Encyclopedia
Knitting is one of several ways to turn
thread or yarn into
cloth . Similar to
crochet, knitting consists of loops pulled through other loops; knitting differs from crochet in that multiple loops are "active". The active loops are held on a
knitting needle until another loop can be passed through them.
There are two varieties of knitting, weft knitting and warp knitting. A weft-knitted
fabric consists of
horizontal parallel
courses of yarn and requires only a single yarn. By contrast, warp knitting requires one yarn for every stitch in the row ; these yarns make
vertical parallel
wales. Warp knitting is resistant to runs, and is common in
lingerie fabric, e.g., tricot.
Warp knitting is generally done by machine, whereas weft knitting may be done by machine or by hand.
Knitting machines use a different mechanical system to produce results nearly identical to those produced by hand-knitting.
Hand knitted fabrics are usually begun by forming a base series of twisted loops of yarn on a
knitting needle . To form a new stitch, a second knitting needle is used to reach through each loop in succession to pull a loop of yarn back through the loop. Work can proceed in the round or by going back and forth in rows .
History and culture
The earliest definite examples of knitting date from
Europe and
Egypt in the
14th century, although some claim that the technology dates back into centuries
BCE. The first knitting trade guild was started in
Paris in 1527, establishing the occupation as male-dominated for centuries to come. Knitting became a household occupation with the growing popularity of knitted
stockings and by the end of the
1600s, one to two million pairs of stockings per year were exported from Britain to other parts of Europe.
With the invention of the
knitting machine, knitting "by hand" became a useful but nonessential craft, and its practitioners increasingly female. Similar to quilting, spinning, and needlepoint, knitting became a social activity, performed while the crafters converse among themselves.
Hand-knitting has gone in and out of fashion many times in the last two centuries, and at the turn of the 21st century it is enjoying a revival. According to the industry group Craft Yarn Council of America, the number of women knitters in the
USA aged 25 to 35 increased 150% in the two years between 2002 and 2004. Modern knitters come from all ages, walks of life, and genders; a social stigma against male knitters has been rapidly disappearing, and most knitting circles now sport at least a few men.
Properties of knit fabrics
The
topology of a knit fabric is relatively complex. Unlike
woven fabrics, where strands usually run straight horizontally and vertically, yarn that has been knit follows a loopy path along its row, as with the red strand in this diagram:
The loops of one row have all been pulled through the loops of the row below it.
Because there is no single straight line of yarn anywhere in the pattern, a knit piece will be stretchy in all directions . This stretchiness, unavailable from woven fabrics , is what originally made knitting so suitable for stockings. Many modern stretchy garments, even as they rely on elastic synthetic materials for some stretch, also achieve at least some of their stretch through knit patterns.
The basic knit fabric has a definite right side and wrong side. On the right side, the visible portions of the loops are the verticals connecting two rows, arranged in a grid of V shapes. On the wrong side, the ends of the loops are visible, both the tops and bottoms, creating a much more bumpy texture sometimes called
reverse stockinette . Because the yarn holding rows together is all on the front, and the yarn holding side-by-side stitches together is all on the back, stockinette fabric has a strong tendency to curl toward the front on the top and bottom, and toward the back on the left and right side.
Stitches can be worked from either side, and many patterns are created by mixing regular knit stitches with the "wrong side" stitches, known as
purl stitches, either in columns , rows , or more complex patterns. Each such fabric has different properties: a garter stitch has much more vertical stretch, while ribbing stretches much more horizontally. Because of their front-back
symmetry, these two fabrics have little curl, making them popular as edging, even when their stretch properties are not desired.
Different combinations of knit and purl stitches, along with more advanced techniques, generate fabrics of considerably variable consistency, from gauzy to very dense, from highly stretchy to relatively stiff, from flat to tightly curled, and so on.
Process
A piece of knitting begins with the process of
casting on , which involves the initial creation of the stitches on the needle. Different methods of cast on are used for different effects; one may be stretchy enough for lace, while another provides a decorative edging.
