Knot (textile)

“ The Germantown knitting yarn, which is more tightly twisted, makes very pretty rugs and mats. It is sometimes used for Navajo blankets.
Darning cotton
White dolls'-towels, with red or blue stripes, are made of darning cotton. Baste a small piece of canvas at one end and cross-stitch Miss Dolly's initial.
Knitting cotton
Plain white bedspreads, or white combined with a color in a kindergarten design, can be made of knitting cotton which is a little coarser than darning cotton. Knot a fringe on all sides. Lunch cloths and table covers for Miss Dolly can be made in the same way. ”

“ Whenever it can be done, a warp thread of the garment should be used. No sewing silk is fine enough to use without separating the thread and using one of the strands. Never use the thread as it is, as it is too hard twisted. Cotton and linen thread of the finest quality, untwisted, should be used for darning stockings and underwear. Linen may [156] be darned with linen or mercerized cotton. Cotton is preferable.
A long slender needle with a large eye should be used. Darning should never be commenced with a knot, nor finished with a back stitch. ”

“ Except in the Soumak and the Khilim, which have the flat stitch, there are only two kinds of knotting used in Oriental rugs. These knots are called the Persian or Sinna, and the Turkish or Ghiordes.
In the Persian manner of knotting there are more knots to the square inch than in the Turkish, and the result is a finer surface. Often the Persian knotting is so fine that the surface of the fabric is like velvet. The Persian knot is tied in such a manner that one end of the pile yarn extends from every spacing that separates the warp threads. ”

“ An innovation in pattern, by copying some strange designs that strike the fancy, is far more likely. These distinctions in weaving may be conveniently divided into those that affect the knot, the warp, and the weft.8
The Knot.—Not only may a knot be tied as a Ghiordes or a Sehna knot, but it may have other distinguishing peculiarities; as, for instance, it may be of fine or coarse wool. This is most conveniently observed at the back, where it will be seen that the knots of rugs such as the Bokhara, Kirman, Joshaghan, and Bergamo are tied with fine yarn ”

“ It is so secure that it is impossible to remove it by pulling either end of the knot. This differs from the domestic method in which the pile is merely drawn between the warp threads without tying or fastening. In the finer fabrics of the East the knots are so close that it requires careful examination to discover them except in very old rugs where the pile is worn down, then the knot is distinctly seen.
In some parts of Persia the best artisans are men but in most other sections the weavers are mostly women and children. ”

“ Knütten; the root is seen in “knot”) , the art of forming a single thread or strand of yarn into a texture or fabric of a loop structure, by employing needles or wires. “Crochet” work is an analogous art in its simplest form. It consists of forming a single thread into a single chain of loops. All warp knit fabrics are built on this structure. Knitting may be said to be divided into two principles, viz. (1) hand knitting and (2) frame-work knitting (see Hosiery) . ”

“ If the knot does get safely into the fabric, the trouble is by no means finished, for if it is untidy in appearance it lowers the quality of the fabric and reduces the saleability. A frequent point of danger is the eye of the thread-carrier which is fine in aperture, and unless the knot is of reasonable size, it stands a strong chance of causing a press-off on the machine, with loss of time in having the fabric picked on again added to the loss due to stoppage of the other machine sections. ”

“ It may be worked on a braid, a cord, or the edge of the material. There is no great difficulty in the working of these picots, but absolute regularity of the loops and knots is essential—in order to secure this, a mesh, or if that is not to hand, a pencil may be used to keep the loops uniform in size. After some practice, the worker will probably dispense with a mesh and use a pin to keep the loops in place while making the knot.
Fig. 42 shows the method of working. Fasten the thread securely and take the first stitch, which is of the button-hole type, with the thread under the needle ”

“ To rib.—To work alternate rows of plain and pearl knitting.
To bring the thread forward.—To bring the cotton forward so as to make an open stitch.
A loop stitch.—Made by bringing the cotton [11] before the needle, which, in knitting the succeeding stitch, will again take its own place.
To slip or pass a stitch.—To change it from one needle to the other without knitting it.
To fasten on.—The best way to fasten on is to place the two ends contrariwise, and knit a few stitches with both together. For knitting, with silk, or fine cotton, a weaver's knot will be found the best. ”

“ With the left hand pass d over c down through the loop, after which you will have the knot represented in Fig. 17, which can be at once drawn apart by the ends e and f.
Fig. 18.
Fig. 19.
A breastknot is only an ornament. It can be tied with ribbon, and makes a very pretty bow, or can be used by the ladies as a frog for a sacque. It consists, first, of three half-hitches overlapping each other as in Fig. 18. Interweave the part a under b and over c; b over a and under d. Then draw out the bight a over e, and the bight b over f, when we will have the knot as in Fig. 19. ”

“ When a pattern, in one or more colours, is to be introduced, break off the ground colour, and fasten on the colour next to be used, in the following manner.—Having made a slip knot in the end of the wool, pass it on the needle in the left hand: twist the end of the coloured wool and that of the ground, together,—knit, [80] in plain knitting, the stitches required for the pattern, then fasten off, by making a loop, and commence again with the ground colour,—fastening on again as above. ”

“ Any one who has knitted a stocking by them will see at once how easy it is to enlarge or diminish the size.
How to join Wool
Never make a knot, but knit a few stitches with both wools. The extra thickness never shows, and the ends may be cut off close with impunity.
Raising
It is helpful and saves much counting, if, when you raise or decrease, you knit along with the wool, on that stitch only, a piece of fine [Pg 6] white wool or thread. It is easily withdrawn afterwards, but it enables you to see at a glance which is your back needle, and the last time you raised or decreased. ”

