Knitting
nit'ting, the art of forming a fabric by means of loops with a single thread. It differs from weaving in that only one thread is used. Crocheting, also, is produced by looping a single thread, the difference being that in crochet work each loop is drawn through the preceding loop while in knitting a series of loops is drawn through the preceding series. Ribbed knitting, particularly desirable on account of its elasticity, is produced by alternating "plain" stitches with those taken backward, or as if the wrong side of the fabric were held toward the knitter. The origin of knitting is much later than that of weaving, and is credited to Scotland. It dates from about the time of the discovery of America. Caps, that is to say, Scotch bonnets, were knit for some time before stockings and mittens were undertaken. At the present time there are said to be over 5,000 knit articles in the trade. At first the chief material was woolen yarn. Silk, cotton, and wool are now popular materials.
Knitting by hand is done with steel wires, known as knitting needles. Knitting was a popular domestic art for some centuries. It is still practiced largely in many rural communities. Both men and women in Switzerland knit as they drive their cattle to pasture or herd them. A similar practice prevails in some parts of Norway, Scotland, and Germany. The women of New England have been famous knitters.
It is interesting to note that, while the resulting fabric is identical, the German method of hand knitting differs from that commonly employed by the Scottish women. By the Scottish method, common also in America, the yarn is held about the fingers of the right hand. The needle or wire in the right hand is thrust into a loop on the left hand needle. The yarn is thrown between the needles by the right forefinger and the new loop drawn through with the right hand needle. In German knitting, the yarn is held by the left hand fingers. It is first thrown over the left hand wire, then by one movement the right hand needle is inserted in the loop on the left hand needle and draws out the new loop. The latter method is more rapid unless it is desirable to produce an especially close fabric, in which case the yarn must be drawn too tightly to admit of the new loop being taken through the loop on the left hand needle at one movement.
Knitting by hand has given way, however, to knitting machines. A stocking frame was invented by Rev. William Lee of Nottingham, England, in 1589,--nearly three centuries before the invention of the sewing machine. There are many varieties of knitting machines in use. The circular machine produces a tubular web of various sizes. If undergarments are made on this machine they must be cut, shaped, and sewed after the knitting process is completed. The fashioning or stockinet machine knits a flat strip which may be narrowed or widened at any point. The parts of garments may be produced on this and sewed together after leaving the machine. A special "over-lock stitch" machine is in use for sewing the parts of garments together which produces as smooth and strong a seam as can be sewn by hand. One sewing machine is in use in the manufacture of hosiery and knit goods to every three knitting machines. Two different machines are required for knitting plain and ribbed fabrics. As many as five machines are necessary sometimes to the production of one garment.
The first power knitting machine used in the world was put in operation in 1832 at Cohoes, New York. Knitting as a commercial industry was introduced in the United States at Germantown in 1698 by a colony of skilled hand knitters from Hanover. This suburb of Philadelphia is still an important American center of hosiery manufacture. Brooklyn, Cohoes, Amsterdam, and Utica, New York, are important centers. The products of the hosiery and knit goods manufactories of the United States reached in 1905 a value of $136,558,139. Of this New York state produced about one-third, Pennsylvania about one-fourth. Woolen, cotton, silk, jute, merino, and other vegetable fibers are used in the manufacture of these goods. The use of cotton in their production seems to be increasing. In 1905 ten pairs of cotton hose were produced to one pair of any other material.
See Weaving; Crocheting