Module 2

KNITTED STRUCTURES
KNITTING-DEFINITION

Knitting is a technique of fabric formation. Knitting is the formation of fabric by interloping

or intermeshing of a continous yarn by using knitting elements.

TYPESOF KNITTING

COMPARISON BETWEEN KNITTING AND WEAVING

Knitting Weaving

 Converting the yarn into  Converting the yarn into fabric

fabric by interloping of a by interlacing the warp and
continous yarn weft
 Supply package is cone or  Supply package is sized yarn
cheese for warp and weft yarn from
 Simpler operation and faster pirn
production  Preparatory process is must
 Capital investment is less due operation
to less number of preparatory  Design modification is difficult
process  The capital investment is high
 Productivity of the knitting  Productivity is less
machine is high  More labours are require
 Require less labour  Generally fabric is thin
 Fabric is thicker  Generally stronger fabric
 Less stronger fabric
IMPORTANT TERMS IN KNITTING

COURSE
Series of loops that intermeshes horizontally in a fabric is called as course. Course
determine the length of fabric and are measured in course per inch.

WALES
Series of loops that intermeshes vertically in a fabric is called as wales. Wales
determine the width of the fabric and measured as wales per inch.

Loop consist of two parts

1. Needle loop
2. Sinker loop

NEEDLE LOOP
A loop in a knitted fabric, which has been drawn through a previous loop by using
a needle. The needle loop is the simplest unit of knitted structure. The top portion of
each loop is inverted semi circle.

SINKER LOOP
A loop that connects two adjacent needle loops and the bottom portion of the U-
shaped is called sinker loop.

FACE LOOP
When a loop is drawn from back of the previous loop to front of the fabric is called
face loop.
BACK LOOP
When a loop is drawn from the face of the previous loop to back of the fabric is
called back loop.

STITCH LENGTH OR LOOP LENGTH

The length of a yarn associated with a loop is called loop length.

GAUGE
Gauge of the knitting machine is expressed as needles per inch. Higher the gauge,
higher the no.of needles per inch and finer will be the fabric.

TEXTURE
Courses per inch is said to be texture of the fabric. The course and wales per unit
space (inch or cm) determine the quality of fabric.

OVER LAP
This term refers to mainly warp knitting. Lateral movement of the guide bar on the
front side of the needle is called over lap.

UNDER LAP
This term also refers to warp knitting. Lateral movement of the guide bar at the back
side of the needle are called as under lap.

SINGLE JERSEY FABRIC

A weft knitted fabric made on one set of needle is called as single jersey fabric.

DOUBLE JERSEY FABRIC

A fabric made on two sets of needle is called as double jersey fabric. If fabric
produced from this will reduce the natural extensibility of the knitted structure.
KNITTING ELEMENTS
Knitting elements consists of 1.Needle 2.Cylinder 3.Cam 4.Sinker 5.Dial

NEEDLE
The needles are the most important stitch forming elements. They are displaced
vertically up and down and are mounted into the tricks or cuts of the knitting cylinder.
There are three types of needles.
1. Latch needle
2. Spring bearded needle
3. Compound needle

CYLINDER
The cylinder is a steel circular bed having grooves or tricks or cuts on its outer
periphery into which the needles are mounted. With reference to the trick the needles
move vertically up and down by their butt being in contact with cam track. The no.of
tricks/inch or no.of needles/inch(NPI) decides the gauge of the machine. Machines are
built as low as 4NPI to as high as 32NPI. The diameter of the cylinder also vary based
on the time and width of the fabric, and a maximum of 75cm dia machines are also
available.
DIAL
Dial is the upper needle bed used in double knit machine. Into the grooves of the
dial the needles are mounted horizontally are allowed to move radially in and outs by
the dial cam. The no.of grooves/unit space is conform with cylinder gauge in most of
the cases.

