FABRIC KNITTING

Knitted fabrics are made by interloping of yarns in contrast to the woven fabrics
which are made by interlacing of yarns. Because of these loops, knitted fabrics have
more stretch than woven fabrics and hence are more comfortable to wear. The
knitted loops in the knitted fabric are referred to as stitches.
There are machines used called knitting machines. Loops are created by the
needles in the knitting re machine.
Weft knit --- In this type of knit, the yarns make loop with another yarn along the
width of the fabric. Sweaters and light weight jerseys are examples of weft knit. All
stitches in one course are made up of one yarn. The hand knitted sweaters are weft
knit.
Warp knit in this knit, the yarns make loop with another yarn along the length.
Tricot is a warp knit fabric.
Machines used for each type the two knits are different. Warp knit machines have
warp beams.
Wales and courses --- the vertical Columns in the knitted fabric are called wales.
Horizontal rows in the knitted fabric are called course.
Each wale in the knitted fabric is produced by its own needle. Likewise if a knitted
fabric has 700 wales, it means 700 needles have been used. Number of
wales(density) is determined by the number of needles used per inch.
Number of courses per inch depend on the height of the loop. Larger the height of
the loop, lesser the number of course per inch.
Knitting needles --- there are three main type of needles used for knitting. These are
latch needle (for weft knits), spring beard needle and compound needle (for warp
knits).
Cut and gauge --- these are knitting machine related informations that relate to the
fineness or coarseness of the knitted fabric. The term cut is used in case of weft
knitting machine. This is the number of needle in one inch of the machine. The
needles are housed in a device called slots. Cut is the number of slots in one inch of
the machine. This also refers to the number of wales in one inch of the knitted fabric
since one wale is looped by one needle. A six cut fabric will have six wales in one
inch of the fabric whereas an eight cut machine will produce eight wales in one inch
of the fabric there for it will be more densely knitted than the six cut fabric. Higher
the cut of the machine, more densely knitted fabric it will produce.
Cut and gauge of a machine are fixed and cannot be adjusted.
The term gauge is majorly used in weft knitted hosiery products. It is the number of
needle in one inch of the machine. However the standards differ depending the
quality of the knitted fabric. In case of full fashion knit, it is the number of needle in
1.5 inch of the machine, in case of raschel knit fabrics, it is the number of needles in
2 inch of the machine.The wales/inch depends on the below factors
Thickness of the yarn
The stitch type of the knitted fabric
If the fabric has been stretched after knitting, the wales per inch will reduce.
Knit stitch type

 Plain stitch it is simplest type of knitting stitch type. Normal hosiery fabrics
are mode of this stitch type.
Purl knit the back side of the plain knit fabric is purl knit stitch. It is also
called reverse knit.
Miss stitch it is created by deactivating one or more needle. The needle
does not form a loop and there are floats on the back side of the fabric. It is
also called float knit. The miss stich can reduce the fabric weight, stretch, and
the width.
Tuck stitch this type of stitch is formed by making one loop over the other.
The needle forms repeatd loops while holding one loop. His way the wales get
elongated. The elongation can for for two more than 2 wales. These stitch
types increase the fabric weight, and thickness.
Flat knit and circular knit a flat knitting machine produces knit fabric in flat or
open width form while a circular knit fabric produces fabric in tubular form. The
tubular fabrics are later cut flat opened.
The basic fabric type in weft knitting are plain stitch jersey, the rib and the purl
stitch fabric. All weft knit fabrics are made of these basic stitches only.
Jersey knits these are the most basic type of plain stitches. All loops are
drawn in one direction and the face and back is easily recognizable. The
face has a smooth hand feel while the back has textured effect.
These knits have a tendency to curl at the edges.
This problem is removed during finishing process
The face and back is easily recognizable due to differential
hand feel.
These knits stretch equally in both the direction.
All the wales are created by plain stitch only.
These knits can be produced on flat as well as circular
machines.
Only one set of needle is required to produce the jersey knits.
Rib knit fabrics --- these fabrics are made by alternate Wales of plain stitch
and purl stitch. Each wale in this knit contains either all plain stitches or
all purl stitches.

Produced on special machines called rib knit machines.

A 2 by 2 rib is when there are 2 wales of plain stitch and 2 alternate
wales of purl stitck. A 1 by 1 rib is when there is one wale of purl
stitch and 1 alternate wale of plain stitch and so on.
This machine requires two set of needles for each stitch type.
Can be produced on flat as well as circular machines.
The rate of production slower than the jersey knits.
This knit stretches more in the width direction
Do not curl at the edge as jersey knits.
Used for cuffs and collars

 Purl knit fabrics these fabrics have alternate line of plain and purl stitch
In the course direction( along the width). These are produced on special
machines called purl knit machines. All the stitches in one course are
either plain or purl stitches.

Each wale contains both plain and purl stitch.

