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.

An article of footwear with a knitted component including an upper and an integral knit ankle cuff is provided. The upper and the ankle cuff are formed as a one-piece knit element. The knit element forms a portion of an exterior surface of the upper and an opposite interior surface of the upper, with the interior surface forming a void for receiving a foot. The ankle cuff is formed of unitary knit construction with the upper as a one-piece knit element and extends above a throat area of the upper. The ankle cuff includes malleolus zones on medial and lateral sides to correspond with the ankle bones of a wearer. The knit component further incorporates features to assist with providing entry for a foot of a wear, providing comfort to a wearer, and to assist with orientation of the upper of the article of footwear when being worn.

A shoe includes a knit upper and a sole secured to the upper. The knit upper has a wingtip pattern knit into the knit upper.

A method may include knitting a first portion of a knitted component on a first region of a knitting machine, knitting a second portion of the knitted component on a second region of the knitting machine, moving the first portion of the knitted component towards the second portion of the knitted component by moving a first needle bed of the knitting machine relative to a second needle bed of the knitting machine, and knitting at least one course with the knitting machine that connects the first portion of the knitted component to the second portion of the knitted component.

An article of footwear is configured to be worn so as to at least partially cover a wearer's foot. The footwear includes at least one optical fiber on an internal surface of the footwear. The at least one optical fiber is configured to project radiation having a therapeutic wavelength through the at least one optical fiber and toward at least one of the wearer's foot, ankle or leg when the footwear is being worn so as to at least partially cover the wearer's foot.

An improvement in the field of fabrics, wherein the fabrics provide improvements such as weighted regions (20) and grip locations (40). Currently, wearable weights are very limited in many ways such as, but not limited to, placement of the weights, fit of wearable weight to the user's body, sustained placement of the wearable weight during athletic use. The fabric (10) provides a solution to this problem by allowing the integrating the weights and other features into the material of any article of clothing or similar fabric object. The fabric (10) affords the user the comfort, flexible and other advantages typical of athletic clothing along with added benefits of weight training. Further, the grip locations (40) provide surface friction for athletic applications such as, but not limited to, fitness workouts and yoga. The principal use of the fabric (10) is as an article of clothing.

A shoe includes an upper and a sole. The upper includes an outer layer having a first knitwear and an inner layer having a second knitwear. The first knitwear differs from the second knitwear with regard to at least one of a yarn used, a stitch structure, an alignment, and a form.

A knitted component may include a knit element with a first surface and an opposite second surface. An inlaid yarn may extend through the knit element and between the first surface and the second surface. A secured area where the first surface and the second surface are secured together may be included, where the inlaid yarn is secured by loops forming the first surface and the second surface. A cushioning area may be included, where the cushioning area has a tubular construction such that the first surface and the second surface are separable, forming a cavity therebetween, and where the inlaid yarn extends through the cavity formed between the first surface and the second surface.

An article of footwear may include an upper incorporating a knitted component. An inlaid strand extends through the knitted component. A combination feeder may be utilized to inlay the strand within the knitted component. As an example, the combination feeder may include a feeder arm that reciprocates between a retracted position and an extended position. In manufacturing the knitted component, the feeder inlays the strand when the feeder arm is in the extended position, and the strand is absent from the knitted component when the feeder arm is in the retracted position.

In one aspect, a textile component including bulking yarn is disclosed. In embodiments, the textile component is a knitted component. In one embodiment, an article of footwear includes a knitted component arch support configured to reduce the rate of pronation. A support structure may include a fusible yarn adjacent to an external surface of the arch support, a bulking yarn, and a nonfusible yarn. In certain embodiments, an arch support includes compartments and flex lines. In another aspect, an article having a knitted component includes a rigid material, a bulking yarn, and a flexible material. The rigid material may be fusible yarn. Methods for forming a textile component are provided. One embodiment involves knitting a first section comprising a fusible yarn, a second section comprising a bulking yarn, and a third section comprising a nonfusible yarn, and heating.