Knitting
Also searched as: knit, loops, weft knitting, warp knitting
Making fabric by interlooping yarn.
In detail
Knitting forms fabric through connected yarn loops. Loop geometry distinguishes it from weaving, where yarn systems interlace. Weft and warp knitting arrange and supply yarns differently, and the resulting structures offer a wide range of surface patterns and mechanical behavior.
The science and numbers
A knit is described by courses, the rows of loops across the fabric, and wales, the columns along it. In weft knitting one yarn feeds across successive needles to form a course; in warp knitting each needle receives its own yarn, and loops interconnect along the length, which usually makes the fabric more stable and less prone to laddering. Loop length governs relaxed dimensions, and tightness factor is commonly the square root of yarn tex divided by loop length. Residual yarn torque can rotate loops and cause spirality in single jersey. Comparative studies with fixed machine settings find that both fiber type and knit structure affect bursting strength, pilling, abrasion and wicking. Open loops also shed more: in one laundering study, untreated polyester knit released about 24 fibers per square centimeter against about 17 for a woven, which the authors attributed to the woven's more compact structure.
A practical example
Look closely at a simple jersey fabric: its repeated loops explain why the material can deform in ways a tightly woven fabric may not. That does not mean every knit stretches equally. Yarn choice, loop dimensions and structure all influence the finished result.
What to distinguish
Knit describes construction rather than composition. Cotton, wool and manufactured fibers can all be knitted. Do not assume that a knit contains elastane or that every knitted garment has the same care needs.
Origins and history
Mechanized weft knitting made single jersey a staple of underwear and T-shirt production on circular machines, which produce it as a tube at high speed, and hand knitters know the same structure as stockinette. Knits now dominate everyday garments: in a 2026 study of 9,333 items donated to Canadian thrift stores, 64.7 percent were knitted structures, a mix that shapes what post-consumer sorting and recycling must handle.
Related terms
Sources & further reading
- CottonWorks: Knitting
- Heliyon: Fiber types and fabric structures influence on weft knitted fabrics (Hoque et al., 2022)
- Science of the Total Environment: Characterization of microfibers released from chemically modified polyester fabrics (2023)
- Waste Management: Characterising thrift textile donations and their circular potential in the Canadian context (2026)
Technical references reviewed 2026-09-22. Examples are illustrative. Industry organizations and manufacturers describe their own fields; their references are not independent product endorsements. Figures are approximate and depend on the stated test conditions.