CAM
Cams are the device which converts rotary machine drive into suitable up and down
action for the needles or other elements. Cam is made up of hardened steel and each
needle movement is obtained by means of cams acting on the needle butts. Cam is
said to be heart of the knitting machine.
Knitting cams are attached either individually or in uniform to a cam plate and
depending upon the design of machine. At each yarn feed position, there is a set of
cams consisting of atleast a raising cam, stitch cam and a up through cam who
combined effect is to cause a needle carry out a knitting cycle. Removable cam
section will be in each machine to replace the knitting element as gate.
SINKER
Sinker is a thin metal plate with action right angle to and fro between adjoining
needles. It may perform one or more functions and they are

1. Loop formation
2. Holding down
3. Knocking over

SINKER
KNITTING ACTION OF VARIOUS KNITTING NEEDLES

KNITTING ACTION OF LATCH NEEDLE

1.Run-in : The needle is in rest position with holding the loop of previous course.
2.Clearing: The needle is raised to its highest position, when the old loop is cleared from the
latch onto the stem of the needle.
3.Feeding: As the needle descends, the yarn is fed in the path of hooked portion.
4.Knock over: The further descend of the needle results in the old loop being knocked over
the end of hook and also a new loop being formed.

4.Loop pulling: When the needle descends its lowest position, the new loop is in the hook.
When the needle ascends, the newly formed loop becomes an old loop and the cycle is
repeated.

KNITTING ACTION OF BEARDED NEEDLE

1. Yarn feeding: The newly fed yarn is laid under the throats of kinking sinkers.

2. Yarn sinking: The sinkers fall down between the needles, with the yarn held in the Sinker
throats. Depth of sinking determines the loop length, i.e, the yarn length used to form a
knitted loop.

3. Under lapping: The yarn laid on the needle stems is withdrawn by the sinkers in direction
of needle hooks and under the needle beards
4. Pressing: Now, the needle beard is immersed in the needle groove by a presser disc. In this
way the fed yarn is closed in the needle hook.

5. Landing: The knitted fabric resting on the needle stems at the needle bed is now pushed
by cast-off sinkers towards the pressed needle beards, and the fabric loops (called old loops)
land on the beards.

6. Joining and Casting-off: After passing the presser disc, the cast-off sinkers push further
the knitted fabric towards the tips of the needles. At the same time the kinking sinkers leave
the kinked yarn and the cast-off sinkers push the old loops off the needles on to the kinked
lengths of yarn.

7. Clearing: At this stage the newly formed loops are pushed back along the needle stems,
towards the needle bed; the knitted fabric enlarged by a new course of knitted loops, is drawn
down by means of a take-down mechanism, and the process of loop formation may be started
again.

KNITTING ACTION OF COMPOUND NEEDLE

1. Run-in: The held loop is shown on the needle stem in the run in position

2. feeding: The hook and tongue element have upward to that a new yarn maybe presented to
the hook and hence feeding occurs.
3. Landing : The tongue and the hook closed and the new loop is in the hook and the needle
going downward.

5. Loop pulling, and knock-over: Both elements descends, although at different varieties
which causes the tongue to close the hook. Thus the held loop is free to leave the needle,
knock-over and loop pulling occurs. The needle now returns to the running position to
complete the cycle.

BASIC WEFT KNITTED STRUCTURES

PLAIN KNIT OR SINGLE JERSEY

If a weft knitted fabric has one side consisting only of face stitches, and the opposite side
consisting of back stitches, then it is described as a plain knitted fabric. It is also frequently
referred to as a single jersey fabric (single fabric). Plain knitted fabrics are produced by using
one linear array of needles. As such all the stitches are meshed in one direction. These fabrics
tend to roll at their edges. They roll from their technical back towards the technical front at
the top and lower edges. They also roll from their technical front towards the technical back
at their selvedges (the self-finished left and right-hand edges of the fabric). The structure is
extensible in both lateral and longitudinal directions, but the lateral extension is
approximately twice that of the longitudinal extension.
Characteristics

 Stretch crosswise and lengthwise

 Stretches more in the crosswise
 Tend to run or ladder if stitch breaks
 Fabric less stable and curls when cut
 Special finishes counteract curling and improve stability
 Highest machine productivity

RIB

If on both sides of a relaxed weft knitted fabric only face stitches are visible, then it is
referred to as a rib knitted fabric. It is produced by meshing the stitches in adjacent wales in
opposite directions.. As such these fabrics are also known as double jersey or double face
fabrics. When the fabric is stretched widthwise, both sides of the fabric show alternately face
and reverse stitches in each course. Once the fabric is released, it shrinks in its width, thus
hiding the reverse stitches between the face stitches. These fabrics do not curl at their edges.
The simplest rib structure is 1 x 1 rib shown on the right (click on a thumbnail to view an
interactive 3D image and examine the structure). The longitudinal extensibility of the rib
structure equals that of a plain knitted structure. The geometry of the yarn path influences the
elastic behavior of the knitted structures. The change of direction of the interloping of the
stitches of neighboring wales (cross-over points) results in the wales of a rib knitted structure
closing up. This gives rib structures better widthwise stretch properties than other basic
knitted structures.

