Gather (knitting)

In knitting, a gather draws stitches closer together within a row of knitting. Common methods include:

In binding, a yarn loop is passed over 2 or more stitches in the same row (usually adjacent to the binding loop); also known as a pullover stitch.
In clustering, the yarn is wound laterally around a set of stitches in the same row, possibly several times; also known as a wrap stitch.
Smocking is a sewing or embroidery technique in which the tiny pleats are drawn together with thread or yarn. Before the development of elastic, smocking was used to provide a stretchable, flexible panel of fabric.

Related techniques

Ruching created by sewing stitches down the centre of a fabric strip, then pulling one end of the thread to gather the fabric.

In the sewing technique ruching (pronounced /ˈruːʃɪŋ/, ROO-shing also spelled rouching), a large number of increases are introduced in one row, which are then removed by decreases a few rows later. This produces many small vertical ripples or "ruches" in the fabric, effectively little pleats. The technique of shirring produces a similar effect by gathering the fabric in two parallel rows (not necessarily horizontal), usually by smocking.

References

Hiatt, June Hemmons (1988). The Principles of Knitting. Simon and Schuster. pp. 55–56, 82–83. ISBN 0-671-55233-3. OCLC 17325110.