YARN WITH INITIAL LOOPED PORTION TO BYPASS NEED FOR CASTING-ON

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the art of knitting and, more particularly, to yarn with initial looped portion to bypass need for casting-on.

Description of the Art

Continuous strands of yarn with substantially equally sized loops uniformly spaced from each other along the entire length of the yarn, or “loopy” yarn, have been used in different forms of knitting. When the loops are sufficiently large to manually insert one loop through another loop such yarn has also been used for finger knitting. c of the yarn, per se, and the method of finger knitting with such yarn are well known. However, such loopy yarn is not compatible with conventional knitting of straight yarn without loops, was not designed to do so nor has such been suggested or proposed.

When working with conventional straight yarn knitters, especially beginner knitters, are frequently intimidated by the first step in the process, namely “casting on”. In knitting, casting on is a family of different techniques for adding new stitches that do not depend on earlier stitches. When casting on at the beginning. one end of the yarn is usually secured to the knitting needle by knotting it, typically with a slip knot. Once one loop has been secured around the needle, there are different methods for adding other initial loops or stitches, including the following methods or techniques: knit-on cast-on, Cable cast-on, Single cast-on, Long tail cast-on, Tubular cast-on, Provisional cast-on, Two-needle cast-on, Braided cast-on, Chain cast-on, Crochet chain cast-on, Provisional chain cast-on, Turkish cast-on, Magic cast-on, Circular cast-on and Old Norwegian cast-on. See, for example, “How to cast on stitches”, NimbleNeedles. 31 May 2021. Knitters, especially beginners frequently want to learn but cannot grasp casting on because casting on typically requires complicated maneuvers requiring a fair amount of dexterity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a yarn that enables knitting without initially casting on yarn onto knitting needles;

It is another object of the invention to enable knitters, especially beginners, to avoid the need to cast on thereby facilitating and speeding the initial steps in the knitting process;

It is still another object of the invention to provide a yarn that expedites the set up of a row of initial stiches without the need to manipulate straight yarn to form those stitches.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a ball of straight yarn provided with an accessible end portion at one end of the yarn formed with loops only beyond a transition point.

It is a further object of the invention to provide yarn as in the previous object in which the number of loops on the accessible portion are equal to or exceed the number of initial stitches required by a pattern for knitting a desired knitted item;

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a yarn as in the previous objects that can be adapted for use with different sized knitting needles and different weight yarns.

A yarn in accordance with the present invention comprises a length of straight yarn with only a first leading portion being loopy yarn including a number of substantially equally spaced loops. The remaining or trailing portion is straight yarn joined to the first leading portion at a transition point.

The invention can be incorporated into a ball of straight yarn provided with an accessible portion at one end of the yarn formed with loops only beyond a transition point

A yarn in accordance with the present invention comprises a length of straight yarn with only a first leading portion being loopy yarn including a number of substantially equally spaced loops. The remaining or trailing portion is straight yarn joined to the first leading portion at a transition point

A method of knitting using a yarn having a first leading portion of loopy yarn including a number of substantially equally spaced loops and a trailing portion of straight yarn joined to the first leading portion at a transition point comprises the steps of inserting a knitting needle through a predetermined number of loops up to and including a loop at the transition point to form a desired number of initial stitches; and subsequently knitting with the needle using the straight yarn portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a section of a continuous loopy yarn provided with uniformly spaced loops along the entire length of the yarn in accordance with the prior art;

FIG. 2 illustrates a ball of yarn in accordance with the present invention provided with substantially uniformly spaced loops only at a leading or initial length of the yarn for use in creating the initial stitches on a knitting needle without the need for manually casting on;

FIG. 3 illustrates the leading or initial section of the yarn formed with spaced loops and the transition to straight yarn;

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating yarn with a greater number of smaller loops in a leading or initial section of the yarn;

FIG. 5 illustrates a knitting needle extending through a predetermined number of loops of the yarn shown in FIG. 3 as may be required by a pattern, leaving an unused or tail end of the loopy yarn portion; and

