His first efforts were failures, but all at once the idea of the lock-stitch came to him.

Previously all machines (except Hunt's, which was unknown, not having even been patented) had used the chainstitch, wasteful of thread and easily unraveled.

The two threads of the lockstitch cross in the materials joined together, and the lines of stitches show the same on both sides.

In short, the chainstitch is a crochet or knitting stitch, while the lockstitch is a weaving stitch.

Howe had been working at night and was on his way home, gloomy and despondent, when this idea dawned on his mind, probably rising out of his experience in the cotton mill.