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HOSIERY

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 790 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HOSIERY , a See also:

term used to designate all manufactured textile fabrics which in their See also:process of manufacture have been built on the principle of looping or See also:loop structure. The origin of the term is obvious, being derived from " See also:hose " or See also:stocking, this being one of the earliest garments made by the process of See also:knitting (q.v.). While it still forms one of the staples of the See also:trade, it is only one of a very numerous and diversified range of applications of the entire See also:industry. The elastic structure of knitting makes it very adaptable for all kinds of See also:body or underwear. There is scarcely a single textile See also:article manufactured but can be reproduced on the knitting or loop structure principle. The See also:art of knitting is of very See also:modern origin as compared with that of See also:weaving. No certain allusion to the art occur before the beginning of the 15th See also:century. In an See also:act of See also:parliament of See also:Henry VII. (1488) knitted woollen caps are mentioned. It is supposed that the art was first practised in See also:Scotland, and thence carried into See also:England, and that caps were made by knitting for some See also:period before the more difficult feat of stocking-making was attempted. In an act of See also:Edward VI. (1553) "knitte hose, knitte peticotes, knitte gloves and knitte sleeves " are enumerated, and the trade of hosiers, among others, included in an act dated 1563.

See also:

Spanish See also:silk stockings were worn on rare occasions by Henry VIII., and the same much-prized articles are also mentioned in connexion with the See also:wardrobe of Edward VI. Knitting, or loop formation by See also:mechanical means, is divided into two distinct principles—See also:frame-See also:work knitting and warp knitting. Both principles may be employed in the formation of a large variety of See also:plain and See also:fancy stitches or a See also:combination of the two. Frame-work Knitting in its simplest See also:form consists of rows of loops supporting each other—built from one continuous See also:thread of See also:yarn and See also:running from one See also:side of the fabric to the other and back C~II Coil Structure of Plain Knitting See also:diagram by a number of (back of fabric). threads running up the fabric. (fig. I). It is on this principle of stitch that the greatest amount of hosiery is built (hose, shirts, pants). Warp Knitting in its simplest form consists of rows of loops, but the number of threads employed are equal to the number of loops in the width of the fabric. Thus it will be seen that the threads run lengthwise of the fabric (fig. 2). This principle gives greater to enter into a description of the complex mechanical movements See also:scope for reproducing designs in openwork and See also:colour than that of of See also:Lee's stocking-frame. The first fabric made by See also:Leg was of a See also:glove and fancy hosiery See also:industries.

Machinery.—In See also:

hand knitting the implements employed (a few needles or wires) are very See also:simple and inexpensive. In the manufacturing industry the most complex and ingenious machinery is used. In 1589 the Rev. See also:William Lee, a See also:graduate of St See also:John's See also:College, See also:Cambridge, while acting as See also:curate (or See also:vicar) of Calverton, See also:Nottinghamshire, introduced his stocking-frame. This See also:machine was the first mechanical means employed to produce a looped or knitted fabric. This frame or machine of Lee's was the origin of all the hosiery and See also:lace See also:machines at See also:present in use. One of the most remarkable points about his invention was its completeness and adapt-ability for the work for which its inventor intended it. The See also:main principles of Lee's frame are em- bodied in most of the rotary or See also:power frames of the present See also:day. Fig. 3 shows a hand frame of the present day. In hand knitting an indefinite number of loops are skewered on a See also:wire or See also:pin, but, in Lee's frame, an individual hooked or bearded See also:needle is employed for the support and formation of each loop in the breadth of the fabric. This needle consists of a shank with a terminal See also:spring-pointed See also:hook (or See also:beard), the point of which can be pressed at will into a groove or See also:eye in the shank.

For method by which the loops are formed on the needles of the frame see fig. 4. This shows a few of Lee's hooked or bearded needles having the old loops or work See also:

hanging See also:round the needle shanks. The thread of yarn which is to form the new See also:row of loops is laid over the needle shanks and waved or looped between each pair of needles. This waving or looping ensures sufficient yarn being See also:drawn and loops of a See also:uniform See also:size being made, so that a See also:regular and level fabric will be produced. The looping or waving is obtained by having thin plates of shaped See also:metal, called sinkers, which have a See also:nose-shaped point and hang between the needles. When looping they have an individual See also:movement 'down-wards between the needles, and as they fall the nose-shaped point carries the yarn down, thus forming the new loop (fig. 5). The size of the loop is regulated by the distance the sinker is allowed to fall. FIG. 4. After the thread of yarn has A, The leads into which the needles (B) are been looped between See also:cast.

D, The old loops or work. by the the needle sinkers, shanks the ke C, The new loops formed and brought under loops are brought the beards. forward under the needle beards or hooks. A presser See also:

bar is now brought down to See also:close or See also:press all the points of the needle beards into the eye in the shank. Thus all the hook ends of the needles are temporarily closed, with the newly formed loops under them. While in this position, the old loops hanging round the shank are brought forward and landed on to the See also:top of the needle beard ,and off the needle altogether, being thus See also:left hanging round, or supported by the loops newly formed. The needle beards are now released, and the loops drawn back along the shanks to be in position for next new course of loops. The foregoing is only an outline of how the loops are formed on the needles. It is not necessary here Sat, even-selvedged nature, so that garments had to be cut to shape from the fabric. He soon learned to See also:fashion or shape the garment at will, during the process of making, by transferring loops I 4 — -' 5 I, Bearded needle cast in the See also:lead. A, Lead; B, Shank; C, Eye; D, Beard. 2, The thread is laid over the needles and formed into loops between the needles by means of the sinkers, those new-formed loops being brought under the needle beards (as at 3).

