Abstract: An apparatus for winding into a roll a knitted fabric produced in a circular knitting machine and for conveying the roll to the outside of the knitting machine. A knitted fabric hangs below the knitting machine and is wound around a pair of horizontally aligned takeup shafts that are shiftable away from each other and toward each other until they are thrust against each other. At the start of the winding operation, the takeup shafts are shifted toward each other, and when the shafts approach positions to leave a gap between inner gripping ends of these shafts, a knitted fabric insertion link mechanism provided alongside the takeup shafts is extended toward the gap, and a fabric thrust arm on a distal end of the link mechanism pushes and insert a portion of the lower starting end of the hanging fabric into the gap. Thereafter the gap is closed so that the lower starting end of the fabric is firmly gripped between the gripping ends to enable start of the winding operation.