Provisional cast ons are used when the knitting will continue in both directions from the cast on.
The body of a knitted piece may include plain stitches or a number of colour and textured patterns. It is sometimes claimed that there are as many methods of knitting as there are knitters, but most Western-style knitters follow either the
English style or the
Continental style. The number of active stitches remains the same as when cast on unless stitches are added or removed to shape the item.
Once the knitted piece is finished, the remaining live stitches are
cast off. Casting off loops the stitches across each other so they can be removed from the needle without unravelling the item. Although the mechanics are different from casting on, there are a similar variety of methods and choices to be made.
Typically, the final knitted garment will be made of several knitted pieces, with individual sections of the garment knit separately and then
sewn together once all the pieces have been completed. Seamless knitting, where a whole garment is knit as a single piece is also possible. Smaller items, such as socks and hats are usually knit in one piece on double pointed needles or circular needles.
Texture
The canonical default texture for a knit garment is that generated by the flat stockinette stitch—as seen, though very small, in machine-made stockings and
t-shirts—which is worked in the round as nothing but knit stitches, and worked flat as alternating rows of knit and purl. Other simple textures can be made with nothing but knit and purl stitches, including garter stitch, ribbing, and moss and seed stitches. Adding a "slip stitch" allows for a wide range of textures, including heel and linen stitches, and a number of more complicated patterns.
Some more advanced knitting techniques create a surprising variety of complex textures. Combining "yarn-over" increases with assorted decreases is key to lace knitting, a very open fabric resembling
lace. Changing the order of stitches from one row to the next, usually with the help of a cable needle or stitch holder, is key to cable knitting, producing an endless variety of cables, honeycombs, ropes, and other Aran sweater patterning.
Entrelac forms a rich checkerboard texture by knitting small squares, picking up their side edges, and knitting more squares to continue the piece.
The appearance of a garment is also affected by the
weight of the yarn, which describes the thickness of the spun fibre. The thicker the yarn, the more visible and apparent stitches will be; the thinner the yarn, the finer the texture.
Colour
Plenty of finished knitting projects never use more than a single colour of yarn, but there are many ways to work in multiple colours. Some yarns are dyed to be either
variegated or
self-striping . When knitting with yarns whose colours change, it is best to alternate between two different skeins of yarn, usually alternating every other row. This will allow the garment to have a random colour variation. Even with solid-colour yarn, the knitter can easily create horizontal stripes by changing yarn at the end of a row. More complicated techniques permit large fields of colour , busy small-scale patterns of colour , or both .
Even if the pattern is all a single colour—and perhaps especially then—it is important that the dye lot numbers match. Yarn is dyed in batches, or
lots, and within such a lot the colour will match nearly perfectly. Even a tightly-regulated factory dye process will not be able to exactly match the colour
between dye lots, though. They may appear identical on the skein, but when knit into a solid field of colour, the subtle change when the knitter switched skeins will become much more apparent. To control this, each dye lot is assigned a unique serial number, which is generally printed somewhere on the band around the skein.
Yarn with multiple shades of the same hue are called
ombre, while a yarn with multiple hues may be known as a given
colorway -- a green, red and yellow yarn might be dubbed the "Parrot Colorway" by its manufacturer.
Heathered yarns contain small amounts of fiber of different colours, while
tweed yarns may have greater amounts of different coloured fibers.
Style
There are many regional styles of knitted garments with long histories, such as
guernsey sweaters,
jerseys, and the already-mentioned aran sweaters and
Fair Isle patterning. These are discussed in the
history of knitting.
Materials
There is a vast variety of materials that knitters employ, including fibres from animals, plants, and synthetic materials.
Ultimately, however, there is no restriction as to what materials can be used to knit; anything that can be viewed as a long strand of something can be used as a sort of knitting yarn. Creative knitters have successfully used
ribbon,
plastic strips,
wire, raffia, crepe paper, string threaded with beads, and rope to fashion bags, bowls,
jewelry, household items, and works of art.
