Knitting Industry in India contributes more than 50% in terms of volume & around 35% in terms of value of our total garment exports. It is the only sector which is growing at a faster rate than any other segment in textiles & given the trend for casual dressing with greater thrust on comfort, the knits sector holds immense potential for growth in future as well.

To begin with Circular Knitting Machines are broadly categorized into two types i.e. Single Jersey & Double Jersey. In Single Jersey machines, Plain or Single knit fabrics are manufactured which normally has plain stitches on one face & purl stitches on the other face. This type of loop formation takes place with the help of one set of Needles & assisted by one set of Sinkers which holds down the fabric during the upward movement of the needle & also helps in knocking over the stitch at the knock over edge thereby completing the loop formation. On the contrary in the double Jersey machines, double face or double knit fabrics are produced & these fabrics display plain & purl stitches on both sides of the fabric along the row. Basically two sets of the needles are required for manufacturing double knit fabrics & this type of fabric is usually more voluminous as compared to single knit fabrics.

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This article was originally presented in ATNT 2007 held on 18-20, June 2007 at Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, India.