Feb. 18, 1936. N. GILFIN 2,031,104. METHOD of HAND KNITTING Filed June 11, 1934

Patented Feb. 18, 1936 2,031,104

UNITED STATES PATENT office 2,031,104 METHOD OF HAND KNITTING Nan Gilpin, Riverside, Ill. Application June 11, 1934, Serial No. 729,995 5 Claims. (Cl. 66–1) My invention relates to a method of knitting herein is intended to cover any of these materials. garments by hand through the use of two pointed The elastic thread may consist of a rubber fila needles, in distinction to the operation of cro ment having a thread sheathing, or of any other cheting in which a single hooked needle is used; durable thread having considerable elasticity. and the object of the invention is to provide a The term “two needles” is intended to include 5 novel method of incorporating an elastic thread the opposite ends of the single circular needle into the fabric to counteract the tendency of the used in knitting tubular garments. garments to stretch permanently and sag with In plain knitting, consisting of alternate rows Wear and particularly with repeated Washings, of knitted and purled stitches, the elastic thread, 10 especially when the garment is made of soft as stated, appears on the reverse side of the 10 yarns such as silk bouclé, Angora or other light, fabric. With a ribbed fabric used for waist, neck Soft Wools; or in the case of ribbed bands at the or wrist bands, the elastic thread will alternate neck, waist and wrists, even when heavier or less from the right to the reverse side. - elastic' Wools, cottons or linens are used. All modifications of method and fabric within The permanent stretch which causes the gar the scope of the hereto appended claims are in- 15 ment to Sag usually occurs with wool fabrics in tended to be covered by the patent. The novel a horizontal direction, that is, in the direction method of hand knitting of my invention and one transverse to the fabric while being knitted; and type of fabric produced thereby are illustrated in the method which I have devised for overcoming the accompanying drawing wherein 20 this consists in drifting or floating through the Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are views in perspective of 20 knitted fabric a series of transverse elastic the knitting needles and partially completed fab threads which stretch with the transverse ric with the needles shown in four successive stretching of the knitted fabric so as to allow the positions; - garment to fit the body and to freely accommo Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating 25 date itself to the movement of the body but which the formation of purling stretches, the work be- 25 Serve to take up Such stretch and return the ing turned so that the reverse side is shown; and knitted Stitches of the fabric to their normal Fig. 6 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view of shapes and relationships when the garment is the fabric showing the reverse side. - relieved of the forces tending to stretch it. The elastic thread is not shown knitted into 30 With silk bouclé or similar fabrics there will the fabric in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, or in Fig. 3, except 30 be also some stretch of the yarn itself; and in in connection with the Stitch being formed, as any fabric there will be stretch both ways due to Such thread does not show on the “right” side of looseness of the stitches. The vertical stretch is the fabric without stretching the stitches, which to a large measure prevented in either case, by in the drawing are not shown stretched but 35 the transverse elastic thread. merely enlarged. 35 The elastic thread may be carried through each The fabric as here shown is one produced by transverse row of knitted Stitches, or through alternate rows of knitted and purled stitches, alternate rows, or through a lesser number of Figs. 1 to 4 showing the formation of the knitted rows as circumstances may require. Stitches. In making the purled Stitches the elas 40 The fabric in many cases is made by alternate tic thread is manipulated in exactly the same 40 knitting and purling, one row of stitches being way, that is, the elastic thread is held for one made by knitting and the next by purling, using stitch above the needles and for the next stitch the term as it is used in hand knitting So that below the needles, in the same Way as in making the loops are all drawn to the same side of the the knitted Stitches. The purled Stitches are 45 fabric giving a smooth surface on this side and a made according to the usual method of purling. 45 ribbed surface on the other or reverse side; and Hence it has been thought sufficient to illustrate When this is the case the strands of the elastic only one, i.e., the first, position of the needles in thread will be woven into the fabric on the re the purling operation. verse side, so as to show from the “right” side In all of the figures A designates the yarn and - 50 only when the fabric is stretched. B the elastic thread, the fabric as a whole being 50 The invention is not limited to Wool garments designated C, the right hand needle D and the but is to be understood as to be applicable to left hand needle E. any hand knitted fabric, however used, and re In Fig. 1 the right hand needle D is shown as gardless of the material employed, wool, silk, thrust through the last loop 10 on the left hand cotton, linen or rayon. The term “yarn” as used needle E. As is customary in knitting, the fabric 55

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