What is "stocking frame"

Stocking \Stock"ing\, n. [From Stock, which was formerly used of a covering for the legs and feet, combining breeches, or upper stocks, and stockings, or nether stocks.]

1. A close-fitting covering for the foot and leg, usually knit or woven.

2. Any of various things resembling, or likened to, a stocking[1]; as:

   1. A broad ring of color, differing from the general color, on the lower part of the leg of a quadruped; esp., a white ring between the coronet and the hock or knee of a dark-colored horse.

   2. A knitted hood of cotton thread which is eventually converted by a special process into an incandescent mantle for gas lighting.

      Blue stocking. See Bluestocking.

      Stocking frame, a machine for knitting stockings or other hosiery goods.

n. knitting machine used to manufacture hosiery

A stocking frame was a mechanical knitting machine used in the textiles industry. It was invented by William Lee of Calverton near Nottingham in 1589. Its use, known traditionally as '''framework knitting, ''' was the first major stage in the mechanisation of the textile industry, and played an important part in the early history of the Industrial Revolution.