What Is Knitting

Knitting is one of several ways to turn thread or yarn into cloth. Unlike woven fabric, knitted fabric consists entirely of horizontal parallel courses or rows of yarn. Knitting can be done either by hand or by machine. In practice, hand knitting is usually begun (or "cast on") by forming a base of twisted loops of yarn on a knitting needle. A second knitting needle is then used to reach through each loop (or stitch) in succession in order to snag a loop of yarn and pull a length back through the loop. This forms a new stitch at the top of the current stitch (or loop). Work can proceed in the round (circular knitting) or by going back and forth in rows. Knitting can also be done by machines, which use a mechanical system to produce nearly identical results.

Knitted garments are most commonly made in pieces, where individual sections of the garment are knit separately and then sewn together once all the pieces have been completed. Seamless knitting, where a whole garment is knit as a single piece is also possible. Smaller items, such as socks and hats are usually knit in one piece on double pointed needles.

There are many regional styles of knitted garments with long histories, such as guernseys, jerseys, arans, and Fair Isle patterns.

History of Knitting

The earliest definite examples of knitting date from  Egypt in the 14th century, although some claim that the technology dates back into centuries BC. The first knitting trade guild was started in Paris in 1537, establishing the occupation as male-dominated for centuries. Knitting became a household occupation with the growing popularity of knitted socks and by the end of the 1600's, one to two million pairs of stockings were exported from Britain to other parts of Europe.

With the invention of the knitting machine, knitting "by hand" became a useful but nonessential craft, and its practitioners increasingly female. Similar to quilting, spinning, and needlepoint, knitting became a social activity, performed while the crafters converse among themselves.

Materials

Yarn and knitting needles are the basic equipment needed to accomplish hand-knitting. Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibers A knitting needle is a long stick or used as a tool in the manufacture of hand knitted fabric. Knitting needles have also been called knitting sticks, knitting pins, knitting wires, or simply wires or rods. Length and thickness of the needles vary depending on the type of yarn used (i.e., fine or thick) and the type of fabric to be produced (i.e., firm or loose).

The most widely recognized form of knitting needle, is usually called a straight needle. Straight needles are narrowed nearly to a point at one end and capped at the other with a knob or flat head, and are used almost exclusively for knitting flat two-dimensional fabrics like rectangles and squares. The needles are popular because the knob at the end of each needle prevents the stitches from falling off the needles.

The oldest known knitting needles, still very much in use, are double-pointed needles. They are generally used to form tubular (circular) fabrics such as socks and the bodies or sleeves of sweaters. As the name implies, double-pointed needles are tapered at both ends nearly to points. They are normally used in sets of four or five needles.

Both tubular and flat knitting is also done on circular needles, today consisting of two pointed needles joined together by a flexible wire or length of nylon. Some manufacturers sell the two needles and the joining length of nylon separately. The two ends are used exactly like two needles, in the sense that the knitter holds one in each hand and knits as if having two separate needles.

Modern knitting needles are made of bamboo, aluminum, steel, wood, plastic, and casein.