A yarn feeding and guide device for knitting machines has at least one yarn feeder, which delivers the yarn arriving from a yarn package and being supplied as needed at a predetermined tension by a yarn delivery unit or fournisseur to the needles of a row of needles. The yarn feeder is disposed in a stationary manner on the machine such that it does not contact the needles of the needle row, and yarn guide elements located in the path of the yarn are associated with it. In order to obtain gentle handling of the yarn, in particular in the vicinity of the yarn feeder, and to attain easy manipulation of the yarn feeding and guide device, the arrangement is such that the yarn feeder has at least one open yarn guide groove formed on the circumference of a yarn feeder body provided with a securing device, and the bottom of this guide groove is curved in an arc--as viewed in the direction of yarn travel--and the yarn can be deflected in this guide groove into a direction extending obliquely with respect to the needles.