Drop Needle
Construction — one of 70 in the glossary
A knit made with selected needles removed from the cylinder, so no loops form in those columns and a fine vertical line runs down the fabric at each gap. The result is a subtle lengthwise rib that reads as texture rather than as a pattern, and because it is knitted in rather than printed or brushed on, it cannot wash out.
A line made by absence
On a circular knitting machine, each needle in the cylinder forms one column of loops — a wale. Take a needle out and that wale is never formed; the yarns on either side pull together across the gap and leave a fine channel running the length of the fabric.
Spacing the removed needles evenly gives an even vertical stripe. The effect is structural, so it survives every wash for the life of the garment.
It is a different thing from a rib knit, which alternates knit and purl stitches to make a much deeper, stretchier corrugation. A drop-needle line is shallow and decorative.
What it changes
The vertical channels give the fabric a little more lengthwise give and a slightly slimmer visual line, which is why drop-needle styles read as retail rather than promotional.
It also breaks up the surface. A large solid screen print crossing the channels can show fine interruptions along them, which on a subtle design is invisible and on a flat block of colour sometimes is not.
Because the fabric is thinner at each dropped wale, those lines are marginally the weakest part of the cloth. In practice this rarely matters on apparel weights.
Common questions
- What is drop needle fabric?
- A knit made with some needles removed from the machine's cylinder, so no loops form in those columns and a fine vertical line runs down the fabric at each gap.
- Is drop needle the same as rib knit?
- No. A rib knit alternates knit and purl stitches for a deep, stretchy corrugation. Drop needle simply omits columns of loops, giving a shallow decorative line with far less stretch.
- Does the drop needle texture wash out?
- No. It is knitted into the structure of the fabric rather than printed or brushed on, so it lasts as long as the garment.
See also
Last reviewed