What makes a high quality knit?
I don’t know much about knit tech so I’m curious what tends to make better knits compared to J Crew.
For example, I have a cashmere cardigan from Cavour. It’s nice and soft so I presume the yarn is decent, but it’s very frumpy and has no drape and generally looks terrible when I wear it.
By contrast I have a couple of others that are lambswool and camel(?) that have much better structure.
Is it the the gauge? Ply? Something with the yarn?
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I'm not sure this necessarily answers your question (and probably goes more into the sheep farming than anyone is actually interested in) but I found this a cool watch recently! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2HA_Fa4b1tM
I would say a lot of it is just the material selection, and having a skilled craftsperson / machine operators producing the yarn. The drape and frumpiness I would imagine mostly comes down to the pattern used, which I guess mostly comes down to the level of experience and "fashion-conciousness" of the maker. i.e. trial-and-erroring the pattern to get the most aesthetically pleasing construction (and also QC to make sure it's repeatable)
Bloomberg Originals
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How the World's Softest Wool is Made
On a remote island miles off the coast of Scotland, Mati Ventrillon makes hotly sought-after Fair Isle sweaters according to traditions that are centuries old.
Made is a series of simple, gorgeous short films that demonstrate how everyday luxury objects are made, and honor the process and artisans behind them.
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I believe a lot of care goes into keeping the tension consistent when knitting the yarn which ensures that all the panels drape nicely instead of twisting oddly. So a lot of that is again just skill of the maker, and QC
cavour cashmere is very soft and light but it is not "dense" compared to cashmere from Scottish makers or lambswool which is usually heavier. I suspect cavour is knitted more loosely giving worse drape
There are some journals on the colhays websites talking about ply, gauge and other terminology
Permanent style also has an article called "guide to types of knitwear"