A shaped sinker for knitting machines, the shaped sinker being configured in particular for manufacturing open-work knitted fabrics and comprising: - a main body shaped like a horizontal flat bar and destined to be slidingly housed inside a radial groove of a sinker-holding crown of a knitting machine so as to move radially in a controlled manner inside the groove, the main body having a main longitudinal development and extending between a rear portion and a front portion; - an upright shaped like a vertical flat element and developing vertically, i.e. rising, from said main body near or at said front portion or in an intermediate position between the rear portion and the front portion, wherein said main body and said upright lie on one lying plane of the shaped sinker; the shaped sinker further comprising a protrusion rising from said upper portion of the upright and developing on the upright side facing the front portion of the main body, the shaped sinker being characterized in that said said upright ends on top with an upper portion defining an upper resting plane destined to receive one or more yarns resting thereupon during stitch formation; and wherein said protrusion has on top a sliding plane, the protrusion protruding from the upper portion of the upright so that the sliding plane of the protrusion is placed forward with respect to the upper resting plane of the upright, according to a direction pointing to the front portion of the main body, wherein said protrusion is laterally offset or inclined with respect to the lying plane of the upright of the shaped sinker from it rises, the protrusion being configured for loading and stretching an interstitch and arranging it on an adjacent needle of the knitting machine so as to form an open work, and wherein said sliding plane of the protrusion is at least partially lowered downwards, i.e. towards the main body, with respect to the upper resting plane of the upright, the sliding plane of the protrusion being configured for receiving thereon one or more yarns when loading and stretching the interstitch during open work formation. - a main body shaped like a horizontal flat bar and destined to be slidingly housed inside a radial groove of a sinker-holding crown of a knitting machine so as to move radially in a controlled manner inside the groove, the main body having a main longitudinal development and extending between a rear portion and a front portion; - an upright shaped like a vertical flat element and developing vertically, i.e. rising, from said main body near or at said front portion or in an intermediate position between the rear portion and the front portion, wherein said main body and said upright lie on one lying plane of the shaped sinker; the shaped sinker further comprising a protrusion rising from said upper portion of the upright and developing on the upright side facing the front portion of the main body, the shaped sinker being characterized in that said said upright ends on top with an upper portion defining an upper resting plane destined to receive one or more yarns resting thereupon during stitch formation; and wherein said protrusion has on top a sliding plane, the protrusion protruding from the upper portion of the upright so that the sliding plane of the protrusion is placed forward with respect to the upper resting plane of the upright, according to a direction pointing to the front portion of the main body, wherein said protrusion is laterally offset or inclined with respect to the lying plane of the upright of the shaped sinker from it rises, the protrusion being configured for loading and stretching an interstitch and arranging it on an adjacent needle of the knitting machine so as to form an open work, and wherein said sliding plane of the protrusion is at least partially lowered downwards, i.e. towards the main body, with respect to the upper resting plane of the upright, the sliding plane of the protrusion being configured for receiving thereon one or more yarns when loading and stretching the interstitch during open work formation.