Knitting Technology

1. What is mean knitting and Knitted Fabric? ( Introduction)

2. What are reasons for the growth of kitting Industry?
3. What are reasons for adoption of knitted fabrics by consumer?
Introduction
 Introduction
Knitted fabrics is the third major class of fabric,
after woven and nonwoven fabrics.

The most common fibres used for knitted

fabrics are cotton & viscose with or without
spandex.

Apart from cotton and viscose base fabrics,

knitted sweaters in wool and acrylic are also
widely used.
Introduction
 Reasons for Growth
of Knitting
1. Low Capital Investment &
Running cost (15 to 25 Lakhs)
2.High Productivity
3. Setting time is less
4. High Flexibility
5.Development in Yarn and
Fibre
6. Comfortable, Ease wear,
wrinkle free. Mobility
supportive
7. Low labour requirement
8.High level development in
machineries
Technological Reason
Popularity of knitted fabrics has
grown tremendously in recent years
because
increased versatility of techniques,

the adaptability of many new

manmade fibres

growth in consumer demand for

wrinkle resistant, stretchable, snug-
fitting fabrics, particularly in
sportswear, other casual wearing
apparel and medical or construction
textiles
 Comfortability

Today's health conscious

consumer wants to feel good
about what their wears. Even the
elderly want to look fit and
healthy. This health consciousness
has filled the gap between casual
and party wear.

New lines of garment have been added

like yoga wear and gym wear.
Fashion Trends

Today's Women is not restricting herself to wearing only sarees

and traditional salwar-kameez. womens wearing T-shirts and body
hugging dresses.

Men have added new variety of T-shirts to their traditional

collection of pyjama kurta and the office wear.
Fashion Trends
Knitted Garments Choice of all Age Groups

Even for kids uses more variety of soft,

comfortable baby wear, knitted dresses and T-
shirts.

Teens do not want to wear frilly frocks, they

are feeling more relaxed in T-shirts and slacks.

The college going age group has completely

adopted T-shirts, slacks, denims and kurtis
replacing the traditional woven salwar-kameez
and woven shirts.

The urban middle age group is switching over

to comfortable knits, the sarees and men's
suits in their wardrobes are left for parties,
weddings and formal wear.
 Knitting Technology Basics
1. What are the historical developments related to Knitting Technology?
2. Knitted Fabric Vs Woven Fabric
3. Basic mechanical action ( motions) involved one loop formation of Knitted
fabric.
Why knits are popular?
Summery
History of knitting
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‘Seamless Technology’
 Knitting for Technical Textiles
Fig 1 Biomedical Textile Knitted Cardiovascular tube

Fig 2. UK-based manufacturer of weft knitted technical textiles has developed

the ability to commercially manufacture three-dimensional carbon fibre
preforms for composites.

Fig 2.
Fig 1
Knitted and woven fabric comparison
Weaving
Knitting
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High Extensibility of knitted fabric gives

advantages as well as disadvantages

High Elasticity gives ease of body movement,

comfort , shape fitting property

Problems in cutting sewing, Bagging at knees &

elbows.
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Easy to tear Difficult to tear

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• Woven fabric due to high rigidity can be tear
out.
• Loop structure permits distribution of tearing
forces , hence difficult to tear. this also
facilities high wrinkle resistivity. Requires no
ironing.
• When Woven fabrics bends, their yarn and
fiber bends beyond elastic limit, finally fabric
permit wrinkle.
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Gets creased and wrinkle Highly crease resistant

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Thinner fabrics Thicker fabrics

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Low twist yarns in knitted fabrics provides

higher bulk eventually higher thickness of
fabric.

This also gives low crease and this gives

smarter appearance.

Permanent plates can not be formed as

required in trousers
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Stiffer Limb
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Air permeability is less Air permeability is more

COMPARISON OF WARP KNIT, CIRCULAR KNIT & WOVEN FABRIC FEATURES
FEATURE WARP KNIT CIRCULAR KNIT WOVEN

Normally less than Woven. Less than warp. Difficult to

STRENGTH Good all round
Can be made to equal woven engineer

RIPPING Excellent resist Good Poor

BURSTING Very good resist Less than warp knit Less than warp knit

ABRASION Good resistance Less than warp knit Less than warp knit

Rubbing Strength Excellent resistance Will unravel Poor resist

SLIPPAGE Excellent resistance Excellent Medium

RECOVERY FROM
Good Very good Medium
DEFORMATION

RECOVERY FROM
Good Very good Medium to poor
CREASING
POROSITY Very good Very good Medium to poor
CUTTING & SEWING
Very good Medium Very good
PERFORMANCE

