RIB KNIT FABRICS and itS DERIVATIvES

SUBMITTED BY:SABHYATA MARWAH

NITIN KATOCHHIMANSHU AHLAWATSAMAR CHOWDHARY

HARSH THAGELA

FABRIC SCIENCE

What is a rib knitted fabric??

• A rib fabric is defined as a fabric in which all the loops in any individual wale are either knit or purl, it cannot have both in the same wale.

• Rib knitted fabric has alternating rows of plain and purl stitches constructed so that both the face and back of the fabric look alike.

×- KNIT STITCHO- PURL STITCH

• All structures of this group are produced by two set of needles, with the opposite needle off set for half a needle space; i.e. The head of the needles are not directly facing each other.

• It is normally knitted with two sets of latch needles and also known as double jersey fabric.

characteristics

• Rib construction is expensive because of the greater amount of yarn needed.

• Rib Knitted Fabric is usually highly elastic and highly drapeable and these two properties make the fabric suitable for a wide range of apparel applications.

• Rib knitted fabric is considered to be comfortable both for outer garments and undergarments.

• It is a reversible structure, i.e. face and back side has the same appearance in 1 x 1, 2 x 2, 3 x 3, ribs.

• The fabric does not curl at the edges due to its balanced nature. This property of rib structure is particularly useful in cutting and sewing operation.

• Rib has a vertical cord appearance because the face loop wales tend to move over and in front of the reverse loop wales.

• As the face loops show a reverse loop intermeshing on the other side, 1 × 1 rib has the appearance of the technical face of plain fabric on both sides until stretched to reveal the reverse loop wales in between.

• Rib cannot be unroved from the end knitted first because the sinker loops are securely anchored by the cross-meshing between face and reverse loop wales.

1x1 Rib• This is the most simple

double knit structure. It can be made on V-bed knitting machine and circular rib machine.

• 1x1 ribbing has one knit stitch, followed by one purl stitch, followed by one knit stitch, and so on.

• 1x1 rib fabric is one course per repeat structure.

• Both face and back looks exactly the same.

• This characteristic, together with its elasticity, makes rib particularly suitable for the extremities of articles such as tops of socks, cuffs of sleeves, rib borders of garments, and stolling and strapping for cardigans. Rib structures are elastic, form-fitting, and retain warmth better than plain structures.

Characteristics of 1x1 rib

• The 1x1 rib is a perfectly balanced structure.

• The torque in the yarn is neutralized by the loops forming on the two side of the fabric alternatively; no curling will occur on the edge.

• The elastic recovery of 1x1 rib fabric is exceptionally high along the width.

• When relaxed the fabric shrinks so much that only the technical face loops can be seen on both sides.

• Relaxed 1 × 1 rib is theoretically twice the thickness and half the width of an equivalent plain fabric, but it has twice width-wise recoverable stretch.

• In practice, 1 × 1 rib normally relaxes by approximately 30 per cent compared with its knitting width.

• 1 × 1 rib is balanced by alternate wales of face loops on each side; it therefore lies flat without curl when cut.

• It is a more expensive fabric to produce than plain and is a heavier structure.

• It can be distinguished from plain by the fact that the loops of certain wales are withdrawn in one direction and the others in the opposite direction, whereas the loops of plain are always withdrawn in the same direction, from the technical face to the technical back.

End uses of1x1 rib

• Underwear– It is common to use this

structure for men’s underwear such as the vest.

– This gives a light weight and elastic fabric of 100-120 g/m2.

• Sweater– In the cut and sewn

knitwear group, 1x1 rib of the medium gauges (7-12) knitted on wool or acrylic yarns are for ladies’ jumper. For example 2/32 Nm acrylic yarn on 12 gauge machine.

• Waist Band• The rib cuff, waist band or neck strap of the

sweaters are usually 1x1 rib structure.• All the rib top of socks are 1x1 rib plus

rubber inlay.

2x2 rib• Similar to 1x1 rib, this is also an one course

per repeat structure.• The main difference is that it is composed

of 2 technical face loops and 2 back loops per repeat along the course.

• The 2x2 rib is most popular for the cuffs and waist bands for the coarse gauge knitwear.

2x2 rib construction

• There are two methods to produce 2x2 ribs on knitting machine

• Method 1: with every 3rd needle out of action.

• Method 2: with every 3rd and 4th needle out of action.

2x2 rib characteristics• The fabrics produced from these two

methods are more or less the same.• Method 1, however, gives a tighter fabric

and more elastic fabric.• This method is used on circular rib machine

and V-bed machine. Sometimes, the rib is called 2x1 rib.

• Method 2 is a true 2x2 rib and is used on purl machine and double cylinder only.

The broad rib (fancy rib)

• Any rib which is wider than 2x2 rib can be classified as broad rib or fancy rib.

• Example: The Derby rib which is 6x3 rib is generally used on the pullovers.

• Fancy rib can be of any combination in face and back wales, such as 10 x5; 20 x 4 etc

Fancy Rib (broad rib)

Mock rib• Mock Rib is plain fabric knitted on one set

of needles, with an elastic yarn inlaid by tucking and missing so that the fabric has the appearance of 1 × 1 rib. It is knitted at the tops of plain knitted socks and gloves.

Thank you