Primary knitting elements of knitting

Needle:

The needles are the most important stitch forming elements. They are displaced vertically up and down and are mounted into the tricks or cuts of the knitting cylinder.

There are three types of needles namely:                                        

1)    Latch Needle.

2)    Spring bearded  Needle and

3)    Compound Needle.

The main function of needle is loop formation.

Cams:

The knitting cams are hardened steels and they are the assembly of different cam plates so that a track for butt can be arranged. Each needles movement is obtained by means of cams acting on the needles butts.

Types of cam & there function:

                                     1.Knit cam: To produce knit loop.

                                     2.Tuck cam :To produce tuck loop.

                                     3.Miss cam :To produce miss loop.

The main function of cam is convert the rotary motion of needle in to the vertical motion & loop formation.

Sinker: 

Sinker is a thin metal plate with action at right angles to and fro between adjoining needles.

Functions of Sinker:

1)    Loop formation: The main objects of a sinker are to assist the needles in loop formation by sinkinrg or knitting the newly laid yarns into a loop. 

2)    Holding down: It also holds down the loops at a lower level of the needles stems and prevents the old loops from being lifted as the needles raise to clear them for their hooks.

3)    Knocking over: The function is knocking over at which the needle passes through the old loop by drawing a new loop.

Needle bed or needle carrier:

Needle bed or needle carrier are the place where the needles are located maintained and where from needles moves up and down is called  needle bed or needle carrier.

Machine gauge:

The number of needles present in one inch of a needle bed is called machine gauge . It is denoted by G or E.

Feeder:

Feeders are the yarn guides placed close to the needles to the full circumference of the knitting zone. The feeders feed the yarn into the needle hooks and control the needle latches in their open position while the needle attain their clearing position.

Needle pitch:

The distance between two neighboring needles /space required for each needle of total needle bed is called needle pitch.

Jack:

 Jack is a secondary knitting elements which is placed bellow the needle .It is used for the selection of needles whether these will be active or not .  

Technical face:

The side of the knitted fabric that consists all of face or knit loops, is called technical face of the fabric.

Technical Back:

The side of the knitted fabric having full of back or purl loops is called needle loop. Normally the reverse side of the technical face is the technical Back.