the present embodiment is as follows when knitting a web 28 by use of the hand operated knitting machine the parts 1a to 1c are brought to an aligned position and the knobs 22a are operated rotationally so that the male screw 22b of the straight bar 22 is threaded with the female screw 23a of the tubular portion 23 with the parts 1b 1c thus locked relative to the central part 1a against rotation the web 28 in knitted by operation of the carriage 24 in the known manner when desired to transport the machine while the web 28 is still being knitted the knobs 22a are rotated in the opposite direction to that described above with the loops of the web 28 being mounted on the needles 6 for disengaging the male screws 22b of the straight bar 22 from the female screws 23a of the tubular portions 23 the needle bed parts 1b 1c are then rotated about the axes 17 of the hinge units 14 in the directions shown by the arrow marks a and b respectively in this manner the parts 1b 1c may be swung in the horizontal plane and the sinker elements 8 of the parts 1b 1c may be positioned directly in front of the sinker elements 8 of the central part 1a and the needles 6 of the parts 1b 1c are disposed with their hooks 6a opposite to and at a close distance from the hooks 6a of the needles 6 of the central major part 1a thus the left minor part 1b is turned about the associated axis 17 with the.