Knitting, which originated with the knotting of fishnets and snares by ancient peoples, is the craft of forming a fabric by the interlocking of yarn in a series of connected loops by means of hand or mechanized needles. The craft of knitting was introduced into continental Europe by the Arabs in the 5th century, and flourished in England and Scotland in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Scots have claimed both its invention and its introduction into France.
All knitting was done by hand until 1589, when the English clergyman William Lee invented a machine that could knit stockings. Queen Elizabeth I of England refused Lee a patent for his machine, considering the new invention a threat to many of the hand knitters in the country. The machine, however, was used in other countries, and paved the way for further improvements. The first addition came in 1758, when a British cotton spinner, Jedediah Strutt, invented an attachment to the stocking frame that could produce ribbed fabric. In the early 19th century the British engineer Marc Isambard Brunel invented a circular knitting frame, to which he gave the name tricoteur. The knitting of heavier yarns became possible when another British inventor, Matthew Townsend, introduced the latch needle, a needle having a latch-closed hook at one end, which he patented in 1858. In 1864 William Cotton, also in Britain, introduced an improvement in power machines that became known as Cotton's system. The improved machine was capable of shaping the heels and toes of hosiery, and it laid the foundation for the modern full-fashioned machines. Automatic knitting machines were first introduced in 1889.