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In chart-based programming environments for machine knitting, patterns are specified at a low level by placing operations on a grid. This highly manual workflow makes it challenging to iterate on design elements such as cables, colorwork, and texture. While vector-based abstractions for knitting design elements may facilitate higher-level manipulation, they often include interdependencies which require stitch-level reconciliation. To address this, we contribute a new way of specifying knits with blended vector and raster primitives. Our abstraction supports the design of interdependent elements like colorwork and texture. We have implemented our blended raster/vector specification in a direct manipulation design tool where primitives are layered and rasterized, allowing for simulation of the resulting knit structure and generation of machine instructions. Through examples, we show how our approach enables higher-level manipulation of various knitting techniques, including intarsia colorwork, short rows, and cables. Specifically, we show how our tool supports the design of complex patterns including origami pleat patterns and capacitive sensor patches. 

Understanding how professionals use digital fabrication in production workflows is critical for future research in digital fabrication technologies. We interviewed thirteen professionals who use digital fabrication for the low-volume manufacturing of commercial products. From these interviews, we describe the workflows used for nine products created with a variety of materials and manufacturing methods. We show how digital fabrication professionals use software development to support physical production, how they rely on multiple partial representations in development, how they develop manufacturing processes, and how machine control is its own design space. We build from these findings to argue that future digital fabrication systems should support the exploration of material and machine behavior alongside geometry, that simulation is insufficient for understanding the design space, and that material constraints and resource management are meaningful design dimensions to support. By observing how professionals learn, we suggest ways digital fabrication systems can scaffold the mastery of new fabrication techniques.