Yarn Carrier

one of the basic working parts of a knitting machine. The yarn carrier guides the yarn to the machine’s needles as the knitting loops are formed. As the yarn passes through the carrier, it is fed to the needles at a specific angle and at a constant, slight tension.

Yarn carriers may be movable or fixed. A movable yarn carrier makes a back-and-forth motion on a flat-bed machine or a circular motion on a circular machine relative to a fixed needlebed and brings the yarn to the working needles. Movable yarn carriers also include the guide bars of warp-knitting machines. Yarn carriers of that type make lengthwise rocking movements that wind the threads around the needles. Fixed carriers bring the yarn to the needles of a moving needlebed. Many knitting machines have from two to six yarn carriers in each loop-making system. In knitting several types of articles, such as stockings or patterned tricot, a special mechanism is used to automatically alternate the yarn carriers.