Living · 6 pages · 12 min
How knit fabric stretches
A knit stretches because its loops can change shape and borrow yarn before the yarn itself gives.
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From the opening
Knit fabric stretches because it is made of loops of yarn pulled through other loops. When you pull, a loop elongates and borrows yarn from the neighboring curve, so the cloth extends even if the yarn itself barely stretches. The opening covers loops open before the yarn does, courses and wales stretch differently, and bagging is a loop that stayed open.
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Inside
- Loops open before the yarn does
- Courses and wales stretch differently
- Bagging is a loop that stayed open
- A ladder is the chain letting go
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Loop geometry in weft-knitted fabric
- Courses, wales, and laddering