Knitting Technology

Knitting:
Knitting is a method of creating fabric by interloping or intermeshing of one set of yarn or one
yarn in vertical or horizontal direction.

Type of Knitted fabrics:

i. Weft knitted fabric
ii. Warp knitted fabric

Weft knitting– a method in which the loops made Warp knitting– a method in which the loops
by each weft thread are formed across the width made from each warp thread are formed along
of the fabric the length of the fabric.

(a) Weft knitted fabric (b)Warp knitted fabric

Historical Background of Knitting:

The knitting industry belongs to the branches of the textile industry with long tradition and
the knitted goods have been known for centuries. In the early days they were made by hand and
the firsthand operated knitting machine was not invented until the sixteenth century. This
invention is usually attributed to a certain English clergyman (1589) William Lee. Since that
time knitting machines have been developed and redesigned so that nowadays they present the
most complicated and most automated machinery in the textile industry.
- 1589: William Lee, the inventor of the mechanical stitch formation technique.
- 1758: Jedediah Strutt refers to an attachment for the hand knitting frame, which became
world famous "Derby rib machine".
- 1798: Monsieur Decroix invented the circular knitting frame.
- 1805: Joseph Marie Jacquard presented his control apparatus for shed building on weaving
looms in Lyon. Today we do encounter the jacquard device in different variations on knitting:
individual movement of knitting and transfer needles, sinkers or guide needles for patterning.
- 1847: Matthew Townsend obtains a patent for his invention of the latch needle.
- 1850: The circular knitting machine has been developed from the English circular knitting
frame. It was initially equipped with stationary bearded needles in vertical position.
- 1852: Theodor Groz. opened his workshop in Ebingen in the Swabian Alb and Ernst Beckert
started making needles in Chemnitz. Both of them wanted to assist the manufacturers of
knitted stockings by presenting them with needles. Today the concern Groz-Beckert delivers
exactly adapted needles for every kind of knitting machine.
- 1878: D. Griswold gets a patent for a circular knitting machine, which can produce plain or
ribbed fabric tubes in any desired distribution.
- 1910: The firm Robert Walter Scott in Philadelphia was granted a patent for "interlock
fabrics".
- 1918: The first double cylinder, small circular knitting machine with a double hook needle and
sliders was built in England by the firm Wildt.
- 1920: Besides flat knitting machines, increasing use is made of circular knitting machines for
the fabrication of colour patterned fabrics.
- Mayer & Cie. introduced mass-line production of these machines in 1939.
- 1963: The era the electronics begins at the International Textile Machinery Exhibition, ITMA
1963 in Hanover. The first electronic needle selection is demonstrated by the firm Morat on
its film-taper-controlled "Moratronik", which later on gets into serial production.
- 1967: The legendary OVJA 36, which is probably world-wide the most successful circular
knitting machine so far, is exhibited at the ITMA in Basle.
- 1987: The firm Mayer & Cie begins with the serial production of the RELANIT, a plain circular
knitting machine having a relative movement between needles and sinkers.

Modern circular knitting technology will be determined by increases in performance, reductions

in setting-up times and flexible utilization. The technical designer will have to deal with this
challenge now and in the future. Knitting is the most common method of interloping and is second
only to weaving as a method of manufacturing textile structures. Although the unique capability
of knitting to manufacture shaped and form-fitting articles has been utilized for centuries,
modern technology has enabled knitted constructions in shaped and unshaped fabric form to
expand into a wide range of apparel, domestic and industrial end-uses.

KNITTING TERMS AND DEFINITIONS:

Kink of yarn: Knitted loop:

A length of yarn that has been A kink of yarn that is
bent into a shape appropriate intermeshed at its base i.e. when
for its transformation into a intermeshed two kink of yarn is
weft knitted loop. called loop.
Knitted stitch: Top arc:
Stitch is a kink of yarn that is The upper curved portion of
intermeshed at its base and at the knitted loop is called top
its top. arc.

Knitted loop structure: Bottom half-arc:

The properties of a knitted structure are The lower curved portion
largely determined by the interdependence of that constitutes in a weft
each stitch with its neighbors on either side knitted loop, half of the
and above and below it. connection to the adjacent
loop in the same course.

Legs or side limbs:

The lateral parts of the
knitted loop that conned the
top to 'the bottom half-
arcs.