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5 but showing a thinner or smaller needle extending through a predetermined number of loops of the yarn shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the Figures, in which the identical or similar parts will be designated by the same reference numerals throughout, and first referring to FIG. 1, a prior art or known loopy yarn is generally designated by the reference numeral 10. The yarn 10 is formed by a straight yarn 12 with loops 14 pre-sewn or spun into the yarn 12.The loops 14 are substantially equally spaced from each other a distance “D”. An example of such a loopy yarn is the “Off the Hook” yarn sold by the applicant of the present invention under the brand “Lion Brand”. Such prior art loopy yarns are provided with loops over the entire length of the yarn and the loops are dimensioned to enable finger knitting without the use of knitting needles.

The present invention is for use with conventional knitting needles. Referring to FIG. 2 a ball of yarn 16 is provided with conventional straight yarn 18. An initial accessible portion of the yarn 10′ is loopy yarn that transitions to the straight yarn 18 at a transition point 20. The number of loops 14 or the length of the initial accessible portion 10′ is not critical. However, the number of loops is preferably equal to or greater than the number of initial stitches that would normally be required to be cast on for a given pattern or item to be knitted, as will be more fully discussed in connection with FIGS. 5 and 6.

Referring to FIG. 3, a loopy yarn portion 10′ is illustrated transitioning to the straight yarn 18 at the transition point 20. The yarn includes loops L₁-L_n that have a height “H” and extend over the initial portion 10′ a distance or length “X”. The height H is a function of the weight of the yarn and the size of the knitting needles that will be used to knit a desired item to thereby simulate the size of the initial stitches were those initial stitches to be cast on in accordance with conventional knitting techniques as aforementioned. For example, for knitting with a US13 size needle (9 mm) H can be selected to be within the range of 5-13 mm to also accommodate US11 and US15 size needles (8 mm and 10 mm respectively). For lighter or smaller diameter needles the sizes of the loops can be decreased while for heavier or larger diameter needles the sizes of the loops can be increased. In this way the loops can simulate the size of the loops that would be created were one of the cast on methods to be used. The spacing D is not critical although spacings on the order of or on the average 1.5 loops per inch is satisfactory. Thus, providing 49 loops over a length X of 35 inches results in approximately 1.4 loops per inch while providing 62 loops over the length X of 42 inches results in approximately 1.48 loops per inch.

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 but showing a thinner or lighter yarn 18′ provided with loops I₁-I_n spaced from each other a distance “d” and having a height “h”. In all cases, irrespective of the sizes of the yarn, the initial loops L₁ and I₁ are the loops at the innermost positions proximate to the transition points 20 and the loops L_n and I_n are the most remote loops from the transition points 20.

In use, referring to FIG. 5, a knitting needle 22 is inserted through a number of loops N, of the yarn shown in FIG. 3, required by a pattern or desired for a given item to be knitted. In the illustration shown, the number of loops N is less than the total number of loops L_n, including loops L₁-L_x while loops L_x+1-L_n remain separated or detached from the needle 22, effectively forming a tail 24. The loops N engaged by the needle 22 simulate cast on stitches by simply inserting the needle through the pre-formed loops without the need to perform any of the cast on techniques. Following the simple act of inserting the needle 22 through the desired number of loops including the initial loop L₁ at the transition point 20 the user can immediately start to knit using the straight yarn 18.

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5 for the case when a smaller diameter needle 22′ is used with a lighter yarn having the smaller loops shown, for example, in FIG. 4. A different number of loops N′, typically more loops the smaller the sizes of the loops, are engaged by the needle 22′ leaving a tail 24′. However, the number of loops N and N′ will be dictated, as aforementioned by the number of loops required for a given item to be knitted and correspond to the number of loops that a user would normally be required to cast onto a needle before continuing knitting using the stitches cast onto the needle.

The present invention helps crafters overcome or sidestep casting on and potentially attracting and encouraging new knitters to take up the craft of knitting. The invention is a first-of-its-kind product that bypasses casting on to enable beginners to get right to knitting. Everyone who has ever wanted to learn or teach knitting will benefit.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention.

Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.