like for manual control of the program providing device 3 the fashioning indicator 4 and the row counter 5 are also provided suitably on a panel member which covers most part of the rear half section of the machine body 1 the program providing device 3 has a program carrier 7 removably mounted thereon which is formed as an elongated card or sheet made of paper or a synthetic resin the program carrier 7 has a pair of rows of perforations 7a fig3 formed along opposite side edges thereof and carries thereon a patterning or needle selection program in the form of punched holes 7b fig4 arranged in rows and columns thereon which program generally indicates a unit design or pattern to be repetitively produced on a knitted fabric the program carrier 7 when set in position on the program device 3 extends along a path partially surrounding a feed roller 3a fig4 of the program device 3 between a front inlet slit and a rear outlet slit both suitably formed in the panel member on the machine body 1 the program carrier 7 is carried on the feed roller 3a with its perforations 7a engaged with sprockets of a pair of sprocket wheels provided at opposite ends of the feed roller 3a so that upon an incremental angular rotation of the feed roller 3a in a clockwise direction in fig4 it is fed from row to row in a proper direction as best seen from fig4 the program device 3 includes a plurality of feeler levers.