Punto Maglia Traforato: Schema e Programma per Shima Seiki
If you’ve ever held a piece of lace knitting up to the light and watched the pattern come alive through its open stitches and delicate eyelets, you already understand the timeless appeal of traforato knitwear. In Italian textile tradition, “punto maglia traforato” refers to openwork knitting — a technique that creates deliberate holes, voids, and mesh-like structures within a knitted fabric to produce everything from breezy summer tops to intricate decorative panels. When this traditional craft meets the precision of modern industrial machinery like the Shima Seiki flat knitting system, the results can be extraordinary in both complexity and efficiency.
This guide walks you through the fundamentals of openwork knitting stitch patterns, how to read and interpret a schema (stitch diagram), and how to translate that schema into a working program for a Shima Seiki machine. Whether you’re a knitwear designer entering the industrial world for the first time or an experienced technician looking to refine your approach to traforato structures, there is something here for you.
What Is Punto Maglia Traforato?
The term “traforato” comes from the Italian verb “traforare,” meaning to pierce through or to perforate. In knitting, it describes any structure where yarn-over increases and corresponding decreases are used together to create intentional openings in the fabric. These openings can be small and uniform, creating a light mesh effect, or they can be grouped into larger motifs like diamonds, leaves, chevrons, and florals.
From a technical standpoint, traforato knitting relies on the same basic principle as all lace knitting: every yarn over (an eyelet that adds a stitch and creates a hole) must be compensated by a corresponding decrease (which removes a stitch) to maintain the overall stitch count of the row. In hand knitting, this is done manually with needles. In machine knitting on a flat-bed system like the Shima Seiki, the process is encoded into a program that controls needle selection, loop transfer, and yarn carrier movement with mechanical precision.
The visual character of traforato fabric comes from two fundamental variables: the placement of the eyelets and the direction of the decreases flanking them. A decrease leaning to the left creates a visual line that draws the eye one way, while a right-leaning decrease pulls the eye the other. Thoughtful arrangement of these elements is what elevates a simple hole pattern into something that reads as artistically intentional.
Reading a Schema for Openwork Knitting
A schema, or stitch diagram, is the visual language of knitting. Before you can program a Shima Seiki machine, you need to be comfortable reading the grid-based chart that describes the fabric’s structure row by row and stitch by stitch.
In a standard schema for traforato, each square of the grid represents one stitch in one row. The symbols within those squares tell you what operation to perform. While symbol conventions can vary slightly between publications and software, the most widely used international standards describe the most common operations as follows.
An empty square or a horizontal dash typically indicates a plain knit stitch — the base of your fabric. A circle (O) represents a yarn over, the operation that creates the eyelet opening. A forward-leaning slash (/) indicates a right-leaning decrease, most often a knit-two-together (k2tog). A backward-leaning backslash indicates a left-leaning decrease, most often a slip-slip-knit (ssk) or similar. Some schemas use specific symbols for central double decreases, cable crosses, or purl stitches, depending on the complexity of the design.
When reading a schema for machine knitting, there are a few important adjustments to keep in mind. Hand-knitting schemas are typically read from right to left on right-side (RS) rows and from left to right on wrong-side (WS) rows, mirroring the way the knitter physically moves. On a flat knitting machine, however, the carriage moves across the needle bed from one side to the other, and the direction of reading your schema needs to correspond to the direction of carriage travel in your particular program.
Additionally, many traforato schemas show only the right side of the fabric, assuming WS rows are plain knit or purl. When programming for a Shima Seiki, you will need to explicitly program every pass of the carriage, including return passes, which means translating those implied WS rows into actual machine instructions.
Basic Traforato Structures and Their Schemas
Before moving to machine programming, it helps to understand several foundational openwork structures that appear repeatedly in knitwear design.
Simple Eyelet Repeat
The most elementary traforato structure consists of a single yarn over flanked by a single decrease, repeated at regular intervals across the row. A common version might read: knit 3, yarn over, k2tog, repeat to end. This produces a row of small, evenly spaced holes. In a schema, this appears as a repeating block of three plain squares followed by one circle and one forward slash, all sitting on a ground of plain knit rows.
When programmed on a Shima Seiki, this is executed by selecting needles at the appropriate positions for loop transfer (to create the decrease) and allowing the yarn carrier to form the yarn over between designated needles. The repeat unit is defined in the system’s pattern data, and the machine tiles that repeat across the width of the piece.
