Various Terms Used in Knitting Technology

Course: Horizontal row of loops produced by adjacent needles in knitting cycle is called the course of the fabric. A course is a predominately horizontal raw of needle loops produced by adjacent needles during the same knitting cycle.

Wales: Vertical column of loops produced by same needle in knitting cycle is called the wales of the fabric. Number of vertical columns of loop of knitted fabrics is called wale.

Face Loop: If the legs of new loop are passes over the old loop is called face loop.

Back Loop: If the legs of new loop are passes under the old loop is called back loop.

Stitch Density: The term stitch density is frequently used in knitting instead of a linear measurement of courses or wales; it is the total number of needles loops in a square area measurement such as a square inch or three square centimeters.

It is expressed as: Course per inch x Wales per inch

Stitch Length: Length of one loop in the course direction express in mm.

Number of Needle: Machine Diameter x Machine Gauge x 3.1416

Cam: Cam is the specific path of needles to produce a specific type of fabric.

There are three types of cam used in circular knitting machine;

1.      Knit Cam

2.      Tuck Cam

3.      Miss Cam

Knit Cam: It moves the needle upward enough to clear the old loop receive the new yarn.

Tuck Cam: It moves the needle upward not enough to clear the old loop but receive the new yarn.

Miss Cam: It does not move the needle upward. The needles neither clear the old loop nor receive the new yarn.

Needle: A knitting needle or knitting pin is a tool in hand-knitting to produce knitted fabrics. They generally have a long shaft and taper at their end, but they are not nearly as sharp as sewing needles. Their purpose is two-fold. The long shaft holds the active (unsecured) stitches of the fabric, to prevent them from unraveling, whereas the tapered ends are used to form new stitches. 

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