Footwear upper including variable stitch density

An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising:

• a textile structure including a plurality of yarn rows, each yarn row of the plurality of yarn rows including a first strand aligned with a second strand, the first and second strands being interlocked via stitches disposed at selected locations along a length of the yarn row, wherein:
• the strands of the plurality of yarn rows are not secured to a substrate,
• the stitches of the plurality of yarn rows define a stitch density within the upper, the stitch
• density being the number of stitches present within a selected area of the upper,
• a first selected area of the upper possesses a first stitch density and a second selected area of the upper possesses a second stitch density, and
• the first stitch density is greater than the second stitch density;
• a channel formed by a plurality of channel strands secured by channel stitches;
• and
• an element positioned within the channel such that each channel strand of the plurality of channel strands extends from a first lateral stitch on a first lateral side of the structural element, over the structural element, and to a second lateral stitch on a second lateral side of the structural element.