28/KNITTING VIEWS/JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2012

VASANT R KOTHARI has done Masters in Textiles

Technology from DKTEs Textile and Engineering
Institute, Ichalkaranji (Shivaji University, Kolhapur),
Maharashtra. He has also done Diploma in Export
Management (Apparel Export) from the Indian
Institute of Export Management, and Garment
Export and Merchandising Management from NIFT,
Bangalore. Presently, hes working as an Assistant
Professor in Department of Fashion Technology,
NIFT, Bangalore. (This is his thirteenth input from
the series of articles in Knitting Views)
28/KNITTING VIEWS/JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2012
KNITTING VIEWS/JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2012/29
A
nother interesting segment of the
knitting industry is the warp knitting.
Warp knitting is defined as a loop forming
process in which the yarn is fed into
knitting zone, parallel to the fabric
selvedge. Warp knitted fabrics are a
product of a technology process carried
out on warp knitting machines.
The history of warp knitting is closely
associated with two names, William Lee
and Karl Mayer. In 1589 William Lee
applied for patent of his first machine for
making knitted articles, in that way he laid
the foundations for mechanical
manufacturing and making the technical
base to develop warp knitting technology.
In 1947, the insightful entrepreneur and
mechanic, Karl Mayer showed off first
warp knitting loom. The machine was
compiled two guide bars, and with bearded
needles, attained a speed of 200 rpm. It
marked the starting of technical era in
pioneering leaps in the field of
warp knitting.
from weft-knit and their machinery. In warp
knitting, each needle loops have its own
thread, means there is one warp for one
wale, and it also differs in the way in which
the yarn is fed to the needles. Further, the
source of yarn on a warp-knitting machine
is a warp beam containing a very large
number of parallel yarns, similar to a warp
beam on a loom. Sometimes, more than one
warp is needed, depending upon the
fabric design.
stitches on the face of the fabric appear
vertically, but at a slight angle; and the
stitches on the back appear horizontally
as floats at a slight angle.
These floats called laps, or under laps, is a
distinguishing identification of warp knits.
Warp knitting may be flat or tubular and
can be produced in many varieties of
patterns. It can yield cloth with a
dimensional stability almost equal to that
of woven fabric. Yet, a modern 28-gauge
machine can produce a cloth 168 inches
wide at a rate of 1,000 courses per minute
that is 4,700,000 stitches per minute.
Warp and weft knitting are similar fabric
manufacturing processes as both utilise
needles to form and intermesh loops. As
the name implies, the loop formation is
warp wise, i.e., vertically upward. Unlike,
weft knitting, most of the warp knitting
machine is open width/flat knitting.
Generally, warp knitting is done by
machine, whereas weft knitting is done by
both hand and machine.
Formation of warp knit fabrics
Warp-knit fabrics and the machinery used
to produce them are substantially different
In weft knitting, a single yarn end may be
fed to all the needles and knitting
progresses around, or across the machine
to produce the weft knitted fabrics for any
number of courses and wales.
In warp knitting, however, each needle is
supplied with a yarn (or yarns) and all the
needles knit at the same time producing a
complete course at once so the total
number of individual yarns is equal to the
total stitches in a row. The needles produce
parallel rows of loops simultaneously that
are interlocked in a zigzag pattern, as
shown in fig 13.5. In this way, the warp
knitted fabric is formed by knitting the warp
yarns on the adjacent needles course by
course and intermesh the loops with the
neighbouring yarns to form fabric. The
Advantages of warp knit fabric
Dimensional stability
In general, warp knitted fabric are more
stable than weft knitted fabric. By
modifying its structure (by weft
insertion), the warp knitted can be as
good as woven fabric
Fabric tightness
The warp knitted fabrics are thinner than
double knitted fabrics and the loops are
smaller than double knitted fabric
Fabric appearance
Most regular warp knitted fabrics give
a nice, clean and balanced loop on
surface. Normally the technical face and
back for warp knitted are different
13.4: Warp knit fabric (face)
13.2: Basic weft knit (a) and warp knit
(b) loop
The subsequent
loops formed
from one thread
are placed in the
same course
The subsequent
loops formed from
one thread are
placed in the
subsequent courses
13.3: Weft and warp knitted structure
Fig 13.1: Warp knitted fabric
13.5: Warp knit fabric (back)