Knit Programming Development

The Magpie Collector thesis collection was an opportunity to push my knit programming abilities with Shima Seiki Apex SDS-One software, including both revisiting previous knit development and learning new skills.

Flight Wrap Skirt

The Flight Wrap Skirt uses a press-off pattern and yarn selection to shape the garment.

The program uses three systems to efficiently knit both stripe colors and press off stitches in one pass of the carriage. The fabric is knit from side to side (not top to bottom) to create the vertical stripes. The waistband side of the pattern has staggered transitions to single jersey to shape the garment.

Clean press-off stitches are created using a combination of leading stitch adjust, takedown, and different stitch lengths on the front vs. back bed. The exact combination was the result of extensive testing.

Color Shift Waist Shaper

The Color Shift Waist Belt was developed to push the dimensional qualities of links knit patterns. The goal was a fabric which changed appearance based on viewing angle. Samples varied the number of courses in the knit structure as well as the color placement.

The most successful sample used an odd number of courses, which was achieved using brief sections of two system knitting. A sense of movement was also created by offsetting the structural pattern and the colored stripes, so the edge of each white stripe peeks through the blue.

This garment is knit end to end, similar to the Flight Wrap Skirt. Beyond creating vertical stripes, this allowed dense cast-on and bind-off edges, which support the rear closures.

Downy Lace Cape &

Teal Flash LAce Skirt

The Downy Lace Cape (left) and Teal Flash Lace Skirt (right) were creating using Shima’s WHOLEGARMENT system. Both garments use the same lace pattern of tucks, misses, and ribs. This design was first developed as an all needle flat pattern and then translated into a half gauge pattern knit in a circular tube for V-bed WHOLEGARMENT knitting.

The Downy Lace Cape shaped comes from four different yarn combinations, as well as the effect of steam finishing on each yarn. The yarn combinations transition from fluffy textures to smooth covered elastic. The Teal Flash Lace Skirt uses a combination of smooth and fluffy yarns throughout the entire garment. The focus is on the striped pattern and how the tuck stitches interrupt the solid stripes.

Both designs required adding custom Paint packages to the WHOLEGARMENT skirt program as well as additions to the base compressed pattern.

Color Field Tank TOp