An upper for an article of footwear may include a knitted component that includes a first zone, a second zone, and a third zone. Each of the first zone, the second zone, and the third zone may extend toward a collar area of the upper at least partially in a heel area of the upper. The second zone is located between the first zone and the third zone such that the second zone is located in a substantially central portion of the heel area. The second zone may include an elasticity that is greater than an elasticity of the first zone and also greater than an elasticity of the third zone.

A method for providing semi-finished tubular manufactured articles to be closed by stitching at an axial end thereof for the production of socks, comprising a step of providing the body of the tubular manufactured article and a step of providing an end portion of the tubular manufactured article which comprises: —a step of providing an intermediate band connected to the body of the manufactured article and thinner than the thickness at least of the rows of knitting of the body of the manufactured article which are connected to the intermediate band; —a step of providing an end edge thicker than the thickness of the intermediate band; the height of the intermediate band, proximate to the regions that constitute the lateral ends of the two flaps of the end portion to be overlapped in order to stitch the axial end to be closed of the tubular manufactured article, is lower than the height of the remaining part of the intermediate band.

The invention is directed to a flat knit bra comprising two cups (1a, 1b), each cup provided with a neckline zone (2a, 2b), two power slings (4a, 4b) and two wing zones (5a, 5b) and a band (6) having a first and second end (6a, 6b). The neckline zones (2a, 2b) may extend to the band (6) in an overlapping fashion. The power sling (4a, 4b) is comprised of a double layered knit material. The band (6) is branches from a common centre region (16) into more than one band zones (7,8,9,10). One band zone (7,8) extends to the ends (6a, 6b) of the band (6) and at least one other band zone (9,10) extends into each of the wings (5a, 5b).

Disclosed herein is a fabric having variable fabric properties, the fabric comprising a plurality of fabric regions, each fabric region formed from at least one set of yarns; and the sets of yarns of the fabric regions belonging to a common family of thermoplastic polymer materials, wherein the fabric is moulded and the fabric regions have different fabric properties from each other.

A sock that is less likely to slip off and provide an excellent wearing feeling while ensuring a state of the sock being hard to see. This sock provides a foot connecting portion 14 between a toe portion 11 and a heel portion 12. The sock also provides an ankle connecting portion 15 between the heel portion 12 and a body portion 13. The foot connecting portion 14 and the ankle connecting portion 15 that sandwich the heel portion 12 are knitted as non-cylindrical knitted fabrics having predetermined knitting widths, respectively, to form an opening 16 surrounded by the toe portion 11, the foot connecting portion 14, the heel portion 12, the ankle connecting portion 15, and the body portion 13 to open an area from the ankle to the instep in a worn state. This prevents an instep portion of the sock from protruding from a shoe and becoming visible.

A process to close an end of a tubular manufactured article directly on hosiery and knitwear circular machines, a respective circular machine and a respective device are described. The process provides that a respective stitch is collected from each needle of at least one first half of adjacent needles of the machine cylinder; the stitches are arranged on corresponding needles of a second half of adjacent cylinder needles, so that each of the needles of the second half of the needles carries a pair of stitches of the last course, which are arranged, at first, on opposite cylinder needles with reference to a diameter of the cylinder; at least one yarn is fed to the cylinder needles; and the pairs of stitches are joined together and the end of the tubular manufactured article is closed, by processing the yarn with the needles of the second half of the cylinder needles.

A process for making a tubular textile article destined to represent an upper for footwear comprising programming a textile machine defining a tubular textile article to be made, extending longitudinally in a seamless way starting from a first open end and consisting of a plurality of stitch rows in succession. The process further includes knitting, in accordance with the programming step, by making the first end, belonging to a first fabric of the textile article, destined to represent a tip end of an upper; making a tip portion of the first fabric, destined to represent a portion of the upper enclosing the toe; making a tab, belonging to the first fabric and destined to represent a portion of the upper enclosing or covering at least one portion of instep; making a middle portion of the first fabric, destined to represent a portion of the upper enclosing at least part of the sole and sides of the foot, wherein the middle portion has a longitudinal opening which is located on at least one portion of the instep, and two lateral margins on the sides of the longitudinal opening; and making an end portion of the first fabric destined to represent a portion of the upper enclosing the foot heel. The tab and the longitudinal opening of the middle portion both have a simultaneous longitudinal development, in a direction corresponding to the longitudinal development of the upper; the knitting step entirely produces the unitary, single-piece tubular textile article; the steps are performed in succession such that processing is never interrupted between each step and the following one.

An upper-torso garment includes a chest-covering portion having a knit textile region, which includes a plurality of courses fully spanning a dome-shaped portion. In addition, the knit textile region includes a plurality of partial-length courses partially spanning the dome-shaped portion.

A method for providing intermediate manufactures for production of manufactures such as an inshoe, footlet, no-show sock, shoes or the like with double thickness, with a circular hosiery knitting machine and an intermediate manufacture obtained with the method. The method has the particularity that it comprises at least the following steps: a step of providing a first tubular portion of knitted fabric; a casting-off step, in which a portion of knitted fabric is provided by moving to knit a group of contiguous needles at the at least one feed; a casting-on step, in which a portion of knitted fabric is provided by moving to knit a group of contiguous needles at the at least one feed; a step of providing a second tubular portion of knitted fabric by actuating the needle cylinder with a continuous rotary motion about its own axis in one direction of rotation.

Aspects of a flat-knit support garment for an upper torso are provided. The flat-knit support garment may include a bra structure having a flat-knit bra material that includes a cup zone, a body zone, a wing zone, a strap zone, and a chestband zone. In some instances, a perimeter of the flat-knit bra comprising a neck opening and armhole openings includes a finished edge treatment corresponding to a high stretch modulus, covered yarn. Such finished edges are generated in seamless construction with the unitary, flat-knit structure of the flat-knit support garment for an upper torso. The flat-knit characteristics of the support garment for an upper torso may correspond to one or more of a flat-knit stitch sequence, a yarn type, and/or a finishing treatment.