Character of Fabric
Fig. 57 shows a photographic reproduction of the fabric with the top turned over to show both sides, which it will be noted are exactly the same. Fig. 58 is a line drawing showing the formation of the stitch; the course that the yarn takes may easily be followed. This is called the purl stitch and is very popular with milady when making hand knit sweaters, children’s suits, etc.
If the reader will refer back to Fig. 12, he may be surprised to note how near this fabric is like the back of the jersey fabric, while the face of the jersey fabric is so different. I do not think that I should go very far wrong if I put this in the same class as the jersey fabric, the same as the half and full cardigan are classed as rib fabrics. It is made the same as the jersey on one set of needles, but with this difference: In making the jersey fabric the loop is always drawn through the previous loop in the same direction. That is, we will suppose we were making this jersey fabric on an ordinary flat machine, on the front plate only. In this case the loops would always be drawn toward you through the previous loops. Now if we should reverse every course the direction in which we draw these loops, or in other words, if we should draw them towards you when moving the carriage from right to left, and away from you when moving the carriage from left to right, and continued this reversal, we would make a purl stitch fabric.
But, you say, how are we going to do this? The solution is the purl stitch or links and links machine, with its double ended needle, or a needle with a hook and latch on both ends to permit the whole needle to be pushed through the loop every course, thereby casting the previous loops off one end on one course, and off the opposite end on the next course. This system of knitting is such that there can be no obstruction to the free movement of the stitch over any part of the needle, therefore this fact precludes the use of a butt projecting up from any part for the cams to operate on, even if there were no other reason, which there is as the reader will understand after a study of the subject.
Fig 57.
Plain Purl Stitch Fabric.
Fig. 58.
Construction of the Plain Purl
Stitch Fabric.
This machine is constructed somewhat along the lines of the ordinary flat machine, which we have been studying. Its points of similarity are that the table or stand is the same, it has two straight, flat needle plates, it has a carriage which is moved backward and forward over the needle plates to operate the needles, and the cams or locks are practically the same as in the ordinary single lock flat machine. The main points of difference are that on the purl stitch machine the needle plates are set so that they are flat, or both are on a horizontal plane, and the needle slots of both plates are directly in alignment with one another so a needle may move freely from the front to the back plate, or vice versa. The ordinary flat machine has the needle plates set at an angle of about 90 degrees to one another, and 45 degrees to the horizontal, and they are set lengthwise so the needle slots of one plate are opposite the space between the needle slots of the opposite plate, or in a position so the needles of one plate will come up between the needles of the opposite plate.
Another point of difference is that the purl stitch machine has one set of needles for both plates, with a hook and latch on both ends of each needle and no butts to operate them, while the ordinary machine has a set of needles for each plate with a hook and latch on one end only with a butt on the other end to operate it. It naturally follows that inasmuch as the needle plates are set flat, instead of at an angle to one another, and the needles are operated indirectly through what are called jacks instead of directly on butts on the needles, the construction of the purl stitch machine must be somewhat different from the ordinary flat machine.