2 in particular cases the location 29 may be configured such that the connecting line 27 forms an acute angle with the longitudinal direction of the shank 2 of the latch needle wherein the point of the angle is oriented away from the hook 4 the inner contour 23 that is a portion of the inner surface of the latch 7 forms a sliding surface for the thread or threads to ensure an unimpeded transfer of the thread of threads to the inner hook space 9 a the inner contour 23 is as viewed from the trapping space 9 preferably concavely bent and thus the components 22 and 23 as viewed together have the general shape of a ski jump as illustrated in fig3 the stepped portion 22 is free from undercut that is it forms with the inner contour 23 and with the engagement face 25 obtuse angles a and u03b2 respectively preferably the angle u03b2 is slightly larger than the angle u03b1 in this manner as viewed from the latch bearing an inner contour 23 of the latch is obtained which extends away from the line 24 into the trapping space 9 as may be observed in fig4 and 5 between the hook tip 4 and the stepped portion 22 a gap 32 is formed.