Patent ID: 7272462

Claim:
A method for creating pattern instructions for an electronic patterning control of a knitting machine to enable the knitting machine to knit fabric having a desired pictorial image as part of the knitted structure, the method comprising: (i) creating an original scale digital image having dark areas representative of those areas to be recreated by knitted stitches of a first yarn and light areas representative of those areas to be recreated by knitted stitches of a second yarn; (ii) analysing the original scale digital image to determine a darkness value of a darkest area of the original scale digital image; (iii) changing the darkness value of the darkest area to a first revised darkness value that is the same as or less than a first predetermined darkness value and changing a remaining area darkness value of some or all remaining areas to maintain visual definition of the original scale digital image and to create, with respect to the second yarn, a floating modified image; (iv) creating a bit map image from the float modified image, the bit map image having dark bits and light bits arranged in horizontal rows corresponding to a series of consecutive courses to be knitted and vertical columns corresponding to wales to be knitted, each dark bit corresponding to a knitted stitch of the first yarn and each light bit corresponding to a knitted stitch of the second yarn; and (v) analysing and modifying the bit map image to create a modified image in which a number of adjacent dark bits in each horizontal row do not exceed a predetermined number.