Diagonal Lace Line
A more dynamic structure involves staggering the eyelet position by one stitch on every other row, creating a diagonal line of holes that crosses the fabric at an angle. In the schema, the circle and decrease symbols appear to march steadily left or right as you read up the chart. This is one of the simplest ways to introduce directional movement into a traforato fabric.
On the machine, this is achieved by shifting the needle selection pattern slightly with each pass, a process that is handled elegantly by Shima Seiki’s design system once the initial pattern is defined correctly.
Diamond Lace Motif
The diamond is perhaps the most iconic shape in openwork knitting. It is formed by arranging eyelets in a closed outline — a widening series of yarn overs that then taper back in, framed by decreases that alternate direction to maintain the stitch count. A classic diamond motif schema shows rows that begin with a small cluster of eyelets, expand outward over several rows, and then contract back to a central closing stitch.
Programming a diamond motif requires careful attention to the interplay between increases and decreases within each row. The total stitch count must remain constant, so for every O (yarn over) in a row, there must be a compensating decrease either in that same row or in an immediately adjacent position. Some designers prefer to offset the decrease by one row for aesthetic reasons, which requires temporarily increasing the stitch count and decreasing it back in the following pass — a technique that needs to be explicitly reflected in the Shima Seiki program.
Mesh and Net Structures
For a fully open mesh fabric, the schema becomes a dense grid of alternating yarn overs and decreases arranged so that eyelets align vertically and horizontally, creating a net-like ground. This type of traforato is common in summer tops, beach cover-ups, and decorative panels. The schema for a simple mesh might show yarn overs and decreases alternating on every stitch of every row, or a slightly more open version might use a yarn over paired with a decrease every other stitch, with the pattern offset on alternate rows.
On a Shima Seiki, mesh structures can be programmed using the lace functionality built into the SDS-ONE APEX design system. The system allows you to define the lace transfer positions graphically, and the machine calculates the optimal needle selection sequence to execute those transfers efficiently.
Translating a Schema into a Shima Seiki Program
Shima Seiki machines, particularly those operated through the SDS-ONE APEX series design platform, use a sophisticated programming environment that distinguishes between fabric structure data (which stitch goes where) and machine function data (how the machine physically executes each row). Understanding this distinction is the key to successful traforato programming.
Setting Up the Pattern in SDS-ONE APEX
The first step is to open a new design file and establish your basic fabric parameters. This includes the gauge of your machine (the number of needles per inch, typically expressed as a number such as 5, 7, 12, or 14), the yarn count you are using, the stitch tension settings, and the width and length of the piece in stitches and rows.
Once your parameters are set, you enter the design environment. For openwork fabrics, you will be working primarily in the stitch symbol input mode, where you can place symbols on the design grid that correspond to the operations described in your hand-knitting schema. The SDS-ONE APEX uses its own symbol library, but the logic maps closely to the international schema conventions described earlier.
Place your yarn over symbols (O) and your decrease symbols (/ or ) according to the schema you are working from. The system will flag any inconsistencies, such as a yarn over without a corresponding decrease in the correct position, which helps you catch errors before they reach the machine.
Lace Function and Transfer Programming
The core of traforato programming on a Shima Seiki lies in the lace function. Shima Seiki flat bed machines create openwork by transferring loops from one needle to an adjacent needle (or across multiple needles for more complex lace), leaving an empty needle behind. When the yarn carrier passes, it forms a new loop on the empty needle — this is the yarn over, the hole in your fabric. The loop that was transferred to an adjacent needle is then knitted together with the loop already sitting there on the next pass — this is the decrease.
In SDS-ONE APEX, you indicate these transfers by placing lace transfer symbols in your design. The system distinguishes between single transfers (moving a loop one needle to the left or right), double transfers, and compound lace where multiple loops interact. For each transfer operation, the machine’s lace carriage (or, on machines with built-in transfer capability, the main carriage’s transfer function) performs the physical move before the knitting pass begins.
It is important to note that on most standard Shima Seiki configurations, transfers and knitting cannot happen simultaneously on the same pass. This means a row in your schema that contains both plain knitting and lace transfers may need to be broken into two machine passes: one for the transfers and one for the knitting. The SDS-ONE APEX handles much of this automatically, but being aware of the underlying logic helps you understand why your machine’s row count may differ from your schema’s row count.
