Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed for knitting terry loops on a circular hosiery machine having at least one feeding station. The apparatus includes a cylinder that carries a plurality of needles individually guided in a groove provided on the cylinder. The needles are engaged and vertically displaced by stationary cams. A plurality of radial sinkers cooperate with the needles and at least two yarns are concurrently fed to the needles at one or more working stations. A sleeve is positioned in the needle clyinder and a plurality of longitudinal, radial grooves are formed through the wall of the cylinder for guiding an equal number of pin punches which are alternately positioned with the needles of the cylinder. Each pin punch has a butt that is guided in a cam track inside said sleeve. The pin punches are moved upwardly to form the terry loop of the fabric with at least one of the fed yarns, while the needles of the cylinder are depressed to knit the base fabric.

Abstract: The terry loop forming instruments are positioned in vertically extending slots in the needle cylinder and between the slots containing the cylinder needles. The terry loop forming instruments are supported for vertical sliding movement in the slots and cams are provided at the knitting station for raising and maintaining the terry loop instruments at a relatively high level as the cylinder needles are lowered to form terry loops from a terry yarn and to form body yarn stitch loops of a body yarn. The terry loop forming instruments are adapted for use with a circular hosiery knitting machine having at least one knitting station and being adapted to knit socks and the like.