Animal and plant fibres
The classic knitting material is spun from the
wool of a sheep, although goat's fibre , rabbit fur , and
alpaca fibre are also very popular. Natural fibres such as these have the advantage of being slightly elastic and very breathable, while trapping a great deal of air, making for a fairly warm fabric. Some of the more expensive fibres, such as cashmere, are often blended with other types,
merino wool being very popular for its softness and fineness.
Other natural fibres that can be used for yarn include
silk, or vegetable fibers such as
linen and
cotton. These tend to be much less elastic than animal-fibre yarns, though they can be stronger in some cases. Given the cost of silk, it is often blended with other fibers, such as rayon, cotton and wool. Pure linen has virtually no elasticity so it is often blended with cotton, wool or acrylic. Cotton can be
mercerised to increase its elasticity and its resistance to pilling. Although more commonly used to manufacture knitting needles, bamboo is also spun into fibres. In any case, the finished product will be rather different from those made with woollen yarns.
Acrylic
A number of synthetic materials are also commonly made into yarn, chiefly acrylic. Acrylic yarn for a long time completely dominated the knitting market, and is still frequently the only available option at craft stores and other stores that do not specialise in knitting supplies. While many knitters are partial to the low cost of acrylic yarns, many others prefer the feel of natural fibers, both during the knitting process and in the final product. Unlike wool and other animal fibres, yarns with a high percentage of acrylic content cannot be blocked. 100% acrylic yarns are available, as are wool-acrylic blends in various proportions. Some other synthetics are available as well; yarn designed for use in socks frequently contains a small percentage of
nylon for increased durability, and numerous specialty yarns exist.
Novelty
A relatively recent trend in knitting yarn is the
novelty yarn. Novelty yarns have been on the market for a long time, but have enjoyed a revival as many new knitters learn to knit, and expect fun and dazzling materials to knit with. Novelty yarns, especially eyelash yarns, are also popular with new knitters because they can help cover uneven stitches and tension, and general bad knitting. There has been a dramatic increase in the amount, and in the different forms, in which novelty yarns can be found. Typically, novelty yarns arise from innovations in the spinning process. What could define a novelty yarn as opposed to "regular" yarn is the exaggeration in one or many of a regular fiber's characteristics; for example, some yarns are a bit fuzzy or hairy, but a novelty yarn might take that to an extreme, with yarns that have long hairs or metallic fuzz. Novelty yarns now come in all shapes and textures, and are frequently manufactured from synthetic materials. There are also yarns that are entirely metallic.
Industrial applications
Industrially, metal
wire is also knitted into a metal fabric for a wide range of uses including the filter material in
cafetieres,
catalytic converters for
cars and many other uses. These fabrics are usually manufactured on circular
knitting machines that would be recognised by conventional knitters as
sock machines.
See also
References
- Zimmermann, Elizabeth. . Knitting Without Tears. Simon and Schuster, New York.
- Thomas, Mary. . Mary Thomas's Knitting Book. Dover Publications. New York.
- Rutt, Richard . A history of handknitting. Interweave Press, Loveland, CO.
- Hiatt, June Hemmons. . The principles of knitting: Methods and techniques of hand knitting. Simon and Schuster, New York.
- Stoller, Debbie. Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook. Workman Publishing Company
External links
- : a detailed list of knitting-related web sites
Instructional sites
- : Step-by-step videos on knitting for beginners
- : with video instructions
- : Basic instructions with clear illustrations
- : Fiber/knitting events, articles, instructions, patterns
- : Knitting Abbreviations; Knitting Symbols; and free knitting patterns
Knitting organizations
- : Meet other knitters in your area
- : Resources for male knitters
- : Global listing of local SnB knitting groups
- : Global listing of local knitting groups
- : In-depth knitting yarn and book reviews, how-tos, and global knitting forum.
- : A UK-wide organisation, with many regional groups.
