HAND KNITTING

INTRODUCTION knitting is the art of using yarn or thread to make fabric from interlock loops. hand knitting is apopular pasttime, producing items that an functional, economical, fashionable and fun to make. in addition, knitting HISTORY OF KNITTING

knitting is construction of a fabric made of interlocking loops of yarn means of needles. its origin has been traced as far back as the fourth. century b.c to sandle socks discovered in the middile, in the past , knitting has been the occupation of shepherds watching flocks, sailors whiling away the hours of long voyages during the age exploration.at certain times in history, only members of royalty allowed to wear knitted items. one of the knitted garments on display at victoria and albert museum in london is a handsome hand knitted silk which king charles i wore on the day of his beheading. knitting allience origin to weaving and to the netting and knotting of fishnets and snares apparently unknown in europe before the 15th cent.. when it began to praticed in Italy & Spain. the scolds claimed its invention & also introduction in France. Hand-knitting needles are of bones, wood, steel, ivory or celluloids. Two needles with heads are required for flat work; three or more, pointed at both ends, for tabular work such as hole and larger tabular work, a circular needle. The first knitting machine invented in England in 1589 by William Lee. was refused a patent by Queen Elizabeth on the grounds that t would curtail the work of hand knitters. Lee's machine, marketed in France, was the forerunner of the wrap and circular frames used after 1790; these in turn developed into the two modern type of power machines. the warp & weft. The spring beard needle of Lee's frame was supplemented in 1847 by Mathew Townsends latch needle, commonly used for coarse work. In 1864, William cotton patented a machine by which garments and the heels & the toes of history might be shaped. Automatic machines were first introduced in 1889. The basic stitches are the plain, puri, and rib. Either flatbed or circular machines may be used. The warp or the chain loom machine generally flatbed, builds vertical chains or wales, each having a separate yarn. The wales are tied together by zig zagging the yarns from needle to needle in the basic tricot or milanese stitches or variants of these. the warp knit fabric is runresistant but less elastic than the weft.

KNITTING NEEDLE & YARN USED FOR KNITTING

A knitting needle is a long stick or the rod used as a tool in manufacture of hand knitted fabric. The needle is used to reach through a knitting stitch in order to snag a bight of yarn and pull a length back through the stitch to form a new loop at the top of the current wale of stitches. The simplest requirements of knitting needles are that they must be smooth,thin & long, enough to reach through a stitch & strong enough nt to break while manipulatingthe bight of yarn. Knitting needles commonly used in pairs are the only essential tools for hand knitting. The most widely recoginized form of kniiting needle probably invented in the mid 19th century is usually called a straight needle. straight needles are narrowed nearly to a point at 1 end caped at the other with a knob or head, and are used almost exclusively for knitting flat to dimensional fabrics like rectangles & squares. The needles are popular because knob at the end of each needles prevents the

stitches from inadvertently falling off the needles. Fictional depictions knittng in movies, tv programmes, animations & comic strips almost always show kniiting done on straight needles. The oldest known knitting needles still very much in use, are doule pointed needles. They are generally used to form tabular( coiled) fabric such as socks & the bodies or sleeves of sweaters. As the name implies double pointed needles are tappered at both ends nearly to points. They are normally used in sets of four or five depicted in a number 14th century oil paintings, typically called Madonnas, depicting Mary knittings with double pointed needles (Rutt, 2003). Typical 21st century double pointed needles range from about 4 in. to 15 in. in length. Shorter needles are used for knitting socks and the fingers og gloves. Longer needles are used for nearly all other work, including sweaters, shawls and blankets. Modern knitting needles are made of bamboo, aluminium, wood, steel, plastic & casein. YARN Knitting yarns come in many colors and textures & are made from natural, sythetic & blended fibers. Wool & acrylic are warm and practical and the combinations of the two are specially formulated for easy washing. Constantly developing processes mean that new novelty yarn are always on the market. Yarns are classified according to weight- light, medium or heavy and by the numbers of threads or ply. Which are spun together to make the strand. Shetland lace is knitted form 2-ply wool which comes subtle Natural colors.

STEPS IN KNITTING The knitting process starts after accumalating the tools like knitting needle, wool & crochet needle if required for finishing the sample. The different steps in knitting are as follows:-

1. CASTING ON.

2. MAKING STITCHES WHICH ARE GENERALLY OF TWO TYPES - PURL STITCH , KNIT STITCH.

3. BINDING OFF.

Knitting is making fabric from interlocking loops of yarn. Loop counts as 1 stitch. A stitch is formed when a kniiting needle loop of yarn through another stitch on another needle. stitches are from 1 needle to other. the end result is a pliable, interlocked fabric. since all stitches and rows of stitches are linked the resulting fabric unravel if just 1 stitch is cut. The first row of any kniiting project is the "cast-on" row. This provides foundation for the stitches. The last row which finishes the loops so don't unravel, is called the "bind-off" or "cast-off" row.

