Flat-bed knitting machine and method of knitting

A flat bed knitting apparatus for knitting ultra high quality, substantially defect free fabric from yarn comprising:

• a pair of opposing flat needle beds arranged in operative relation, said needle beds having a multiplicity of parallel needle grooves in the upper surfaces thereof, said needle grooves being spaced apart a predetermined distance and the grooves in said opposing beds being offset by one-half of said predetermined distance,
• a latch needle mounted in each of said needle grooves in said needle beds for sliding movement between a plurality of positions, including an upper knitting position and a lower stitch forming position,
• means for selecting and actuating individual needles for movement between their various positions independently of any other needles and for varying the length of movement of the needles as required for substantially uniform stitch formation, and
• means for feeding a yarn to said needles under tension for substantially uniform stitch formation.