Patent ID: 8601613

Claim:
An article of apparel comprising a torso region and a pair of arm regions, at least one of the arm regions having an elbow portion for extending around an elbow joint of a wearer, the elbow portion having a sleeve opening for receiving the elbow joint of the wearer and including a pattern disposed on an exterior of the elbow portion, the pattern formed of a plurality of elements and including: a pair of first areas oriented substantially parallel to a plane of bending of the elbow joint and located on opposite sides of the sleeve opening of the elbow portion along a circumference of the sleeve opening, the first areas having a first degree of stretch resistance in a direction extending around the elbow portion; and a pair of second areas oriented substantially perpendicular to the plane of bending of the elbow joint and located on opposite sides of the sleeve opening of the elbow portion along the circumference of the sleeve opening, each of the second areas positioned between the first areas such that the first and second areas alternate sequentially around and form the entire circumference of the sleeve opening, the second areas having a second degree of stretch resistance in the direction extending around the elbow portion, the first degree of stretch resistance being greater than the second degree of stretch resistance.