Managing Stitch Count Across Rows
One of the most technically demanding aspects of traforato programming is ensuring that stitch count is properly managed throughout the piece. On a hand-knitting schema, a yarn over and its corresponding decrease are typically in the same row. On the machine, because transfers happen before knitting, the effective sequence may be slightly different.
If your design uses yarn overs that are compensated by decreases in the following row (a legitimate design technique that adds a slight bias or lean to the motif), you need to make sure your program accounts for the temporary stitch count change. Failing to do so can cause the machine to produce a fabric with uneven tension, dropped stitches, or missed needles.
The stitch count management panel in SDS-ONE APEX allows you to verify the needle occupancy state at any point in the program, making it straightforward to identify where these temporary mismatches occur and to add appropriate holding instructions if needed.
Tension and Yarn Carrier Settings
Openwork fabrics typically require slightly different tension settings than plain knit fabrics of the same yarn weight. Because the yarn over creates an extra loop that is knitted off on the subsequent pass, there is more yarn movement per row in a traforato fabric than in a plain one. If your tension is too tight, the eyelets will close up and the fabric will feel stiff and dense. If it is too loose, the fabric will be unstable and the decreases may not knit cleanly.
A useful starting point is to set your stitch cam slightly looser than your standard settings for the same yarn — typically one to two tension units depending on your machine’s scale — and then knit a tension swatch before committing to full production. Compare the swatch against your design intent and adjust accordingly.
Yarn carrier selection also matters. For fine traforato work on a high-gauge machine (12 or 14 gauge), a fine yarn carrier with minimal friction will help the yarn over form cleanly without pulling or distorting the adjacent stitches. For chunkier openwork on a lower-gauge machine, ensure that the carrier is appropriate for the yarn weight and that the yarn feeds freely through the tensioning system.
Practical Tips for Beautiful Traforato Results
Beyond the technical programming, a few practical considerations will significantly influence the quality of your finished traforato fabric.
Yarn choice has an enormous impact on openwork. Smooth, tightly spun yarns — particularly those with a slight sheen, such as mercerized cotton, silk blends, or fine Merino wool — show the eyelets with the greatest clarity because the yarn slides cleanly around the hole and the stitch structure stays open. Fluffy or hairy yarns, like mohair or brushed wool, can obscure the openings and reduce the visual definition of the motif, though this can sometimes be used deliberately for a softer, more diffused lace effect.
Blocking is essential for traforato fabrics. Many openwork structures look modest or even slightly muddled straight off the machine, but when wet-blocked (pinned to shape after gentle washing and allowed to dry), the eyelets open fully and the design becomes dramatically clearer. This is especially true for cotton and linen, which relax significantly when wet.
Consider the ground structure surrounding your traforato motifs carefully. A busy, textured ground can compete with the lace and reduce its legibility. A plain stockinette ground almost always serves openwork motifs well, as the smooth surface makes each eyelet and decrease stand out cleanly. Reverse stockinette (purl side facing out) can also work beautifully, giving the fabric a slightly different visual character.
Developing Your Own Traforato Schema
Once you are comfortable reading and programming existing schemas, the natural next step is designing your own. Start with graph paper or a digital design tool and sketch the outline of the motif you want to create — a simple diamond, a leaf, a chevron. Then begin placing yarn overs along the outline and balance each one with a decrease, paying attention to which direction you want the decrease to lean.
Work through the schema row by row to verify that your stitch count is maintained. Transfer the verified schema into SDS-ONE APEX, run a simulation pass to check for errors, and then knit your first test swatch. Evaluate the swatch with the same critical eye you would bring to any design iteration: Does the motif read clearly? Are the eyelets the size you intended? Does the fabric have the drape and weight you want?
Refine, reprogram, and swatch again. This iterative process is the heart of knitwear design, and the precision of the Shima Seiki system makes each iteration faster and more accurate than it would be by hand.
Conclusion
Punto maglia traforato occupies a special place in knitting tradition, marrying structural ingenuity with genuine beauty. The schema is its language, and the Shima Seiki is its modern instrument. Understanding how to read that language and translate it faithfully into machine instructions is a skill that opens an enormous range of creative possibilities — from the most delicate fine-gauge lace to bold, architecturally structured openwork panels.
The process demands patience and precision, but the reward is a fabric that carries within its very structure the logic of its own creation. Every eyelet is a decision made visible, every decrease a line drawn in fiber. Mastering this craft at the intersection of handcraft tradition and industrial technology is one of the most satisfying achievements available to a contemporary knitwear professional.
