Knitted fabric

Its properties are distinct from woven fabric in that it is more flexible and can be more readily constructed into smaller pieces, making it ideal for socks and hats.

For this reason, knitting is believed to have been developed for garments that must be elastic or stretch in response to the wearer's motions, such as socks and hosiery.

For comparison, woven garments stretch mainly along one or other of a related pair of directions that lie roughly diagonally between the warp and the weft, while contracting in the other direction of the pair (stretching and contracting with the bias), and are not very elastic, unless they are woven from stretchable material such as spandex.

Extra curvature can be introduced into knitted garments without seams, as in the heel of a sock; the effect of darts, flares, etc.

[4] Both types of plaited stitches give a subtle but interesting visual texture, and tend to draw the fabric inwards, making it stiffer.

The side edges are known as the selvages; the word derives from "self-edges", meaning that the stitches do not need to be secured by anything else.

Two knitted fabrics can be joined by embroidery-based grafting methods, most commonly the Kitchener stitch.

[7] The large and many holes in lacy knitting makes it extremely elastic; for example, some Shetland "wedding-ring" shawls are so fine that they may be drawn through a wedding ring.

By combining increases and decreases, it is possible to make the direction of a wale slant away from vertical, even in weft knitting.

This is the basis for bias knitting, and can be used for visual effect, similar to the direction of a brush-stroke in oil painting.

For example, differently colored leaves and petals of a flower could be knit separately and attached to form the final picture.

Unknitted yarns may be worked into knitted fabrics for warmth, as is done in tufting and "weaving" (also known as "couching").

Because there is no single straight line of yarn anywhere in the pattern, a knitted piece of fabric can stretch in all directions.

On the right side, the visible portions of the loops are the verticals connecting two rows which are 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 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.

Fair Isle knitting uses two or more colored yarns to create patterns and forms a thicker and less flexible fabric.

Coco Chanel's 1916 use of jersey in her hugely influential suits was a turning point for knitwear, which became associated with the woman.

[8] In the 1940s came the iconic wearing of body-skimming sweaters by sex symbols like Lana Turner and Jane Russell, though the 1950s were dominated by conservative popcorn knits.

[8] In the 1980s, knitwear emerged from the realm of sportswear to dominate high fashion; notable designs included Romeo Gigli's "haute-bohemian cocoon coats" and Ralph Lauren's floor-length cashmere turtlenecks.

Classical polo shirt
A sweater made with knitted fabric.
Structure of stockinette, a common weft-knit fabric. The meandering red path defines one course , the path of the yarn through the fabric. The uppermost white loops are unsecured and "active", but they secure the red loops suspended from them. In turn, the red loops secure the white loops just below them, which in turn secure the loops below them, and so on.
Alternating wales of red and white knit stitches. Each stitch in a wale is suspended from the one above it.
Basic pattern of warp knitting. Parallel yarns zigzag lengthwise along the fabric, each loop securing a loop of an adjacent strand from the previous row.
Two courses of red yarn illustrating two basic fabric types. The lower red course is knit into the white row below it and is itself knit on the next row; this produces stockinette stitch. The upper red course is purled into the row below and then is knit, consistent with garter stitch.
A dropped stitch, or missed stitch, is a common error that creates an extra loop to be fixed.
The stitches on the right are right-plaited, whereas the stitches on the left are left-plaited.
Illustration of entrelac . The blue and white wales are parallel to each other, but both are perpendicular to the black and gold wales, resembling basket weaving .
Illustration of cable knitting . The central braid is formed from 2x2 ribbing in which the background is formed of purl stitches and the cables are each two wales of knit stitches. By changing the order in which the stitches are knit, the wales can be made to cross.
In lace knitting , a pattern is formed by making small, stable holes in the fabric.
Schematic of stockinette stitch, the most basic weft-knit fabric
Close-up of front of stockinette stitch
Close-up of back of stockinette stitch , also same appearance as reverse stockinette stitch
Close-up of knitting
Close-up of ribbing
Knitted dress, 1967