CASTING ON knitting is worked on two needles and the fabric grows as the stitchs passed from one to the other the two most common ways of making initial row are the one needle and the two-needle method sometimes called the thumb method, is perhaps the easiest for begining and gives an elastic, hardwearing edge. Which thodsever techniques is chosen important to work with an even tension , or the stitches will be too

tight work. Both methods of casting on begins with a sip loop, which forms the stitch. 1. Making the slip knot: wrap the long end of the yarn around the short end. 2. Use the tip of the needle to lift the main strand through the loop. 3. Pull on the short end to tighten the slip knot. ONE NEEDLE METHOD: 1. Make a slip loop at the end of the yarn, a;;owing at least 30cm plus an extra 2.5cm for each stitch. Place the loop on the needle & hold in the right hand. Wrap the short end under & over the left fingers & hold securely in place with the thumb. 2. Insert the tip of the needle under the yarn between the first and the second fingers, then with the right hand, wrap the long end of the yarn under & over the needle. 3. Bring the needle & the yarn for forward, under the taut thread, pulling with the left hand to tighten the new stitch that has been made. 4. Repeat the process for the next stitch and continue until the required number of stitches has been made.

TWO NEEDLE METHOD:

Make a slip knot 30cm from the yarn & place on the needle. Insert the right needle through the loop from front to back. Hold the working yarn in the right hand, keeping the tension by passing under the middle two fingers and around the little finger. With the right hand, wrap yarn forward, under & over the right. This forms the new loop: draw it through the slip loop with the tip of the right needle. Pass the new loop on the left- hand needles, next to the slip loop.

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Insert the right needle through the front of the new stitch, wrap the yarn under & over the tip, then repeat the process to make another stitch continue until the required number of stitches has been made.

BASIC STITCHES OF KNITTING There are just two stitches knit & purl- which form the basis of all the knitting pattern. When a stitch is knitted, the loop lies at the back of the finish work so that the front of the stitch has a flat appearance; when a stitch purled the loop lies to the front of the work, so that a small raised line KNIT STITCH: 1. The working needle is held in the right hand, in the same way as the pencil. Maintaining tension by passing the yarn over the first finger, under the two middle fingers & loosely around the little finger. It should pass through easily. Insert the right needle through the first loop on the left needle, from front to back. 2. The point of the needle is now lying behind the left needle. Wrap the yarn forward, under & over the right needle. 3. Bring the point of the right needle forward, down & under the left needle drawing the yarn through to make a new stitch. 4. Slip the new stitch off the left needle and on to the right. Repeat until all the stitches have been knitted. Continue with the next row by turning the work & swapping the needles over.

GARTER STITCH: Garter stitch is very simple of all stitches & is formed when every stitch in each row in knitted. The work is reversible & has an elastic texture, ideas for blankets, sweaters or scarves.

SAMPLE :

PURL STITCH 1. Bring the yarn to the front of the work & across the right needle. 2. Insert the tip of the right needle from right to left through the next stitch n the left needle. 3. Wrap the yarn back over the right needle, from right to left between the two points, & back under the right needle to the front. 4. Slide the point of the right needle down & back behind the tip of the left needle & slip the new stitch on to the right needle. Continue to the end of the row. Stocking stitch is most commonly used for the garments & has a horizontal stretch. It is formed by knitting one row & purling the next which produces its distinctively smooth right side.

CASTING OFF OR BINDING OFF A piece of knitting is completed by casting off the stitches. This is usually done on the right side of the work & the knit stitches should be cast off knit wise & purl stitches purl wise. This is especially important when casting off the ribbing at a cuff or neck edge. If the cast-off stitches are too tight they will distort the work, but using the larger size needle can help to make a looser finish. There are several specialized ways of casting off, but the method shown here is the most common & straight forward. CASTING OFF KNIT WISE: 1. Knit the first two stitches as usual. 2. Insert the left needle under the first stitch made, from left to right. 3. Lift the stitch up over the second stitch & over the point of he right needle. The first stitch has now been cast off. 4. Knit the next stitch from the left needle so that there are two stitches on the right needle. Lift the first stitch over the second & continue casting off to the end of the row. Cut the end of the yarn & draw it through the final stitch to finish off.

CASTING OFF PURL WISE: The method is the same for casting off a purl row: purl the two stitches & lift the first stitch over the second as before.

KNITTED PATTERN STITCHES Knitting has a rich heritage of pattern stitches which incorporates intricate cables, eyelets or raised bobbles,, & knitwear designers are constantly developing new ideas. There are, however, many interesting textured patterns that can be created simply by combining knit & purl stitches to produce a textured surface. Moss stitch variations give a firm, reversible fabric while rib stitch gives a stretchy vertical stripe, used to finish the welts (bottom), cuffs & neck edge of sweaters. To ensure a snug fit, it is usually worked with needles size smaller than thoe used for the main part of the garments. THREE BY THREE RIB: This is worked over a multiple of six stitches plus three. Row 1 *K3, P3; rep from *, K3 Row 2 P3, *K3, P3, rep from * These two rows form the pattern. RIB KNIT

RIDGED BANDS: These are worked over any number of sticches. Row 1 Knit Row 2 Purl

Row 3 & 4 Knit Row 5 Purl Row 6 Knit Repeat these six rows to form the pattern. MOSS STITCH:

This is worked over an uneven number of stitches. Each row is as follows: *K1, P1; rep from *, K1. DOUBLE MOSS: This is worked over a multiple of four stitches. Row 1 & 2 *K1, P2 rep from * to end Row 3 & 4 *P2, K2 rep from * to end These rows form the pattern. SAMPLE :