’, Pick Knob is set to the arrow rather than the ‘U’, auto set lever to ‘1’, and Set Lever right is set to ‘1’.
Pile Levers – these are located on the sides of your ribber bed. The one with the blue circle.
Half Pitch Lever and Swing – for 1 x 1 rib, we set the pitch lever to P and the swing to ‘5’.
The final column tells you which direction to move your carriage in.

Row 2

Row 2 shows your needle arrangement. For a 1 x 1 rib every other needle of the main bed is put into work. On the ribber, every other needle but alternating with the main bed needles is put into work.

Row 3

Row 3 is just indicating you should add your cast on comb (affiliate link) and weights (affiliate link). Center your cast on comb in the work and evenly distribute your weights. The number of weights is based on number of stitches cast on.

Row 4

On row 4 you will adjust the settings for your Ribber Carriage. You will change the left set lever to ‘0’ so the ribber will not knit on passes to the left. Only the knitter carriage knits.

Row 5

You will change the cam lever on your knit carriage to slip. For this pass, only the ribber knits.

Row 6

Cam lever goes back to stockinette, only knit carriage knits.

The cast on is complete.

Now you can set your tension on both carriages to one appropriate for your yarn. You will also need to set the ribber carriage to knit in both directions by changing the left set lever back to ‘1’

If you have a ribber but haven’t used it or are considering getting a ribber for your machine you might be interested in my post on Why You Want a Ribber for Your Knitting Machine.

Bubble Stitch to Knit on Any Machine

Let’s learn how to work the bubble stitch on any knitting machine.

I really do adore this bubble stitch pattern. I found it in an old book on handtooled knitting machine stitches from 1987. Handtooling for Chunky Knitting Machines by Kathleen Kinder. Oh how we forget the torture of reading Times New Roman.

First – The Abbreviations

COL – Carriage on Left
COR – Carriage on Right
UWP – Upper Working Position

Cast On for the Bubble Stitch

Cast on by hand towards the left. Choose a multiple of 10 plus 1 stitch on either end. Knit one row – COR.

Now we knit our first bubble

Next, set your carriage to hold. Pull all of the needles except the group of 10 closest to the carriage (plus the 1 extra) into hold position. Knit – COL

Repeat Start:

Pull the outer most 5 needles (plus the extra one) into hold position.

Hang your weight on just the bubble you are working. (Affiliate links ahead) I like to use these claw hangers and small barrel weights, although something a little lighter would be nice.

From the 5 needles still in working position, pull the one closest to the carriage out, yarn will auto wrap. Of the 5 needles in hold, push the closest one back into UWP. Knit to the right. COR

Wrap yarn under the needle farthest from the carriage, knit left. COL. Repeat from start above to here until the 5 needles that started in hold are back in work and the 5 needles that started in work are in hold.

Wrap the extra needle. Push the 5 held needles of the group plus all 10 needles of the next group back into UWP. Knit row, COL.

Pull 5 needles farthest from carriage into hold, hang weight from the stitches you are working and then repeat from >>Repeat Start<< until this bubble is finished. Move to the next bubble and carry on until all your bubbles have been knitted. Don’t forget the last needle is not a part of a bubble. It should be knitted to finish the row.

Now do it all in reverse!

Leave the first 10 needles plus 1 in working position, knit across COR.

Pull first 5 needles opposite carriage into hold. Pull first needle closest to carriage into hold for the autowrap. Push first held needle into UWP. Knit accross, COL.

Wrap needle, knit back across. Repeat until bubble is completed and then move to the next bubble. Keep working the bubbles back and forth until you’ve reached the length you are looking for. And that is the bubble stitch.

So what do you think? Is this a stitch you would use? Do you knit for texture or is color work your thing? Let me know in the comments.

Why You Want a Ribber for Your Knitting Machine

If you are looking to buy a knitting machine or you already have a metal bed knitting machine, you want a ribber.

Why you Want a Ribber

When hand knitting, a knit stitch is created by pulling the yarn through your loop from the back, a purl stitch by pulling the yarn through from the front. A knitting machine can only pull the yarn through from one direction. So on a single bed knitting machine, the “knit” side faces the back of the machine and the “purl” side faces you.

Since stockinette tends to curl, when we hand knit we usually have borders to the pattern that are some combination of knit and purl so our finished project is less likely to curl. And of course we also use ribbing for cuffs and waist bands where we want a closer fit.

By adding a second bed, or ribber, to our flatbed machines we have a way to create the “purl” stitches for our finished project. With some limitations…

Ribber Limitations

With a ribber you can knit any combination of ribbing on your knitting machine – 1×1, 2×2, 2×3 and so on.

What the ribber can’t do is automatically transfer stitches from bed to bed. So to knit garter or moss stitch, you would have to manually transfer stitches back and forth. There are tools to help and it is easy enough to do on a small scale, but maybe not so much if you’re knitting a full bed afghan and want a garter strip edge. That could get tiresome. It can be done, it just depends on how determined you are.

Also if you have a machine with patterning capabilities, some patterns use the ribber but the patterning doesn’t extend to the needles on the ribber bed.

Beyond Ribbing

Adding a ribber to your knitting machine does allow for more than just ribbing though.

Circular or Tubular Knitting

With a ribber, you can knit circular. So seamless, or nearly seamless socks and hats are possible without investing in a CSM (Circular Sock Machine)

Racking

A ribber is made to adjust the ribber bed from left to right and back again. Shifting, or racking, the bed back and forth creates interesting zig-zag and wave effects with your machine knitting.

Pintuck & Plating

Two techniques that use thinner yarns but give some interesting effects.

Double Bed Jacquard or DBJ

I think this is the ultimate reason to have a ribber. Colorwork like Fair Ilse but without the floats! With DBJ you can have your colorwork design on one side with either a plain backing, striped or birds-eye backing. If you’re willing to work for it, you can even create a reversible DBJ.