By continuing the operation of the machine in this manner of having only the front cams operate while moving the carriage in one direction, and only the back cams operate when the carriage is moved in the opposite direction, there would be produced a tubular fabric as shown in Fig. 21. The yarn must of a necessity go across from front needles to back ones, and from back ones to front ones each time the direction of the movement of the carriage is changed, thereby closing up both sides of the fabric.
Range of Jersey Fabric
The jersey type of fabric is very popular with the consuming public and is used for quite a wide range of garments in many different weights and materials. Milady may easily be dressed throughout, with the exception of shoes, in jersey cloth, and still be up to the minute with her clothes. She may have on silk stockings which are made with the jersey stitch. Her underwear, most surely is made of silk jersey fabric. Then she may wear a tricolet waist, which is silk jersey fabric, with a worsted jersey cloth suit. Also she might easily have her fall and winter coat made from the heavyweight fulled jersey cloth, and carry a heavy Shaker sweater, which is also the jersey stitch, on her motor trips into the country.
It is a far cry from the finest and lightest to the heaviest and coarsest in jersey cloth. Figs. 22 and 23 show two extremes. Fig. 22 is a sample of fine fabric and has 32 stitches to one inch; while Fig. 23 is used for what is known as the Shaker sweater and has 3½ stitches to one inch. Between these come men’s balbriggan underwear and the flat woolen underwear, the jersey bathing suits, tricolet, and the fulled jersey cloth for ladies’ suits and coats, etc. This stitch is also the basic one for medium priced knit neckties, as well as knit mittens and gloves, except the very lightest and thinnest.
CHAPTER III
Rib Fabric Group—How Stitch is Made for Different Cloths
There are numerous conflicting expressions or terms used in the knit goods industry, and one of the most common of these is the term “flat goods.” In the older underwear sections, where the circular machine was used exclusively and the flat machine was practically unknown, the term flat goods indicated underwear fabric made tubular in the jersey stitch on circular spring needle machines, as distinguished from tubular rib fabric made on latch needle machines. At present, in the localities where mills are using both the circular and flat straight needle bed machines, it is generally understood that a flat fabric is a fabric of single thickness made on a flat machine, regardless of the stitch, and any fabric made on a circular machine is known as a tubular fabric. If the stitch should be specified it is mentioned separately.
This latter custom appears to me to be the more logical; therefore, when these terms are used hereafter in this work it should be understood that flat fabric means cloth of a single thickness made on a flat machine, or a tubular fabric cut open so it will lie out flat. The “flat goods” of the old time knitters will be called jersey cloth or fabric.
We will now leave the jersey fabrics for a time, as the making of the tuck stitch and plated work in the jersey stitch are more or less complicated and had better be left until we take up fancy stitches and designs on circular latch needle machines. The tuck stitch is never used in the jersey fabrics on flat machines.