Knitted fabric produced by a circular knitting machine (4) passes downwardly to a fabric winding unit (5) that rotates synchronously with the knitting unit and that includes fabric delivery rolls (25,26) and a fabric winding shaft (28) that are driven by rotation of the unit. The winding unit (5) also includes a fabric guide that guides the fabric onto the shaft, a fabric cutter that cuts the fabric after a preselected quantity of it has been wound upon the roll, a fabric receiving table, and a thruster that removes the wound fabric from the center shaft (28) and discharges the fabric onto the fabric receiving table and thereafter from the machine. A central processing unit and associated sensor and switch elements monitor and/or control operation of the knitting machine and winding unit.