TYPES OF KNITTING:-(Hand)

HAND KNITTING:-

Hand knitting is a form of knitting, in which the knitted fabric is produced by hand using needles.

TYPES OF KNITTING:-

FLAT KNITTING:-

( flat knitting -the loops on the metal needle are achieve stitches , and the yarn coming out of the knitting on the right is the working yarn).

Flat knitting uses two straight needles to make generally two diamentional (flat)pieces. Flat knitting is usually used to knit flat pieces like, scarves, blankets, Afghans and back fronts and ATMs of sweaters (pull over.)  

In flat knitting generally stockinette stitch , the hand knitter knits from right to left on one side of the fabric, turns the ( work) , and then purls right to left back to the starting position. Usually, the smooth side of the fabric is considered the right side , the one facing outwards, towards for viewing, and the side that faces inwards, towards the body, the ridged side is known as the wrong side. This flat knitting involves . Knitting each row on the right side, the purling each row on the wrong side etc. If each row is knit(no purls) this creates garter stitch, which has some appearance on both sides and creates horizontal ridges offset by vallys, rather than a knit and pure side. Patterned stitches, such as cables, can be accomplished with either flat knitting or in the round , however, the technique must follow the desired pattern. 

CIRCULAR KNITTING:-

circular knitting.

 (circular knitting on circular needle) 

Circular knitting (also called "knitting in the round") craetes a seamless tube . Knitting is worked in rounds (the equivalent of rows in flat knitting) .

Originally, circular knitting was done by using a set of four or five double pointed knitting needles. Circular needles were later invented making this type of knitting easier . A circular needle resembles two short knitting needles connected by a cable of varying length between them. A circular knitting needles with a long cable can be used in place of straight needles to create larger flat knitted pieces of fabrics. Both types of circular knitting are used in creating pieces that are circular on tube shaped, such as hats, socks, mittens , sleeves and entire sweaters.

In circular knitting, the hand-knitter generally knits everything from one side , usually the right side circular knitting is usually carried out on a single circular needle. In such cases , the knitter can resort a variety of alternative technique, such as double pointed needles a Mobious stripe like "magic needle" approach (commonly known as " magic loop") or careful use of slip-stitch knitting or equally double knitting to knit the back and front of the tube.

FABRIC FINISHING:-

FELTING:-

Felting is the hand knitters term for falling a technique for joining knitting or woven animal fibers. The finished product is put in hot water and agitated until it starts to shrink. The result typically has reduced diemention. Bags , mittens ,socks, slippers and hats are just few items that can be felted.

NEEDLE FELTING:-

 Needle felting is a technique used to add decoration to a knitted a felted process, which raw roving is applied using a very sharp barbed felting needle by repeatedly piercing the roving and background together. Once washed in hot water , the appliqued decorator is fused with the background. Felted knitting can be cut with scissor without concern about graying.

PROCESS OF KNITTING:-

(A woman in the process of knitting).

There are many hundreds of different knitting stitches used by knitters . A piece of knitting begins with the process of casting on, which involves the initial creation of the stitches on the needle.

Different methods of casting on are used for different effects one may be stretching enough for lace while another provides a decorative edging. Provisions cast-ons are used when the knitting will continue in both direction from the cast-on . There are various method employed to cast-on, such as the "thumb method"(also known as"sling shot" or "long tails " cast-ons ) where the stitches are created by a series of loops that will, when knitted , give a very loose edge ideal for "picking up stitches" and knitting a border , the double needle method (also known as "knit on" or;" cable cast-on") whereby each loop placed on the needle is then "knitted on" which produces a finer edge ideal on its own as a border and many more . The number of active stitches remains the same as when cast-on unless stitches are added (an increase) or removed (a decrease) . 

Most western style knitters follows either the English style( in which yarn is held in the left hand ). These styles shows various regional differences. English knitting can be split up into among others throwing, flicking and lever knitting. Continental knitting also shows a similar range of style. Stitches can be produced by wraping the needle around the yarn by simply picking it through (often called "continental picking') .

There are also different ways to insert the needle into the stitch. Knitting through the front of s stitch is called western knitting. Going through the back of a stitch is called Eastern knitting. A third method called combination knitting , goes through the front of s knit stitch and the back of a purl stitch. In Scandinavia, but especially in Norway, the purl stitch is produced with yarn held in the back and held as closed to the needles as possible. This stiff the tension of the yarn away the finger and on the needle.

Once the knitted piece is finished the remaining live stitches are "cast-off." Casting ,(or binding) off loops the stitches across each other so they can be removed from the needle without unraveling the item. Although the mechanics are different from casting-in , there is similar variety of methods.

In knitting certain articles of clothing, especially larger one like sweaters, the final knitted garments will be made of several knitted piece, with individual sections of the garment knit separately and then swen together. Seamless knitting where a whole garment knit as a single piece , is also possible. Elizabeth Zimmermann is probably the best known proponent of seamless or circular techniques. Smaller items such as socks and hats are usually knit in one piece double pointed needles or small diameter circular needles.

ref:-https://en.m.wikipedia.org.