Badr university

App. Arts
Textile Engineering department

Knitting Technology
First course
Lecture 2
B y: Dr. Eng. Nour afify

Knitting
Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create
a textile or fabric for use in many types of garments.
 Knitting creates multiple loops of yarn, called stitches, in a line or tube.
Knitting has multiple active stitches on the needle at one time. Knitted
fabric consists of a number of consecutive rows of intermeshing of
loops.
 As each row progresses, a newly created loop is pulled through one or
more loops from the prior row, placed on the gaining needle, and the
loops from the prior row are then pulled off the other needle.
 Knitting may be done by hand or by using a machine.
 Different types of yarns (fibre type, texture, and twist), needle sizes,
and stitch types may be used to achieve knitted fabrics with different
properties (color, texture, weight, heat retention, look, water
resistance, and/or integrity).
Hand Made Knitting
 Knitting Types (Classification )

 There are, in principle,

two broad classes of
knitting processes
namely
 WEFT KNITTING and
WARP KNITTING
Knitting Classification
 Essential Terms and Definitions of
Knitting Technology
 Kink of yarn:
 A length of yarn that has been bent into a shape appropriate
for its transformation into a weft knitted loop
 Knitted loop :
 A kink of yarn that is intermeshed at its base i.e. when
intermeshed two kink of yarn is called loop
 GSM :
 GSM is one kind of specification of fabric which is very important
for a textile engineer for understanding and production of knitted
fabric. In knitting fabric it is the main parameter. It is controlled
by loop length. GSM is directly proportional to the fabric
thickness. GSM depends on yarn count, density of needle, wales
per unit length and course per unit length
 Knitted stitch :
 Stitch is a kink of yarn that is intermeshed at its base and at its
top. The knitted stitch is the basic unit of intermeshing and
usually consists of three or more intermeshed loops, the
center loop having been drawn through the head of the lower
loop which had in turn been intermeshed through its head by
the loop which appears above it
 Top arc :
 The upper curved portion of the knitted loop is called top arc
 Bottom half-arc :
 The lower curved portion that constitutes in a weft knitted loop,

half of the connection to the adjacent loop in the same course .

 Legs or side limbs :
 The lateral parts of the knitted loop that connect
the top arc to the bottom half-arcs .
 Needle loop :
 The needle loop is the simplest unit of knitted
structure. Needle loop formed by the top arc and
the two legs of the weft knitted loop
 Needle loop = Top arc + Two legs
 Sinker loop :
 The yarn portion that connects two adjacent
needle loops belonging in the same knitted course.
Bottom arc also called sinker loop
 Stitch ‫تكوين الغرزة‬
‫والغرزة ىي الوحدة‬
‫األساسية المكونة‬
،‫للقماش وتتكون من‬
‫عروة األبالتين و‬
‫عروة اإلبرةفى األقمشة‬
‫السنجل جيرسى‬
‫وىي تعرف بأنيا‬
‫أصغر تكرار يمكن‬
‫بواسظتو تكوين قماش‬
‫تريكو‬

If the feet (c) of a loop lie above the binding points at the
base, and the arms (b) lie below then the loop is being viewed
from the TECHNICAL BACK side. If, on the other hand, the feet
(c) are below the binding points and the legs (b) are above,
then the TECHNICAL FRONT of the loop is being viewed
 Open loop :
 A knitted loop of which a thread enters and leaves at
the opposite sides without crossing over itself .
 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 .
 Knitted loop structure :
 The properties of a knitted structure are largely determined by
the interdependence of each stitch with its neighbors on either
side and above and below it. Knitted loops are arranged in
rows and columns roughly equivalent to the weft and warp of
woven structures termed “courses” and “wales” respectively
Deferent kinds of loops
 Course :
 A course is a predominantly horizontal row of loops
produced by adjacent needles during the same knitting cycle .

 In weft knitted fabrics a course is composed of yarn from a

single supply termed a course length.
 A pattern row is a horizontal row of cleared loops produced
by one bed of adjacent needles. In a plain weft knitted fabric
this is identical to a course but
 in more complex fabrics a pattern row may be composed of
two or more course lengths

 In warp knitting each loop in a course is normally composed

of a separate yarn .
 Wale :
 A wale is a predominantly vertical column of needle
loops produced by the same needle knitting at
successive knitting cycles and thus intermeshing each
new loop through the previous loop.
 In warp knitting
 a wale can be produced from the same yarn if a warp
guide laps around the same needle at successive
knitting cycles thus are making a pillar or chain stitch
lapping movement.
 Wales are joined to each other by the sinker loops or
under laps
 Stitch density :
 The term stitch density is frequently
used in knitting instead of a linear
measurement of courses or wales,
 it is the total number of needle loops in
a square area measurement such as a
square inch or square centimeter
 Stitch density = Wales per inch (wpi) x
Courses per inch (cpi
Comparison between courses and
wales in warp and weft knitting
 Weft knitting

In WEFT KNITTING,
the general direction of path of yarn is
across the length of fabric. This is
analogous to a pick of weft in weaving
process
Warp knitting
In WARP KNITTING
the general
direction of path
of yarn is along
the length of the
fabric, similar to
that of warp in
weaving.
‫‪.‬‬
‫‪the shape of course and wale in weft knitting‬‬

‫الصف‪:Course :‬‬
‫وىو مجموعة من الغرز تتشابك بعضيا‬
‫ببعض في اتجاه أفقي وموازية ألسظوانة‬
‫طي القماش‬
‫العمود ‪:WALE‬‬
‫هي مجموعة من الغرز‬
‫تتشابك مع بعضها البعض‬
‫في اتجاه رأسي وبزاوية قائمة على‬
‫اسظوانة طي القماش‬
‫شكل توضيحى للصف و العمود‬
The production process of knitted fabrics can be
represented by the following flow diagram. Both
warp and weft knitting processes are evidently
much simpler than the weaving process.
The first knitting machine was invented
in 1589 - incidentally 200 years prior to
French revolution - by Rev. William Lee
of Nottingham.

In hand knitting, yarn is looped around

pin (s) in the manner shown in
The earliest image of circular
knitting, from the 15th century
Weft knitting stitch