Probably they knitted by hand. Check out Industrial Revolution to see exactly when machines came into common use. In a message dated 5/14/2011 3:28:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, anita.griffith@sympatico.ca writes: HI Everyone - I have several male ancestors with the occupation stocking knitter - in Romrod, near Alsfeld. I haven't been able to find anything on the internet about this occupation. Can someone enlighten me about what they did, income, etc.? Did they knit by hand or machine at that time? I can't read German so prefer and English site, but am interested in German language sites as well - I'll figure it out using google translate. Thanks, Anita ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to HESSE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message