More Racking, Please
I love racking. Racking, or shifting one knitting bed laterally, can add visual complexity to double bed knitting. Racking changes the order in which the needles are knitted. If knit stitches and racks are combined with tucks or missed needles, amazing things happen with the stitches. Racking is often associated with zigzag patterns. And there’s so much more.
This is the reverse side of opposing vertical herringbone (a.k.a. mountain stitch) in wool The technical face can be seen in earlier posts.
An Underutilized Technique
The technique can be executed on most double bed machines or with a domestic knitting bed and a ribbing attachment, as long as there is some device (crank or knob, software on the Kniterate and the electronic industrial machines) to move a bed sideways in a controlled manner. So why don’t we see more of it? People who knit standard ribs already have most or all of the skills necessary for racked stitch patterns.
Racking, especially when used for creating intricate patterns, often requires careful planning and precise settings. Takedown or weights must be balanced with stitch size and tension.
Racked patterns with tucks and missed needles can be created on most knitting machines with two beds.
Achieving specific patterns with racking generally involves repetitive sequences of knitting and racking. If working with a hand machine, losing track of these sequences or making errors will easily disrupt the entire pattern.
There are aids for keeping track. Before Kniterate, I mostly knitted with my Passap DM40. I inserted an extra column in the Interactive Knitting feature of DesignaKnit to alert me when it was time to rack. Before DesignaKnit, an explicit chart that included row numbers plus racking distance and direction worked really well. No matter the process, it always requires a good amount of attention when planning or knitting or both.
A vertical herringbone pattern features color change, texture, and a distinct shape.
Yes, A Racking Workshop!
Over the summer, a survey, sent in my general (machine knitting and sweater sewing) newsletter, indicated that racking was one of the two most requested workshops from machine knitters, tying with double jacquard. I’ve also heard interest from the Designing with Kniterate community.
How can I resist sharing my favorite technique? I’m excited to offer a pilot workshop for both domestic machine knitters and Kniterate knitters. We’ll explore essential racking stitch arrangements along with core principles, tips, and design possibilities. This workshop with its post-workshop projects and follow-up will help knitters gain the knowledge and confidence to develop their own creative racked stitch patterns.
Join me live on Saturday, November 16, 2025. I’d love to see you there! To read the details and register, head over to the info page.
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