Owen J. Roberts

“ The patent drawings show no holder of any sort. The specifications merely say: 'In other methods the fabric is stretched over the finger tip, making it difficult to insert the hook beneath the thread. This objection is obviated in the present invention by stretching the fabric over a porcelain dish, allowing sufficient depth for the free use of the needle.' Obviously the phrase 'a porcelain dish' is not descriptive of an eggcup. There is nowhere any reference to the control of the degree of stretching which is now said to be essential and to be afforded only by such a holder. ”

“ To knit is to form a fabric by the interlacing of a single yarn or thread in a series of connected loops. In knitted articles, of which a silk stocking is an example, a break in the thread anywhere in the fabric will cause a number of loops to pull out, leaving in their place parallel threads. ”

“ Holders which have an opening to give room for the insertion of a needle such as that of an eggcup are old for use in darning. The method of reforming loops in knitted goods with pivoted latch needles was known prior to the application for this patent. The combination of the use of the eggcup type holder and the pivoted latch needle did not entitle Stephens to a patent, and the addition of the element that the needle should be held at an angle to the plane of the fabric, if that is in fact what the claim means, is insufficient to raise the method to the dignity of invention. ”