4, The beards pressed or closed to allow the old loops to be passed on to the top. 5, The old loops knocked off the needles and left hanging round the newly formed loops. at the edges, inwards to narrow, or outwards to widen. This process at the present day is known as fashioning, and all garments of the best make are shaped or fashioned in this manner. After Lee had practised his new art for a few years at Calverton he removed to See also:

London, but on his receiving no help or encouragement from See also:Queen See also:Elizabeth or her successor, See also:King See also:James, he was induced to See also:cross over to See also:France with his frames. There he built up a flourishing industry at See also:Rouen, under the patronage of the See also:French king, Henry IV. Through the See also:murder of this monarch he lost his patronage and died of want about the See also:year 161o. He was buried in an unknown See also:grave in See also:Paris. A number of improvements had been made on Lee's frame during the 18th century. The one of greatest importance was the See also:rib machine invented by Jedediah See also:Strutt of See also:Belper in 1758. It was not what could be actually termed an improvement on Lee's frame, but an addition to it. Lee's frame was not altered in any way, Strutt's machine being added to it, and the two being worked in See also:conjunction produced a fabric of a more elastic nature and alike on both sides (fig.

6). Strutt's machine consisted of a set of needles placed at right angles to and between Lee's plain needles, with the result that, when knitting, the frame needles See also:

drew their loops to one side and the machine needles their loops to the opposite side of the fabric. The first offshoot from frame-work knitting was the invention of the hand warp See also:loom in 1775. It was improved by the addition of the See also:Dawson See also:wheel by William Dawson in FIG. 6.—A ;Rib 1791. This machine is the origin of the Stitch. various complex machines now working on this principle. Some of these have See also:Jacquard mechanism attached, and nearly all of them are driven by See also:motive power. About the See also:middle of the 19th century close on 50,000 of Lee's hand frames were in use, finding employment for nearly too,000 persons. Many attempts had been made previously to transform Lee's frame into a power or rotary frame. One of the first and most successful was that invented by See also:Luke See also:Barton in 1857. This frame was fitted with self-acting mechanism for fashioning, and was practically Lee's frame having rotary shafts with cams added to give the various movements, this type of frame being known as straight bar rotary frames. In 1864 William See also:Cotton of See also:Loughborough altered this frame by See also:reversing the positions of the needles and sinkers.

Although made by various builders it is still known as the Cotton Patent Rotary Frame " (fig. 7). Since 1864 a See also:

great number of important improvements and additions have been made to this frame. Single frames are built which will turn off one dozen pairs of hose at once, with the See also:attention of one See also:person. One of the most important inventions in connexion with the hosiery trade was the latch, See also:tumbler, or self-acting needle invented by See also:Matthew Townsend and See also:David Moulding of See also:Leicester in 1858. Previous to this Lee's type of needle was the only one in use. This latch-needle (fig. 8) consists of a See also:stem having a See also:butt at See also:lower end by which it receives its knitting See also:action from cams, Cotton's See also:patents. (William Cotton, Ltd., Loughborough.) the upper end being turned into a hook. Near the hook end and attached to the stem by a pin is the See also:spoon-shaped latch, which closes over the hook as required. Machines fitted with latch-needles have grooves in which the stem of the needle See also:works. Cams, which act on the needle butts, give the needles their individual knitting action in rotation.

This needle is self-acting, in that it is made to draw its own loop, sinkers being dispensed with. Fig. 9 shows the looping action of this needle. The needles when not knitting have a shank, thus hold- See also:

ing the latch open. When about to knit, they are raised individually and in rotation (by the cams acting on the needle butts) to receive the new loop of yarn. Down till almost the middle of the 19th century only a See also:flat See also:web could be knitted in the machines in use, and for the See also:finishing of stockings, &c., it was necessary to seam up the selvedges of web shaped on the frame (fashioned work), or to cut and seam them from even web (cut work). The introduction of any See also:device by which seamless garments could be fabricated was obviously a great desideratum, and it is a singular fact that a machine capable of doing this was patented in 1816 by See also:Sir Marc I. See also:Brunel. This frame was the origin of the French-See also:German loop-wheel circular frame of the present day. Brunel's frame was greatly improved by See also:Peter Claussen of See also:Brussels and was shown at an See also:exhibition in See also:Nottingham in 1845. This frame had See also:horizontal placed needles fixed on a rotating rim. A few years later See also:Moses Mellor of Nottingham tra-nsformed this type of frame by altering the position of the needles to perpendicular.

This is now known as the See also:

English loop-wheel circular frame. After the invention of the latch-needle there was a revolution in the hosiery machine-See also:building industry, new types of machines being invented, fitted to work with latch-needles. Among others there was the latch-needle circular frame, invented by See also:Thomas See also:Thompson, which was the origin of the English latch-needle circular frame, a frame largely used for the See also:production of wide circular fabric. A circular knitting machine of See also:American l origin is the type of Needle. produced the seam- less hosiery of to-day. Like the sewing machine it is largely used in the See also:home as well as in the factory. From this machine all the circular automatic power machines for making plain and rib seamless hose and See also:half hose have been See also:developed. The " flat " or " See also:lamb " type of machine, an American invention, was introduced by J. W. Lamb in 1863. This machine has two needle beds or rows of needles sloping at an See also:angle of nearly 90°. A great many varieties of this type of machine have been invented for the production of all kinds of plain and fancy hosiery, It is built in small sizes to be wrought by hand or in large power machines. A large variety of sewing, seaming and linking machines are employed in the hosiery industry for the purpose of putting together or joining all kinds of hosiery and knitted goods.

These machines have almost entirely superseded the sewing or joining of the garments by hand. The principle centres in Great See also:

Britain of the hosiery industry are Leicester and Nottingham and the surrounding districts. It is also an industry of some extent in the See also:south of Scotland. (T.

End of Article: HOSIERY

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