This article just gives a brief insight to how the demand for knitted items through the ages has necessitated the growth and development of the commercial knitting factories that have grown up all over the world.
Knitting factories play an important role in worldwide garment production as well as in the production of tools for knitting. .
How it all started ……….
The mechanization of what had been solely hand made knitted product came about with the arrival of the Renaissance and the advances in metalworking . this change led to the first mass production of knitting needles, and then the formation of all-male knitting guilds. Soon after, however, came the invention of knitting machines, which led to knitting mills and the guild hand-knitter wasn’t so important anymore. Supplanted by other forms of fine needlework that could not yet be reproduced by machine, fine hand-knitting was rendered obsolete. By the Victorian era, hand-knitting had become one of the domestic arts, practiced mainly by the poor, the rural, and predominately a female past-time
If we think at the 21st century, Knitting has transformed into a largely recreational activity, rediscovered by a new generation. However, it is mainly a recreational activity because now no one has to knit in order to make his own clothes, as there are so many places where anyone can afford mass produced clothes.
China has the lead …………
You can find knitting factories all over the world. However, China is a major supplier of knitted fabrics and that is where we find many knitting factories there.
To give you just some idea of the vastness of some of these operations, here’s just a little background into a couple of them:
Foshan Huilin knitting factory located in China(mainland) is a factory that specializes in the production of weft-knitted fabrics. It covers an area of 6,000 square meters and was founded in 1991. This knitting factory produces many types of knitted fabrics , such as cotton fabrics polyester fabrics, acrylic fabrics, rayon fabrics, TC and CVC fabrics. After 15 years development and growth this knitting factory is equipped with 8 large double knitting tubular machines, 25 imported large single knitting tubular machines, 18 rib tubular knitting machines, 6 terry tubular knitting machines and 3 tube opening machines.