Macchina tessile circolare per maglieria e relativo metodo di formazione della maglia

A circular knitting machine includes a needle-holding cylinder, having longitudinal grooves arranged around a central axis and housing a plurality of needles, and a needle-holding ring having radial grooves housing a plurality of holding-down sinkers, wherein each needle is paired with at least one respective adjacent sinker so as to form a needle-sinker assembly. Each needle-sinker assembly includes a pre-selection element paired with the respective needle and comprising a connecting portion and an activation element comprising an operating portion. The pre-selection element is vertically movable to a pre-selection configuration in which the connecting portion is engaged into a connecting seat defined in the sinker. The activation element is horizontally movable, towards the central axis, until acting upon the pre-selection element, so that the connecting portion causes in its turn a movement of the sinker in the radial groove towards the central axis, thus performing an activation of the sinker.