Needle loop: Sinker loop:

Needle loop formed by the
top arc and the two legs of
the weft knitted loop. Needle
loop=Top arc + Two legs
Open loop:
A knitted loop of which a
thread enters and leaves at
the opposite sides without
crossing over itself.
The yarn portion that connects
two adjacent needle loops
belonging in the same knitted
course. Bottom arc also called
sinker loop.
Closed loop:
A knitted loop of which a thread
enters and leaves at the opposite
sides with crossing over itself. It
is made by special needle.

Course A wale
A course is a predominantly horizontal row of A wale is a predominantly vertical
needle loops produced by adjacent needles column of intermeshed needle loops
during the same knitting cycle. generally produced by the same
needle knitting at successive knitting
cycles.
A course length Reverse loop
In weft knitted fabrics (with the exception of This is the opposite side of the stitch to the
structures such as jacquard, intarsia and warp face loop-side and shows the new loop meshing
insertion), a course of loops is composed of a away from the viewer as it passes under the head
single length of yarn termed a course length. of the old loop.

Intermeshing points of a loop Stitch length:

The length of yarn knitted in to one stitch in a
weft knitted fabric. Stitch Length, l= one needle
loop + two half a sinker loop.
Generally, the larger the stitch
length the more elastic and
lighter the fabric, and the poorer
its cover and bursting strength.

Face & Back Loop

The face side of the stitch shows the new loop coming towards the viewer as it passes over and
covers the head of the old loop. Face loop tends to show as a series of ‘V’s. The face loop-side
is the underside of the stitch on the needle.

Extended sinker loop:

A sinker loop that is wider than the other sinker loops in the fabric
and that is produced when a needle is inactive or has been removed
from the needle bed or needle bar.
Single-faced structures Double-faced structures
Single-faced structures are produced in warp Double-faced structures are produced in weft
and weft knitting by the needles operating as a and warp knitting when two sets of needles are
single set. employed with the hooks of one set knitting or
facing in the opposite direction to the other
set.
Machine or Needle Gauge:
The needle gauge is the number of needles Needle pitch = 1 / Needle Gauge (length unit)
per a unit of the needle bed width.
A balanced structure Selvedged fabric
A balanced structure is a double-faced A selvedged fabric is one having a ‘self-edge’ to
structure that has an identical number of each it and can only be produced on a straight
type of stitch produced on each needle bed machine whose yarn carrier reciprocates
which therefore show on each fabric surface,
backwards and forwards across the needle bed
usually in the same sequence.
so that a selvedged edge is formed at either
edge of the fabric.

Cut-edge fabric Tubular fabric

A cut edge fabric is usually produced by
slitting open a tube of fabric knitted on a
circular machine. A slit tube of fabric from a
30” diameter machine will have an open width
of 94” at knitting and before relaxation.
Tubular fabric may be produced in double-faced
or single-faced structures on circular machines;
or in a single-faced form on straight machines
with two sets of needles, provided each needle
set only knits at alternate cycles.

Stitch density=Wales per inch (wpi) x Courses per inch (cpi)

Trick: the groove of needle bed is called trick. Needles move through this slots or grooves.
Trick Wall: the wall between two trick is called the trick wall which separates 2 needles.
Track: the groove of cam is called cam track.
The Working Width: The working width of a knitting machine is the distance between the first
and last active needle in a flat needle bed during knitting.

Difference between warp and weft knitting:

Weft knitting
The loops are formed across the width of
the fabric.
It is possible to knit with one thread.
Circular and flat-bed machines are used.
Staple as well as filament yarns can be
worked successfully.
Normally, Latch needles are used.
Less versatile m/c.
Speed reduces with design change in cams
Stretch in both direction
Less dimensional stability
Cheaper to produce
Elasticity is more.
For one yarn, any no. of needle can be
used
Warp knitting
The loops are formed vertically down the length of
the fabric.
Warp beam is used with multiple thread end.
Normally flat-bed machines are used.
Filament yarn can be worked successfully.
Latch, bearded, compound needles are used.
More versatile m/c.
Change in pattern doesn’t affect the speed of m/c.
Stretch in widthwise direction.
More dimensional stability
Costlier to produce
Elasticity is less than weft knitted fabric.
For one needle, at least one yarn is required.