WIDTH AVAILABILITY Up to 180” 60” Up to 90”

FABRIC STRUCTURE
Very extensive Limited Less than warp knit
OPTIONS

YARN CHOICE Spun and filaments Spun and filament All yarn forms

FORMING MESH
Unlimited scope Limited Very limited
STRUCTURES
 Knitting Terms & Definitions
• Courses: Row of loops across the width of the fabric, produced by adjacent
needle during the same knitting cycle and are measured in units of courses per
centimeter.
course length
In weft knitted fabrics (with the exception of structures such as jacquard, intarsia
and warp insertion), a course of loops is composed of a single length of yarn
termed a course length. Weft knitted structures will unrove from the course
knitted last unless it is secured, for example, by binding-off.

• Wales : Vertical column of needle loops, the number of wales determines the
width of the fabric and they are measured in units of wales per CM.

• Stitch Density : Stitch density is the term represents the total number of needle
loops in a given area. Stitch density is the product of the courses an wales per
unit length, and in measured in unit of loops per SQ CM
Knitting Terms & Definitions
 Knitting Terms & Definitions
Stitch Length: The Stitch length measured in mm, is the length of
yarn in the knitted loop. It is one of the most important factors
controlling the properties of knitted fabrics. It can be determined by
removing one course length from a fabric and dividing this length by
total numbers of needles knitting that length of yarn, generally the
larger the stitch length, the more open and lighter the fabric
Loop Formation- Knitting Cycle
 Loop Formation- Knitting Cycle

Rising: When a stitch has been formed, the needle rises to take
the new yarn, to produce another stitches

Clearing: When the needle has risen to its clearing height the
old lop is below the latch on the needle steam. The needle is
now in position to receive the new yarn(b) before starting to
move down.

Knock over: The needle begins to go down causing the old loop
(a) to close the latch, so trapping the new yarn when the needle
reaches its lower position, the new loop will have been drawn
through the old loop causing knock over
General terms and principles of knitting
technology
•Loop
•Open loop
•Close loop
 Weft Knitting

•
Weft knitting is the simplest method of
converting a yarn into a fabric.

• In weft knitting, the loops are formed

across the width of the fabric, and
each weft thread is fed, more or less,
at right angles to the direction in which
the fabric is produced
Technical terms
 Technical terms
Face & Reverse loop stitch

• Suppose a loop as shown in above figure a is formed by kinking

the yarn in that way. In order to intermesh another loop stitch

through this loop, yarn may be placed behind this loop as shown

in fig b or the yarn R may be placed in front of this loop as shown

in fig c. if the yarn Q is drawn from the back side of the loop to the

face side to form a loop (towards the weaver) then a ‘face’ loop

stitch is formed as shown in fig. d and if the yarn R is drawn from

the face side to form a loop (away from the viewer) then a

‘reverse’ or ‘back’ loop stitch is formed as shon in fig e.

 Technical Face-side and Reverse-side

• In the simplest weft-knit

structure one side consists
of face loop stiches only, as
shown in fig a. and the
other side consists of the
reverse stitches only as
shown in fig b.
 Symbolic representation of weft-knit structure

• In a graph paper a cross mark in a

square represents ‘a face loop
stitch’, while a hollow circle in a
square represents ‘a reverse loop
stitch’.

• On a point paper, only points are

given as shown in fig and a face loop
are represented on the second line,
in (a) indicating all face loop stitches
and in (b) indicating all reverse loop
 Anatomy of loop-stitch, Cross-over-points, and
Configuration of a simple weft-knit fabric
• In fig the anatomy of loop stitch is shown

• The top curved portion is ’head’, the two sides forming

a V-shape are ‘legs’ and at the base of each legs is a

foot, each going behind the legs formed by lower loop.

• The V-shape is formed due to side limbs (legs) being

restricted at the base of the loop by the head of the

lower loop

• There are also 8 ‘cross-over points’ with each loop as

shown in fig.

• A loop is also designated in two parts. The loop shown

in black is called ‘a needle loop’ while the bottom

stippled portion is called ‘a sinker loop’

 Laddering and Curling Effect
• As the intermeshed loops are held at cross-over points, if one of the knit
loop yarns breaks, then local disintegration of the other knitted loops
takes place. Needle loops unmesh down the wale. This is a laddering
effect.
• If fine smooth filament yarn is used then this tendency to ladder is more.

• Hence the knit structures are desired to make ladder resistant.

