Knitting technology, Third Edition

18.14.1
Racked rib structures
The V-bed flat machine is capable of knitting a unique range of racked rib struc-
tures (Fig. 18.7), based on the facility of racking one needle bed by one or more
needle tricks past the other needle bed, either towards the right or the left as and
when required. Usually, the needle set-out is 1 
¥
1 rib, or a modified version with
Fig. 18.6
Full cardigan.

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Knitting technology
selected needles taken out of action, and a knitting sequence of half- or full-
cardigan [1].
The 
basic principles of racked rib structures
are as follows:
1
A loop on a needle in one bed must be racked past a loop from the same course
on a needle in the other bed. The structure must therefore be rib based.
2
After an all-knit course of 1 
¥
1 rib, the 45 degree angle of inclination of a single
needle rack would be shared by the loops in both beds and the appearance
would be insignificant. A two-needle rack is thus required.
3
After a course with tucking on one bed and knitting on the other, a single-
needle rack will produce a 45 degree inclination on the knitted loop side, irre-
spective of which needle bed was racked (Fig. 18.7). The open legs of the tuck
loops resist the effect of racking so the tension only inclines the knitted loop
side of the course. Half- or full-cardigan sequences (Figures 18.5 and 18.6),
which consist of courses of knitted loops on one bed and tuck loops on the
other, are thus an ideal base for racked structures.
4
With half-cardigan, racking can occur only after every alternate course of the
two-course repeat – it cannot occur after the 1 
¥
1 rib knitting course. The
racked effect will show only on one side of the fabric – the all knitted loop side
– at every second row. In-between the racked loop courses, the 1 
¥
1 rib courses
will appear as minute upright loops on the effect side.
5
In the full-cardigan sequence, every course has tucks on one bed and knitted
loops on the other, so that racking can occur after every course. The racked
loops will appear on one side of the fabric at the first rack and on the other
side at the next, always on the side remote from the tuck loops of that course.