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Bible Encyclopedias
Hosiery
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or a term used to designate all manufactured textile fabrics which in their process of manufacture have been built on the principle of looping or loop structure. The origin of the term is obvious, being derived from "hose" or stocking, this being one of the earliest garments made by the process of knitting. While it still forms one of the staples of the trade, it is only one of a very numerous and diversified range of applications of the entire industry. 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. No certain allusion to the art occurs before the beginning of the 15th century. In an act of parliament of Henry VII. (1488) knitted woollen caps are mentioned. It is supposed that the art was first practised in Scotland, and thence carried into England, and that caps were made by knitting for some period before the more difficult feat of stocking-making was attempted. In an act of Edward VI. (553) "knitte hose, knitte peticotes, knitte gloves and knitte sleeves" are enumerated, and the trade of hosiers, among others, included in an act dated 1563. Spanish silk stockings were worn on rare occasions by Henry VIII., and the same much-prized articles are also mentioned in connexion with the wardrobe of Edward VI.
Knitting, or loop formation by mechanical means, is divided into two distinct principles - frame-work knitting and warp knitting. Both principles may be employed in the formation of a large variety of plain and fancy stitches or a combination of the two.
Frame-work Knitting in its simplest form consists of rows of loops supporting each other - built from one continuous thread of yarn and running from one side of the fabric to the other and back FIG. 2. - A Single Thread formed into a Chain of Crocket Work, showing the Loop Structure of the plain Warp-knitted Fabric. It is built up as shown in the diagram by a number of threads running up the fabric.
(fig. I). It is on this principle of stitch that the greatest amount of hosiery is built (hose, shirts, pants).
Warp Knitting in its simplest form consists of rows of loops, but the number of threads employed are equal to the number of loops in the width of the fabric. Thus it will be seen that the threads run lengthwise of the fabric (fig. 2). This principle gives greater scope for reproducing designs in openwork and colour than that of frame-work knitting. For this reason it is largely used in the shawl, glove and fancy hosiery industries.
Machinery
In hand knitting the implements employed (a few needles or wires) are very simple and inexpensive. In the manufacturing industry the most complex and ingenious machinery is used. In 1589 the Rev. William Lee, a graduate of St John's College, Cambridge, while acting as curate (or vicar) of Calverton, Nottinghamshire, introduced his stocking-frame. This machine was the first mechanical means employed to produce a looped or knitted fabric. This frame or machine of Lee's was the origin of all the hosiery and lace machines at present in use. One of the most remarkable points about his invention was its completeness and adaptability for the work for which its inventor intended it. The main principles of em are frame f s ' ee FIG. 3. - Hand Stocking Frame.
Lee's in most of the rotary or power frames of the present day. Fig. 3 shows a hand frame of the present day.
In hand knitting an indefinite number of loops are skewered on a wire or pin, but, in Lee's frame, an individual hooked or bearded needle is employed for the support and formation of each loop in the breadth of the fabric. This needle consists of a shank with a terminal spring-pointed hook (or beard), the point of which can be pressed at will into a groove or eye in the shank. For method by which the loops are formed on the needles of the frame see fig. 4. This shows a few of Lee's hooked or bearded needles having the old loops or work hanging round the needle shanks. The thread of yarn which is to form the new row of loops is laid over the needle shanks and waved or looped between each pair of needles. This waving or looping ensures sufficient yarn being drawn and loops of a uniform size being made, so that a regular and level fabric will be produced. The looping or waving is obtained by having thin plates of shaped metal, called sinkers, which have a nose-shaped point and hang between the needles. When looping they have an individual movement downwards between the needles, and as they fall the noseshaped point carries the yarn down, thus forming the new loop (fig. 5). `??? The size of the loop is regulated by the c L ? distance the sinker is allowed to fall. FIG. 4. After the thread been b has yarn of A, The leads into which the o cast' looped between D, The old loops or work. the needle shanks ' by the sinkers, the C, The new loops formed and brought under loops are brought the beards.
