Flat knitting

This may cause the gauge of the knitting to vary in alternating rows of stockinette fabrics; however, this effect is usually not noticeable, and may be eliminated with practice (the usual way) or by using needles of two different sizes (an unusual and less effective way).

[1] In Industrial Knitting applications, the terms "Flat" and "Circular" have very different meanings from those given above.

A flat-knitting machine is very flexible, allowing complex stitch designs, shaped knitting and precise width adjustment.

The two largest manufacturers of industrial flat-knitting machines are Stoll of Germany, and Shima Seiki of Japan.

The industrial hand flat-knitting machine is considered to have been invented by work covered by the Isaac Lamb patents.