Abstract: A skin-contacting fabric underlay for use beneath a therapeutic or prosthetic device on a human or animal body part is formed as a tube of knitted fabric. The yarns forming the fabric have a core of elastic material surrounded by moisture-transporting filaments of substantially non-elastic material, the yarn having elasticity, the fabric having a warp-knitted structure characterized by an artificial terry surface on an inner skin-contacting surface of the tube. The artificial terry surface is formed by underlaps of the yarn, in which the elasticity of the yarn causes the underlaps to draw up and form artificial terry loops that contact the skin of the body part about which the tube is sleeved. The artificial terry loops serve to space overlaps of the yarn from the skin and to move moisture away from the skin.