In one course there in only one type of stitch.
1 by 1 purl is when there is one row of plain stitch and alternate
row of purl stitch. A 2 by 2 purl is when two rows are plain and
another two are purl and so on.
The purl knit machines are also called links and links machine
and the fabric is sometime called the same.
This type of machine uses two set of needle or one needle with
two hooks (double headed latch needle).
The rate of production is lowest of all.
Links to likns is capable of producing the widest variety. It can
produce all the three type of knits.
These knits can be produces flat or circular.
Does not have tendency to curl
Has more stretch in length wise direction
Used in infant wear, fancy garments.

Special types of weft knit fabric -- Interlock knits these are made on a special machine called interlock
machine. These are variation of the rib knit fabric. In rib knit fabric, the
back side of a plain stitch wale will have purl stitch while in interlock
fabrics, the front and back of the wale is same. These can be identified by
stretching the upper most part of the fabric along the width. As compared
to the rib knits, these are smoother in hand feel. Also these are more
expensive than the rib knit fabrics.
Fully- fashioned knits --- these are produced on flat knit machines. The
speciality is that these are not cut and sew fabric but garments without
any stitched seam. The seams of the garment is joined in the process of
knitting by changing the diection of the wales being formed. Due to the
change in the direction of the wales, these garments have rised knots and
holes called the fashion marks. Fully fashions knits are consider high class
and are very expensive.
High pile knits this knits are produces by inserting thick yarn sliver
during the knitting process. These are special type of jersey knits. These
slivers are caught in between the stitches and make the pile on the kniited
fabric surface. These piles are then brushed to produce the hairy surface
which is called fur. The artificial animal prints are then printed on these fur
by screen printing machines. Any type of natural or man made fiber can
be used to make the piles. Acrylic is the most commonly used fiber.
The back of an artificial fur is has knitted structure and that of a natural
fur will have animal skin at the back. This type of fabric require special
care during storage so that the pile does not get distorted. These are
used in children snow suit, coat linings, pillow cover etc.

 Knitted terry --- these are produced by feeding two yarns in the knitting machine.
These yarns are place on over the other. One yarn makes the ground and the other
makes the pile. This process is called plating. The upper yarn is then pulled out by
machine and forms the loop. Knitted terry is not as durable as the woven ones.
These are used in beach wears.

Knitted velour it made in the same way as knitted terry. The loops are
then cut ( Shearing) and brushed and the surface becomes hairy. These have
a similar handfeel as velveteen but these are more flexible. It is used in
dresses.

Warp knit fabrics --- warp knit fabric are normally produced on flat

knitting machine. In this type of knit, the stitches run along the length of the
fabric. The yarns form a vertical loop in one course and then move diagonally
down to the next course in the next wale. Yarn run zig zag along the length of
the fabric. Warp beams are used for this type of knitting on which the warp
yarns are mounted. The back of warp knit fabric have slightly angled
horizontal floats called laps.
Main varieties of warp knit fabric are:

Tricot knits fine smooth filament yarns are used in this type of knits. The

tricot machines are very fast in production and the fabric produced are
uniform in appearance throughout the surface (Stitches per inch, weight of
the fabric).
Tricot knitting machine is a flat bed machine which can produce different
width of the fabric.
Ex--A 168 inch width fabric having 30 cut will have 168*30=5040 needles
and same number of warp yarns. Each warp yarn is passed through a yarn
guide and stitched by one needle. All the 5040 needles move at the same
time and make one stitch along the course in one complete cycle of needle
movement. A modern tricot knitting machine operates as speedily as 1000
cycles per minute. Therefore in one minute, 1000 courses will be made.
The interloping of one wale with other is done by the yarns guide. Yarn guide
are metal plate with hole in it through which the yarn passes. The yarns
guide( mounted on a guide bar) moves sideways ( left to right). By its
movement, it guides the warp yarn to a new needle and hence wales are
looped together. The horizontal floats on the back of the fabric are due to this
movement of the yarn guide. Several design variations can be created by
controlling the movement of the yarn guides.
There can be more than one yarn guide bars in a machine. The guide bars act
similar to harness in weaving looms.
The movement of guide bars is controlled by pattern wheels. These are
below the guide bars and rotate.
Setting a tricot machine for specific use is a tedious process. Weft knitting
machines are more rapidly adjusted to new designs.
Types of tricot fabric
Tricot jersey machine has two guide bars. Acetate, nylon and
polyester filaments are most commonly used. End use is lingerie,
loungewear, sleep wear, and other outerwear etc.

