Knitting Fully-fashioned Stockings

Fully-fashioned stockings are so called because they are fashioned to the shape of the leg and the fabric is knitted in various widths according to the portion of leg it is intended to cover. For the stocking for the average woman it is customary in England to knit the material approximately 14″ wide at commencement.

The fashioning of stockings consists simply of knitting stitches together by moving loops off the needles on which they have been formed to adjoining needles, thus decreasing or increasing the width of the fabric.

This operation is performed quite automatically by the knitting machine, employing two small bars with points each side of and slightly above the needle bar, which carry out the necessary decreasing or increasing movements when required.

Fully-fashioned stockings are knitted flat. That is, a stocking is really a flat piece of material about fourteen inches wide at the top, narrowing and widening according to the portion of the leg it is to cover until it finally tapers down to some half-dozen stitches at the extreme toe. Those parts of the stocking likely to stand extra heavy wear are usually knitted with either stronger or extra yarns, knitted double or in the case of the top of the stocking the fabric is formed with all of these reinforcements and in is in addition doubled.

There are various types of yarn used for stockings intended for different occasions, these include lisle, mercerised cotton, rayon, pure silk and nylon or a combination of any two of them. Most stockings are in fact made of a combination of these yarns. Some of them are particularly suitable where sheerness or transparency is required. Others are noted for their strength and some for their warmth. Where two different yarns are used in combination to knit one particular part of the stocking, they are usually “plaited”. This means