The First Socks Machine in the World

In the era when William Li lived, hand-woven textiles were very popular. After William finished his studies at Cambridge University, he returned to his hometown of Calvington and began his pastoral career, as well as his life with the girls who weaved almost all the time. He's a misfit and gets uncomfortable when he hears the rough sound of the weave. When he watched his wife's hands knitting quickly with two needles, suddenly, a thought popped into his mind: why not use hundreds of small needles instead of one big needle, and use many hooks to knit the loops, The thing is lifted and placed on top of the wool, one row at a time, why can't we use an automatic knitting machine?

In fact, William's idea is not new. Nomads in North Africa had been using looms and hooks for centuries B.C.; carpet-weavers used a framing technique not far from what William envisioned. What's new is just the concept of the knitting machine and the simple knitting action of using a row of hooks to lift the knitting loop over the yarn. After 3 years of hard work, in 1589, William's first manual pedal knitting machine was born.

William Lee invented the manual pedal knitting machine, William thought he had found a way to make a fortune. He took the machine to the court to meet Queen Elizabeth, hoping to get the invention and patent rights of the knitting machine. But the Queen was not interested in his invention. William's first knitting machine was a hosiery machine made of coarse wool. The Queen believed that the use of such machinery would threaten the cotton industry in the British Empire. She also thought that socks knitted from wool were too rustic. In order to be able to weave stockings, William spent another 8 years modifying the knitting machine, but this time the Queen still refused to recognize his patent. As a result, William and his younger brother brought the machine to the European continent. This invention was finally supported by King Henry IV of France. Just as his patent was about to be granted, Henry IV was assassinated. After that, William and his younger brother ran around again, trying to persuade the financiers to set up a mechanical weaving factory, but in the end nothing... In 1610, the inventor of the weaving machine died in despair everywhere.

It wasn't until after William Lee's death that the knitting machine came running and met a bosom friend. William's brother returned to England with the machine and met a merchant from Nottingham who was very interested in machines. So they partnered to start the first mechanized knitting factory in the north of the Midlands. The venture was so successful that, a century later, Leicester hand-knitters petitioned city officials to protect their interests by not adding knitting machines to the county.

William Lee's manual pedal knitting machine was originally used for knitting socks, and then gradually extended to knitting clothes, hats, scarves and other objects, and has been in use for more than 200 years. At the beginning of the 19th century, Dawusend in the United Kingdom improved this knitting machine and invented a latch needle without sinkers. At the head of the latch needle, there is a part that can be opened and closed like a crocodile mouth. The knitting action that imitates human fingers is completed, which further improves the work efficiency.

Although William Lee regretted his death, the knitting machine finally ushered in its own spring because of its superior performance over manual knitting.