y reversing the stitch. In place of making the
stitch work appear entirely upon one side of the fabric, as in plain
work, the needles are so arranged that every alternate row, or two
rows alternately, are reversed, thus making both sides alike. Plain
work is done with a single bank of needles, while rib work requires
two banks, the function of the second one being to pull and loop the
yarn in an opposite direction, thus producing a thicker and more
elastic web.

Double work in knitting consists merely in running two threads where
one is commonly used. The work is done readily and with but little
extra cost for labor. Coarser and heavier needles are required, also a
wider gauge for the needle cylinder. Fancy effects in double work are
produced by running two colors instead of one. The tendency is for one
thread to twine about the other, thus making attractive
double-and-twist work. Lumbermen's socks and like goods are often
knitted on this plan, though for the most part double work is for the
heels, toes, and soles of ordinary hose.

=Stripe Knitting.= The process of striping knitted fabrics is
accomplished automatically by a system of changing the yarns when
delivered by the feeds. Circular machines knitting a tubular web
cannot be utilized for this purpose, hence the work is done on
fashioning or stocking frames. It has only been within recent years
that makers of knitting machinery have been able to offer machines on
which more than one kind of yarn could be knit at one time. There are
now in use, however, machines that will readily knit several colors of
yarn at the same time.

=Knitting Cotton.= A variety of loosely twisted, four-ply cotton yarn,
dyed in various plain and mixed colors, employed for knitting hosiery,
tidies, mats, etc., by hand. It is numbered from 8, coarse, to 20,
fine, and commonly put up sixteen balls in a box, each box containing
two pounds, manufacturer's weight.

=Knitting Silk.= A loosely twisted silk thread of domestic manufacture
employed for knitting mittens, stockings, and other articles by hand.
It is also much used for crochet work. Knitting silk is put up in the
form of balls, each containing one-half ounce of thread. It is made in
but two sizes, No. 300, coarse, and No. 500, fine; each ball of the
former number contains 150 yards of silk; of the latter 250 yards. No.
500 is manufactured only in white, cream, and black; the No. 300 is
fast dyed in a great variety of colors.

=Ho