A pair of needle beds are provided with head portions thereof opposed to each other and a plurality of sinkers are provided in a juxtaposed relationship at the top portions of the needle beds, and first and second needles each having a transfer element are provided for sliding movement between each adjacent ones of the sinkers. The first and second needles are either provided alternately in a spaced relationship by an equal distance from each other throughout each needle bed or individually provided in an equally spaced relationship from each other but such that the distance between the first and second needles positioned on the opposite sides of each of the sinker plates is different from the other distance.