A short, popular and somewhat romanticized account of William Lee, the English clergyman who invented the stocking frame (mechanical knitting machine) in 1589-1593. It tells how he was moved by watching his sweetheart Mary hand-knit, built the machine, moved to London under Lord Hunsdon's patronage, and was refused a patent by Queen Elizabeth I, even after producing silk stockings in 1598. Lee died in poverty in 1608. A halftone illustration titled "The Origin of the Knitting Machine" accompanies the text.