Characteristics

 Also called as double jerseys fabric

 Its reversible fabric
 More elastic than jersey knits
  More thicker than jersey knits
 More stretch crosswise than lengthwise
 Edges do not curl
 Very stable
 Running and laddering still a problem
 More expensive to produce
 Next highest machine productivity

PURL KNIT

If on both sides of a relaxed weft knitted fabric only reverse stitches are visible, then this is
defined as a purl knitted fabric. Purl fabrics are produced by meshing the stitches in adjacent
courses in opposite directions either by using special latch needles with two needle hooks or
by transferring the fabric from bed to bed between each knitting action. When the fabric is
stretched lengthwise, then the face stitches are visible. The fabric shrinks more in the
direction of wales, and once it is released, it relaxes to hide the face stitches between the
courses. The interloping of the stitches of adjacent courses in opposite directions results in
the courses of a purl knitted structure closing up. The structure, therefore, has a large
longitudinal extensibility.

Characteristics

 Slowest of the knitting machines

 Both side similar appearance
 More expensive
 Good stretch in all direction
 Stretches out of shape easily
 Crosswise stretch less than a jersey knit
 Thicker than jersey knits
 Does not curl
 Can be unrove from either end
INTERLOCK

Interlock knitted structures could be considered as a combination of two rib knitted

structures. The reverse stitches of one rib knitted structure are covered by the face stitches of
the second rib knitted structure. On both sides of the fabric, therefore, only face stitches are
visible, and it is difficult to detect the reverse stitches even when the fabric is stretched
widthwise. The geometry of the yarn path influences the stretch behavior of the knitted
fabrics. The change of direction of the meshing of the stitches in adjacent wales results in the
wales of a rib knitted fabric closing up giving it better stretch properties widthwise as
opposed to other basic knitted structures. The combination of two rib knitted structures in the
interlock structure gives very little or no room at all for the wales or courses to close up and
therefore the interlock fabrics shows relatively poor stretch properties in both directions.

Characteristics

 Reversible
 It does not curl
 Firmer fabric
 Less extensible as compared to other jersey fabrics
 Heavier and thicker as compare to rib
 It unrove from the course knitted the last
 Costlier fabric
 Better insulator
There are the four primary stitches that make up most weft-knit fabrics:

1.knit or plain stitch

2. Purl stitch

3. Miss (or skip) stitch

4. Tuck stitch.

a) Knit or plain stitch

When the needle is raised sufficiently high by the camming action to obtain the yarn in the
hooked portion of the needle and the old loop is below the latch [i.e, the old loop is cleared],
a knit stitch will be formed as the needle descends. A knitted loop stitch is produced when a
needle receives a new loop and knocks over the old loop that it held from the previous
knitting cycle.

b) 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.
 The tuck loop thus assumes an inverted V or U-shaped configuration.
 The head of the tuck is visible on the reverse of the stitch.
 The side limbs of tuck loops thus tend to show through onto the face between adjacent
wales.
 Tuck stitch structures show a faint diagonal line effect on their surface.
 In analysis, a tuck stitch is identified by the fact that its head is released as a hump
shape immediately the needle loop above it is withdrawn.
 A knitted loop would be required to be separately withdrawn.
c) Miss stitch(float stitch)

 A float stitch or welt stitch is composed of a held loop, one or more float loops and
knitted loops.
 It is produced when a needle holding its old loop fails to receive the new yarn that
passes, as a float loop to the back of the needle.
 The float stitch shows the missed yarn floating freely on the reverse side of the held
loop.
 The float extends from the base of one knitted or tucked loop to the next, and is
notated by an empty square.
 The held loop extends into the courses above until a knitted loop is indicated in that
wale.
 A single float stitch has the appearance of a U-shape on the reverse of the stitch.
 Float stitch fabrics are narrower than equivalent all-knit fabrics.
 As the wales are drawn closer together by the floats, thus reducing width-wise
elasticity and improving fabric stability.
 The maximum number of successive floats on one needle is four.
 Six adjacent needles are usually the maximum number for a continuous float.
 A floating thread is useful for hiding an unwanted colored yarn behind the face loop
of a selected color.
 The miss stitch can occur accidentally as a fault due to incorrectly set yarn feeders.