A knitting machine comprises a needle cylinder, stitch-forming knitting needles, displaceable selector elements for initiating specific knitting operations, springs which bias the selector elements into a first position, mechanical control means which transfer the selector elements into a second position contrary to their biasing and electromagnetic selector means which comprise at least one activatable magnetic pole for holding the selector elements in their second position. The displaceable selector elements have a stop edge which cooperates in the second position with a counterstop edge stationary relative to the movement of the selector element. When the stop edge engages on the counterstop edge, the selector elements are located at such a small distance from the electromagnetic selector means, hereby forming an air gap, that their magnetic force is still sufficient to hold the selector elements in their second position.