Basic
knitted fabric
Knitted fabric is a textile that results from knitting, the process of inter-looping of yarns or inter-meshing of loops. Its properties are distinct from woven fabric in that it is more flexible and can be more readily constructed into smaller pi ...
s include stocking stitch, reverse stocking stitch, garter stitch, seed stitch, faggoting, and tricot. In some cases, these fabrics appear differently on the
right side
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
(as seen when making the stitch) than on the
wrong side (as seen from the other side, when the work is turned).
Stockinette/stocking stitch and reverse stockinette stitch
Stocking stitch (in US, stockinette stitch) is the most basic knitted fabric; every stitch (as seen from the
right side
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
) is a knit stitch.
In the
round
Round or rounds may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere
* Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...
, stocking stitch is produced by knitting every stitch; by contrast, in the flat, stocking stitch is produced by knitting and purling alternate rows.
Stocking-stitch fabric is very smooth and each column ("wale") resembles a stacked set of "V"'s. It has a strong tendency to curl horizontally and vertically because of the
asymmetry
Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...
of its faces.
Reverse stocking stitch is produced in the same way as stocking, except that the purl stitches are done on the
right side
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
and the knit stitches on the
wrong side.
In the
round
Round or rounds may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere
* Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...
, reverse stocking stitch is produced by
purling every stitch.
File:Stockinette example front.JPG, Stockinette stitch front
File:Stockinette example back.JPG, Back of stockinette stitch
Basic knitted fabrics include stocking stitch, reverse stocking stitch, garter stitch, seed stitch, faggoting, and tricot. In some cases, these fabrics appear differently on the right side (as seen when making the stitch) than on the wrong side ...
, also same appearance as reverse stockinette stitch
Basic knitted fabrics include stocking stitch, reverse stocking stitch, garter stitch, seed stitch, faggoting, and tricot. In some cases, these fabrics appear differently on the right side (as seen when making the stitch) than on the wrong side ...
Garter stitch
Garter stitch is the most basic form of
welting (as seen from the
right side
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
). In the
round
Round or rounds may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere
* Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...
, garter stitch is produced by knitting and purling alternate rounds. By contrast, in the flat, garter stitch is produced by knitting every stitch (or purling every stitch, though this is much less common, and often referred to as 'reverse garter stitch').
In garter-stitch fabrics, the "purl" rows stand out from the "knit" rows ( a similar effect is used in
shadow knitting
Illusion knitting or shadow knitting is a form of textile art, in which the knitting is viewed as simply narrow stripes from one angle, and as an image when viewed from another angle. Illusion knitting has been recognised as an art form since ...
). Together, they form little horizontal ridges. Garter-stitch fabric has significant lengthwise
elasticity
Elasticity often refers to:
*Elasticity (physics), continuum mechanics of bodies that deform reversibly under stress
Elasticity may also refer to:
Information technology
* Elasticity (data store), the flexibility of the data model and the cl ...
and little tendency to curl, due to the
symmetry
Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definit ...
of its faces.
Seed/moss stitch
Seed stitch is the most basic form of a
basketweave pattern; knit and purl stitches alternate in every column ("wale") ''and'' every row ("course"). In other words, every knit stitch is flanked on all four sides (left and right, top and bottom) by purl stitches, and vice versa. Moss stitch (also called Irish/American moss stitch) is created by alternating between knit and purl stitches across every row as well. Here, however, there are always two knit stitches stacked upon each other in every column and they are flanked by two purl stitches on all four sides.
Seed/moss-stitch fabrics lie flat; the symmetry of their two faces prevents them from curling to one side or the other. Hence, it makes an excellent choice for edging, e.g., the central edges of a cardigan. However, seed stitch is "nubbly", not nearly as smooth as stockinette/stocking stitch.
Faggoting
![Knitting faggoting 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Knitting_faggoting_001.jpg)
Faggoting is a variation of
lace knitting
Lace knitting is a style of knitting characterized by stable "holes" in the fabric arranged with consideration of aesthetic value. Lace is sometimes considered the pinnacle of knitting, because of its complexity and because woven fabrics cannot ea ...
, in which every stitch is a
yarn over
In knitting, a yarn over is technique in which the yarn is passed over the right-hand knitting needle. In general, the new loop is knitted on the next row, either by itself (producing a hole) or together with an adjacent stitch (e.g., in "tucked" ...
or a
decrease. There are several types of faggoting, but all are an extremely open
lace
Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...
similar to
netting
In law, set-off or netting are legal techniques applied between persons or businesses with mutual rights and liabilities, replacing gross positions with net positions. It permits the rights to be used to discharge the liabilities where cross cla ...
.
Like most lace fabrics, faggoting has little structural strength and deforms easily, so it has little tendency to curl despite being asymmetrical. Faggoting is stretchy and open, and most faggoting stitches look the same on both sides, making them ideal for garments like lacy scarves or stockings.
Tricot knitting
Tricot is a special case of
warp knitting
Warp knitting is defined as a loop-forming process in which the yarn is fed into the knitting zone, parallel to the fabric selvage. It forms vertical loops in one course and then moves diagonally to knit the next course. Thus the yarns zigzag fro ...
, in which the yarn zigzags vertically, following a single ''column'' ("wale") of knitting, rather than a single ''row'' ("course"), as is customary. Tricot and its relatives are very resistant to runs, and are commonly used in
lingerie
Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...
.
Other basic fabrics
Other classes of basic knitted fabrics include
ribbing Ribbing is a Swedish noble family of medieval origin. which may refer to:
*Adolph Ribbing (1765–1843), Swedish count and politician who took part in the regicide of Gustav III in 1792
*Beata Rosenhane (1638–1674, spouse of Baron Erik Ribbing), ...
,
welting, and
cables
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
.
See also
*
Pointelle
Pointelle is a knit fabric pattern with tiny holes typically in the shape of chevrons; the structure is geometric in shape and with repeated design similar to lace. It is a fine knit pattern with small open spaces, subtle stripe, and floral effect ...
*
Ponte (Fabric)
Ponte is a thick, double knit fabric design produced on double jersey ( Rib or Interlock) knitting machines. It is one of the firm, stable structures of knits with a subtle sheen. This fabric is heavier and thicker than a regular jersey . As with ...
References
* June Hemmons Hiatt (1988) ''The Principles of Knitting'', Simon and Schuster, pp. 18–20. .
*
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Knitting stitches