 Satin tricot It is a variation of jersey tricot characterized by longer

floats. It has good width wise stretch property and its non curling at the
edge.
Brushed tricot the long floats at the back of the fabric are brushed
and made fur like.often made up of nylon or acetate fabric and used in
sleep wear.
.
Raschel fabric ---the difference between tricot and raschel is the use of
knitting needle. In tricot knitting, spring beard, latch or compound needles
are used while in raschel knitting, latch needles are used. Also raschel
knitting machines have more number of guide bars. Due to large number of
guide bars, raschel knits can be of a wide variety and design. Waffle knit is an
example of raschel knitting. many lace fabric are also raschel knits. Setting
the machine for a new design is a complex and time consuming process.
Hence long production quantity is required to make production economically
feasible.
Distinguishing between raschel and tricot knitted fabric is a complicated
process. On surface appearance, the raschel knitted fabrics have thick yarns,
complicated designs, wide space opening( as in case of lace fabrics). On the
other hand, the tricot fabrics use fine yarns and the designs are simple
geometric in nature.
Comparison between tricot and raschel fabric --- tricot knitting machine
uses spring beard, latch or compound needle whereas raschel knitting
machine uses only latch needles.
The number of guide bars in the tricot fabric is between 2 to 4 whereas in
raschel, it is between 4 to 48.
The speed of tricot machine is higher than the raschel machine.
Tricot knitting uses fine denier filament or textured filament yarns whereas
raschel knitting uses both filament and spun yarn of any texture.
Design produced are simple in tricot machine whereas raschel machine can
produce more complicated designs.
Tricot knitting produces fabric for end use as sleepwear, lingerie, skirt and
dresses, sportswear and home furnishing. Raschel knitting produces laces
used as trims, net fabrics, thermal knits and blankets etc.
Comparison of weft knit and warps knit weft knit fabrics unravel easily
which is not the case with warp knit fabrics.
Weft knitting can be done on circular as well as flat knitting machines
whereas warp knitting can be done on flat machines only.
Weft knitting allows for rapid change in design whereas in warp knit, due to
the use of warp beam, fast design change is not possible.
Weft knits have more stretch in both direction as compared to warp knits.
Weft knitting machines can produce fabric yardage as well as finished
garments ( full fashion knits) whereas warp knits can only produce fabric
yardages.

Laid- in yarns --- these are extra set of yarns that do not form the loop but
are inserted in the stitches. This is done to provide extra cover to fabric.
Napping is also done on these type of fabrics without damaging the strength
of the base fabric. When extra yarns run lengthwise in warp knit and come
from a separate beam, these are called inlay yarns. If these yarns are
inserted along the width, the fabric is called weft insertion knit.
Difference between woven and knitted fabrics. --1. Knitted fabrics are more elastic and easily adopt to the body shape as
compared to the woven fabrics which are more rigid in nature.
2. Knitted fabrics recover from wrinkle more easily than the woven
fabrics. Sharp crease formation is not possible in knitted fabrics.
3. In weft knit fabrics, the design can be done more quickly as compare to
warp knit or woven fabrics.
4. Knitted fabric provide good cover in still air but in outdoor wind, a
closely woven fabric is required. That why sweater are good insulators
indoor but in outdoor conditions, jackets are required.
5. Knitted fabric tend to elongate and deform. Knitted fabric should be
hanged to dry. The correct method is lay flat drying. Due to this reason,
knitted fabric are left laid falt for few hours on the cutting table before
actually cutting the fabric.
Effect of wale and course on the knitted fabric property --1. Fabric with higher number of wales per inch will stretch less( more
stable and rigid) in the width wise direction. It will also tend to shrink
less along the width.
2. Fabric with higher number of courses per inch will be more stiff and will
stretch less along the length of the fabric. It will also tend to shrink less
along the length.
3. The fabric with high wales as well as course per inch will very stiff in
both the direction and will stretch little in both the direction. Such
fabrics will have higher cover. These fabrics will not mould easily as
per the body shape.
4. The fabric with fewer wales and course per inch will be less wrinkle
resistant than the stiffer one but will be more flexible in terms of
adjusting to the body shape..
Defects in knitted fabrics. --- The defect in the knitted fabric can be due to
the use of faulty yarn or due to improper setting of the machine.
1. Barre --- it is a band or streak in the horizontal direction. It appears
due the use of yarn of different count, different shrinkage of the yarns,
different color and luster of the yarn.

2. Boardy --- this defect makes the handfeel of the fabric very harsh and
stiff. it happens because of stitches being too tight or yarns being too
large.
3. Bowing --- bowing appears as a curved line effect across the width of
the fabric. The grain line are not straight and perpendicular to each
other but are at curved position. This happens due to faulty take up
mechanism ( in case of warp knitting ) or uneven stretching of the
fabric during wet processings.
4. Broken filament --- It is caused by broken filaments or filaments shifted
too close to each other.

5. Cockled fabric this type of fabrics pucker and does not lay flat on the
cutting table. It happens due to uneven stitches or uneven yarn size.
6. Drop stitches it is an unknitted stitch . it is caused by either the stitch
being too loose or the yarn carrier being not set properly.
7. Floats these are unwanted miss stitches. It happens due to the
needle not raising to the proper height to receive the new yarn.
8. Needle line it appears as a length wise line on the fabric surface. It
happens due to some wale being too tight or too loose than the other
due to improper adjustment of the needle.
9. Press-off ---- it appears as a large hole in the fabric. It happens due to
yarn brakage.

10.Run or ladder --- these are a series of dropped stitches in the fabric.
11.Skewing in this defect, the straight grain line across the fabric are not
perpendicular to the edge of the fabric.
12.Sleazy --- the fabric appears flimsy and very sheer due to faulty
construction of the knitting .
13.Stop mark --- it happens due to the knitting machine being stopped in
the middle of production. It appears a horizontal line and happens due
to uneven tension of the yarn.