“ By having one yarn carrier threaded with cotton and one threaded with wool or worsted, as the case may be, and changing these carriers at the end of every course so as to keep the cotton always knitting at the cams that are leading or making the plain stitch, the cotton alone will draw through on the back of the fabric while the worsted or wool will practically cover the face stitch of the cotton. ”

“ If the threads are found to be strong and without flaws two to half a dozen of them are put together in a loose skein and they are twisted in a doubling machine. Afterward the thread is polished, cleaned, and run off on spools or bobbins. That is the road Mother's spools of cotton have to travel before they get to her. How seldom we think of this or are grateful for it!
There are in addition other ways of preparing cottons for embroidery, crocheting, or knitting, not to mention methods used to finish cotton yarn so that it will look like woolen, linen, or silk fiber. ”

“ The knitted fabric is essentially a weft fabric, the thread being inserted crosswise into the texture after the manner of filling so that the entire structure presents a horizontal appearance which is most evident with ground-coloured stripes when the different colours show themselves crosswise. This proves a serious limitation to the scope of the plain knitted texture, for the clothing trades have small use for horizontal effects as compared with vertical coloured stripes. ”

“ Twist the needle twice round the silk, insert it in the same spot you drew it through before, and, with the right hand, draw the needle to the under side, gradually tightening the silk with the left hand. When quite drawn through the knot is formed. The great art in this work is to make the stitches all lie perfectly even. We seldom use the French Knot for anything 73but the seeds, stamen, or pistils of flowers; but the Chinese execute whole pieces in this stitch, shading them most exquisitely, and only using a coarse white silk or gold thread as an outline to the whole. ”

“ Fig. 55) . Now complete the first button-hole loop; make the final outside circle and finish off the thread. If the filling looks rather thin when finished it may be solidified by working a row of close button-holing round the inner circle.
This stitch is an interesting one and rather less used than the common point de Bruxelles, on account of the initial difficulty of keeping it quite regular; a little practice very quickly gives facility to a careful worker.
Fig. 56.
A Netting Knot (Fig. 56) .—The knot is similar to that used for netting. In working an open space as in Fig. ”

“ Whereas most wool yarn is woven into cloth, there is also the knitting process, in which the individual threads are interlaced into a regular fabric without warp and weft structure. The work is performed on a sort of loom, called the stockinette frame, upon which the yarns are arranged in parallel order and uniform distances apart. The actual knitting closely resembles hand knitting, and is done entirely by automatic mechanism. ”

“ The Cotton Knitting Frame, invented in 1864, is still the basis of the modern flat-bed knitter. The product is a flat web which can be widened or narrowed by transferring the loops from the edge needles to a separate instrument, and then replacing them. In knitting stockings, the shaped legs are made on one machine, then transferred to a heeler, and then to a third machine which knits the feet. The stockings then must be seamed up the back. The largest machines are capable of knitting twenty-four garments at one time. ”

“ Nine textile concerns are producing polyester-cotton and polyester-viscose yarn for weaving into shirting and other fabrics for which there is now a more rapid growth in demand than for comparable cotton products. The demand for woollen knitwear has continued to grow. The production of the woollen and worsted spinning industry goes mostly to the domestic knitting industry, although some is woven into cloth. Other woven products include silk and rayon brocade of traditional Chinese design, tapes, military webbing, lace, mosquito netting, carpets and rugs. ”

“ Now we would propose a Splash Cloth, in crochet, of this or any similar design, to be worked in very coarse cotton, such as Brooks' Great Exhibition Prize Goat's-head Knitting Cord, No. 16, lined with glazed calico to match the hangings, and suspended above the washhand-stand. It will be a pretty decoration, perfectly preventing the injury usually occurring to the walls, readily washed, and always new.
As fine cotton decreases the dimensions of a piece of work, so thicker cotton, with a hook proportionately large, increases its size. ”

“ Knots, which can be very pretty, are at times required in embroidery; anything that requires a fastening may give an opportunity for some pretty interlacing strap work or knotting. Also knots may be practically useful in both weaving and embroidery, for sometimes a finishing thread must be knotted on to a new one, since there may be no opportunity of making a firm commencement with the aid of the material. ”

“ The elastic structure of knitting makes it very adaptable for all kinds of body or underwear. There is scarcely a single textile article manufactured but can be reproduced on the knitting or loop structure principle. The art of knitting is of very modern origin as compared with that of weaving. ”

“ Many of the new printed cotton fabrics have borrowed their patterns from these interesting textile ancestors, though nowadays, in the case of monochrome and duochrome prints, the color effects are somewhat richer than those that obtained in the printed fabrics of the eighteenth century, with their cold chocolate browns, bottle-greens, and ox-blood reds. For the collector there will naturally be an inimitable charm about the original pieces, not to mention{44} their historic interest, while old multicolored chintzes cannot be surpassed in loveliness. ”

“ Always place the knot on the outside of the garment a short distance to the right of the buttonhole, leaving a long stitch underneath which can be cut off when the buttonhole is finished. A buttonhole should be completed with one thread if possible as it is difficult to mend the thread securely and neatly. ”

“ The principle of knitting is quite distinct from that of weaving. In the weaving of cloth the yarns of one system cross those of another system at right angles, thus producing a solid, firm texture. The great elasticity of any kind of texture produced by knitting is the chief feature that distinguishes hosiery from woven stuffs. The nature of the loop formed by the knitting needle [Pg 154] favors elongation and contraction without marring in the least the general structure of the goods. ”

“ After the pieces have been milled down to the desired degree, they present an uneven and, undesirable appearance on the surface, the ends of many of the fibres which previously projected having been turned and thus become embedded in the body of the cloth. In order to bring these hairs to the surface again, the fabric is subjected to teasing or raising, an operation identical in principle with one which has already been noticed under the finishing of cotton. In place of the steel wire brushes it is the usual practice to employ teasels for the treatment of woollen goods. ”