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Development of Silk
Yarns for Knitted Fabrics
The mechanical characteristics of knitted silk fabrics prepared using
salt-shrunk, fiber-dispersed and resin-treated silk yarns were determined
based on the Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics (KES-FB). These knitted
fabrics had a very soft feel and were fluffy and light. The amount of
starting material yarn needed to obtain a knitted fabric of the same thickness
was smaller in the case of the processed yarns compared with the unprocessed
control yarn. Among the mechanical properties determined, the fabrics
made from the processed yarns had higher values for the LT, WT, B, 2HB,
LC, WC, MMD and SMD parameters, and lower values for the G, 2HG and 2HG3
parameters than fabrics made from the control yarn. These changes in mechanical
characteristics suggest that knitted fabrics made from the processed silk
yarns are flexible and elastic, have a higher resilience, and are soft
and stretching. Although the primary hand feel (HV) parameters like 'Koshi'
(stiffness), 'Fukurami' (fullness and softness), and 'Numeri' (smoothness)
of the knitted fabrics made for winter outer garments from the processed
silk yarns were about the same as those of knitted fabrics made from the
control yarn, the former had a higher total hand feel value (THV) which
is used for assessing fabric quality. Based on the determination of the
various mechanical properties and the results of evaluation by users who
wore the silk sweaters, it is considered that the salt-shrunk, fiber-dispersed
and resin-treated silk yarns after a good potential as yarns for knitted
fabrics.
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