Knitting

Knitting is the second most important method of fabric formation.

Knitting is a process of manufacturing a fabric by inter looping of yarns. 

It can be defined as a needle technique of fabric formation, in which, with the help of knitting
needles , loops are formed to make a fabric or garment.

Fabric can be formed by hand or machine knitting , but the basic principle remains exactly the
same i.e. pulling a new loop through the old loop.
Types of Knitting
Weft Knitting:

Weft knits are constructed from one yarn that is

fed into knitting machine needles in a horizontal
direction. Also called filling.

Warp Knitting :

Warp knit fabrics are constructed with yarn loops

formed in a vertical or warp direction.
 Weft Knitting

 Weft or filling knits is the most common type used to produce textile
knitted products.
 Weft knits are constructed from one yarn which is fed into a knitting
machine in a horizontal direction.
 weft knit may be knitted with multiple yarns to produce interesting pattern
design. 
 Both flat bed and circular knitting machines can be used to make weft knit. 
 Few types or technique used to manufacture weft knit structure are Single
jersey, Purl, interlock and Rib.
 Single Jersey Stitch

Plain knit structure is the simplest and most basic structure. It's also called single knit structure. It's

produced by the needles of one set of needle with all the loops intermeshed in the same direction.
Plain knit structures
Features of plain knit structures

We can identify the plain knit structure fabrics as following properties-

 The fabric is unbalanced and different appearance on face and back side. V
shapes on face and Arcs on back.
 Lengthwise extensibility of the fabric is moderate (10-20%) and widthwise
extensibility is high (30-50%).
 The fabric extensibility area is moderate to high.
 The fabric is thicker and warmer than plain woven made from same yarn.
 The plain knit structure can be easily unraveled from the edge which was knitted
last. Unroving either end.
 The fabric has tendency to curl. Fabric less stable and curls when cut. 
 End-uses 

 Used for making sweaters, terry robes, t-shirts, men’s underwear and
dresses.
 Used form making hosiery.
 Also used for making fully fashion garments.
Rib Fabric
 Rib Fabric
Rib fabric is a double jersey knitted fabric with vertical rows (wales) of loops. It's
requires two sets of needles operating in between each other so that wales of face
stitches and wales of back stitches are knitted on each side of the fabric .
Simplest rib fabric is 1 x 1 rib having alternate wales knitted to the front and back.
The ribs tend to close up to create a double faced fabric, which has the same
appearance on both sides.
Rib knits fabrics are produced with the knitting machines having two sets of
needle, normally positioned at rights angle to each other.
 Features of rib structure:

We can identify the Rib structure fabrics as following properties-

Same appearance in both sides of rib fabric. Like face of plain.

Lengthwise extensibility of the fabric is moderate and widthwise extensibility is very high
(50-100%).
The fabric extensibility area is high.
The fabric is much thicker and warmer than plain woven.
Rib structures can be unraveled from the edge knitted last.
Unroving only form end knitted last.
No tendency to curl.
More expensive to produce. 
More stretch crosswise than length wise and edges do not curl. 
End-uses
 
• Used for making Collars and cuffs and necklines.
• Used for doing bottom edges of sweaters. 
• Used for making double knits jackets, knit hats and men’s hosiery.
Interlock structures
 Interlock structures
Interlock stitch knits are variations in rib stitch knits. 

Interlock is produce on a cylinder and dial circular weft knitting machine, with
alternate long and short needles opposite to each other on cylinder and dial.
Features of Interlock Structure:

It is a reversible fabric.

Same appearance on both sides, like face of plain.
Lengthwise extensibility is moderate and widthwise extensibility is moderate
Extensibility area is moderate.
Very much thicker and warmer than plain woven.
Unroving only from end knitted last.
No tendency to curl.
It is heavier and thicker as compare to rib and it does not curl at the edges.
It is a good insulator. 
Costlier fabric .
 End-uses
 Used for making Skirt, blouses and t-shirts.
 Used as an outwear fabric for making dresses.
Purl knit structures
 Purl knit structures

A simple purl fabric looks like the back of jersey

knit on the both side of the fabric. 

Purl knit structures is the third family of knit

structures. As with rib structures, it's requires the
participation of both needle beds for the
production of the loops.
 
Purl fabrics are made on knitting machines
called purl knit machines or links-or-links
machines.
 Features of Purl structure:

 Same appearance on both sides. Like back of plain.

 Lengthwise extensibility is very high and widthwise extensibility is high.
 The fabric extensibility area is very high.
 Very much thicker and warmer than plain woven.
 Unroving either end.
 No tendency to curl.
 The production process of purl knit is slow.
 Good stretch in all direction but stretches out of shape easily.
 
End uses
 
 Used for making infant and children’s wear.
 Used for making sweaters and scarves.
 Used for doing fancy garment parts.
 Warp Knitting
Warp knitted fabric is produced from a set of warp yarn. It is parallel
knitted to each other down the length of the fabric.
More resistant to laddering than weft knits.
 Tricot fabric
Tricot is very common fabric for making lingerie.
Tricot fabric is soft, wrinkle resistant.
A soft and 'drapey' texture with some lengthwise stretch and almost no
crosswise stretch.
The right side of the fabric has fine lengthwise ribs while the reverse has
crosswise ribs.
 
 Raschel Knits

 
• Raschel knits are produced from spun or filament yarns of different weights and types.
• Made out of conventional or novelty yarns which allows for interesting textures and
designs to be created.
• It is coarser than other warp knit fabrics.
• Used for making lace fabric and trimmings.
 Milanese Knits
 
It is made from two sets of yarn knitted diagonally, which results in the face fabric having
a fine vertical rib and the reverse having a diagonal structure.

Milanese fabric is superior to tricot in smoothness, elasticity, regularity of structure &

friction resistance.

It is stronger, more stable, smoother and more expensive than tricot.
 Stitch-Bonding Knits

Stitch-Bonding is a special form of warp knitting and is commonly used
for the production of composite materials and technical textiles.

Fabrics produced with this process offer the potential of using “sensitive
fiber materials such as glass and carbon with only little damage, non-
crimp fiber orientation and variable distance between threads”.

The advantages of includes its high productivity rate and the scope it
offers for functional design of textiles, such as fiber-reinforced plastics

Being used in fields as wind energy generation and aviation.