Gather (knitting)

Gathers knit into a pullover sweater using stitch decreases.

In knitting, a gather is a generic term for the several methods that draw stitches closer together laterally, i.e., within a row of knitting. Common methods include:

• In binding, a yarn loop is passed over 2 or more stitches in the same row (usually adjacent to the binding loop); also known as a pullover stitch.
• In clustering, the yarn is wound laterally around a set of stitches in the same row, possibly several times; also known as a wrap stitch.
• Smocking is a sewing or embroidery technique in which the tiny pleats are drawn together with thread or yarn. Before the development of elastic, smocking was used to provide a stretchable, flexible panel of fabric.

Related techniques

Ruching created by sewing stitches down the centre of a fabric strip, then pulling one end of the thread to gather the fabric.

In the sewing technique, ruching, a large number of increases are introduced in one row, which are then removed by decreases a few rows later. This produces many small vertical ripples in the fabric, effectively little pleats. The technique of shirring produces a similar effect by gathering the fabric in two parallel rows (not necessarily horizontal), usually by smocking.

References

• Hiatt, June Hemmons (1988). The Principles of Knitting. Simon and Schuster. pp. 55–56, 82–83. ISBN 0-671-55233-3. OCLC 17325110. 

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