• Torque sets in yarn due to cross over of yarn in knitted structure, which
develops tendency of curling and spirality in fabric
• Spirality" arises from twist stress in the constituents yams of plain fabric,
causing all loops to distort and throwing the fabric wales and courses into
an angular relationship other than 90 degree.
 Laddering Effect
• As the intermeshed loops are held at cross-over points,
if one of the knit loop yarns breaks, then local
disintegration of the other knitted loops takes place.
Needle loops unmesh down the wale. This is a
laddering effect.
• If fine smooth filament yarn is used then this tendency
to ladder is more.
• Hence the knit structures are desired to make ladder
resistant.
The Tuck Stitch
• A tuck stitch is composed of a held loop, one or more tuck
loops and knitted loops

• It is produced when a needle holding its loop, also receives

the new loop, which becomes a tuck loop because it is not
intermeshed through the old loop

• Its side limbs are therefore not restricted at their feet by the
head of an old loop, so they can open outwards towards the
two adjoining needle loops formed in the same course.

• The tuck loop thus assumes an inverted V or U-shaped

configuration.
•Tuck stitch makes the fabric wider, more porous and thicker

•Float stitch makes the fabric narrower, thinner and more rigid in the course direction

•Effect of tuck stitches on the areal density of fabric would depend critically on the actual change
in fabric width although presumably the effect may be marginal

•However the tuck stitch makes the fabric wider and therefore this increase in length unit may as

well not make a significant difference to the areal density.

Effect of Tuck
• Thicker because of accumulation of yarn
• Wider than normal knit, side wales are not pull together
• Less extensible, one loop length is shorten
• More open and porous
• Depending upon the gauge and count of yarn maximum
4 tucks on the same needle before yarn rupture can be
produced.
 Float or Miss
Stitch

• A miss stitch is composed of a held loop, one of more float loops and knitted loops. 
It is produced when a needle holding its old loop fails to receive the new yarn that
passes.

• A single float has the appearance of a U-shape on the reverse of the stitch.

• Miss stitch (float stitch) fabrics are narrower than equivalent all-knit fabric because
the wales are drawn closer together by the floats, and reducing width-wise Elasticity
and improving fabric stability.

• A floating thread is useful for hiding unwanted coloured yarn when producing
Jacquard designs .
 Characteristics of the FLOAT stitch

• It is observed that a float stretches across the technical back side of a knitted fabric and hence would
be completely hidden to the view from the front side. Thus if one wants to deliberately hide yarns from
the front side, as for example in generating a design with threads of many colors, one could take
recourse to floating the undesirable colors at the desired locations.

• The float, being a straight segment of yarn, imparts an additional rigidity to the fabric along the
course direction. It would also tend to pull in the adjacent wale lines close together, tending to make
the fabric narrower. The float also tends to make the fabric appear thinner at the affected zones.

•A float is however a loose yarn segment on the technical back side of a single jersey fabric and is
therefore prone to snagging caused by any sharp object or abrasive surface. Hence the actual length
of a float is always restricted to very short stretches. If however design considerations demand a long
float, then it should be tucked into the structure at suitable distances,.
 Float and tuck stitches- structure, effect
of float and tuck structure.
Effect of float-
• unwanted colour yarn remain in back of face side,

• Thinner because less loops

• Narrower, floats pull the structure from both side

• Less extensible

• Lighter

• Fabric become rigid

 Problem of Instability and asymmetry of plain loop
1) Curling
2) Spirality

a
Fig.a shows a model of the technical front side of a single jersey loop, made by using flexible
cables pinned onto a flat board
The adjoining straight and thick lines show the X, Y and Z axis. Owing to the binding zones and also due
to the elasticity of the material, the loop exhibits a pronounced 3-dimensional configuration. Hence, it
can be projected on XY, YZ and XZ planes. By means of line segments drawn from the loop normally on
respective planes, the corresponding contours have been illustrated. Due to elastic properties of yarn,
it would try to regain its original straight form. To this end reaction couples would be generated that
would tend to straighten the bent form of projected contours.
These couples have been indicated on all the planes. The couple on XY plane would tend
to rotate the body of the loop around its base and raise its crown above the fabric. The
couple on XZ plane would tend to undo the convex curvature of the crown resulting in
curling of the fabric across wale lines (along courses) in the manner shown in Fig. b.

c
b
Fig.b: Curling of edge along course line Fig.c Curling of edge along wale line
This would amount to rolling up of the fabric into a tubular form whereby the
direction of curling is from technical front side to technical back side along the course
lines. Similarly, the couple on YZ—plane would result in curling of the fabric along
wale lines (across courses) from technical back to technical front in the manner
shown in Fig. c
Thus a fabric sample composed of very few wale lines and a relatively larger
number of course lines (say 6 wale lines and 20 course lines) would roll up into
a tube exhibiting the technical front side to the viewer. Conversely a strip made
up of a large number of wale lines and relatively few course lines would roll up
into a tube exhibiting the technical back side to the viewer.

