. A very early knitting machine was created in 1589 by an English clergyman called William Lee for knitting socks/stockings in the 16th century.  However, Queen Elizabeth did not want to put hand knitters out of work and so William went to France who supported the idea and slowly the sock machine spread and developed throughout Europe.  This type of sock machine is a circular type of machine not the flat-bed home knitting machine we recognise today. . . Knitting was encouraged during the two world wars in the 20th century and knitted garments became fashionable during the 1950s and 1960s when a range of simple home knitting machines and…