If a large rectangular piece of plain single jersey fabric is kept on a table free of
any constraint, then the side edges parallel to wale lines would tend to curl
inwards and the top and bottom edges would curl outwards. Obviously, this
opposite tendency of neighboring edges would not permit a rectangular fabric to
roll completely into a tube. But this lively behavior of fabric edges would be a
hindrance to further downstream processing for example in sewing the cut
edges.
 Spirality Of weft Knitted Fabrics

The technical front side of four wale lines and five course lines of a plain knit are
shown in this figure. The binding points around the crown of each loop should be
parallel to the course lines, but indicated by two thick lines drawn across the
figure, the course line is not normal to the wale lines and hence the line joining
the binding points too is not normal to the wale line. If then the course line is held
parallel to the horizon, the wale lines would appear inclined to the right of the
vertical. If the fabric is produced in a tubular form such wale lines would appear
spiraling around the surface of the tube. This phenomenon, termed as “Spirality”
of a wale line, is a typical problem of plain knits made of spun yarns,
Fig explains the nomenclature related to the direction of twist in a spun yarn. The circle
with a dot in the centre refers to a force normal to the plane of the paper/screen and
directed towards the viewer while the circle with a cross in the centre refers to a force
normal to the plane of the paper/screen and directed away from the viewer. The two
opposite forces when applied at the two end points of a straight line constitute a couple.
The systems of couples for generating Z-twist and S-twist in spun yarns are stated in Fig
•The conversion of a Z-twisted yarn into a symmetrical half-loop is shown ,Two systems
of couples act on the two interlacement zones at the base of the half-loop.

•The first system is represented by the pair of opposite forces acting on the two end
points of the line segments AB and CD respectively, accounting for the 3D shape of
loops which finally lead to curling of the fabric edges.

•The other system of couples act at the points A, B, C and D in such a way that the line
AB itself is subjected to a S-twisting couple while the line segment CD is subjected to a
Z-twisting one.
• As a result the left arm of the half loop is subjected to an S-twist while the right arm receives a Z-
twist.

• If yarn itself is Z-twisted, as is the case in Fig. ,the left arm of the half loop would be untwisted to a
certain extent and the right arm would be over twisted. Hence the rigidity of the left arm would be
reduced and that of the right arm increased.

•The first system of couples acting on the interlacement zones would accordingly be able to bend the
two arms out of the fabric plane (along the YZ plane) to varying extent; the more rigid one bending
less while the more pliable one bending more.

• Similarly the in-plane bending (along the XZ plane) of the two arms would also be different, the
more rigid one bending less while the more pliable one bending more. Viewed along the XZ plane, the
loop would exhibit a tilt to the right to accommodate the more rigid right arm.

• Viewed along the YZ plane two distinctly separate convex curves would account for the projection of
the two arms, while along the XZ plane the concave projection should show a clockwise angular
displacement with respect to the plane of symmetry. The loop evidently becomes asymmetric.
 Knitting needle

• The needle is the basic

element of loop
formation. There are
three most commonly
used types of needle the
latch needle (a), the
spring-beard needle (b)
and the compound
needle (c). We can divide
a needle into three main
parts:
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• During the loop formation the hook must be closed in order
to transfer the previous stitch already formed on the new
thread; this operation takes place in different ways according
to the type of needle used.
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• With the latch needle, the latch is hinged at a certain distance
from the hook and can revolve.
• The anticlockwise rotation, produced by the pressure of the
loop, which is originally inside the hook, opens the hook to
allow a new thread to be fed.
• The clockwise rotation, produced by the pressure of the loop
on the stem, allows the hook to be closed and subsequently
knocked over on the new thread.
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• In spring-beard needles, the hook is closed by an external
device, the presser, which, at a specific time during the stitch
formation, comes in contact with it and makes it bend and
close. When the presser is pulled away, the hook springs back
and opens the needle automatically.
• The compound needle includes (inside the internal groove of
the stem) a sliding closing element, which opens and closes
the hook through its upward and downward motion.