Cashmere – The cashmere fibre used to produce a Last Of England jumper comes from the under hair of goats herded in Inner Mongolia. This soft under hair is rare and it takes the yield of three goats to create one jumper. The goats are shorn in the Spring after Winter has ended and their coats are at their fullest. The harsher the Winter the more plentiful the harvest of cashmere.
Dehairing – This is the process of removing any coarse, thick strands of the goat’s outer coat away from the soft under hair fibres used to create cashmere. This process is intricate and tricky and if not performed well can lead to a sub-standard product.
Dyeing – The procedure of giving colour to the cashmere wool is called ‘dyeing’. The colour must be deep and level. The dye must not run when it comes into contact with moisture, must not fade in sunlight and must not harden the fibres.
Spinning – The action of twisting the cashmere fibres together to make a single thread. The cashmere fibres used in Last Of England jumpers have to start out at a minimum of 34mm in length before being ‘spun’ together. Shorter fibres would make a garment weaker, resulting in a loss of shape and ‘piling’.
Knitting – Knitting is where the yarn is made into pieces or panels on industrial knitting machines. A knitting machine’s gauge (number of needles per inch) is one factor in determining the density of the garment.
Ply – Another factor in determining the density of a garment is checking its ply. Ply refers to the weight of the wool used when knitting a jumper. One ply cashmere jumpers are knitted using one strand of wool. Two Ply jumpers are knitted using two strands of wool. The weight of a two ply jumper is superior to that of a one ply jumper due to the greater amount of wool utilised in its knitting.
Finishing – The components of a garment are hand-linked together together to finish the product off. Linking is a fiddly process requiring great eyesight, dexterity, patience and supreme attention to detail.
Washing – The fibres of a cashmere jumper are ‘greased up’ to protect them from the arduous knitting process. To remove the protective grease, the garments must be washed. This is carefully controlled to ensure the garment is kept in top condition. The soft waters of Scotland help contribute to the softness of the resultant cashmere product.
Piling – Otherwise known as ‘bobbling’ is caused by the rubbing of short fibres into small balls on the surface of the garment. Some piling will always occur to a small extent as jumpers rub on chairs and coats. Piling is more abundant in garments made cheaply that have used too short a length of cashmere fibre and or knitted too loosely. They might feel super soft at first as there is an abundance of surface fibres but will quickly lose their shape and ‘bobble’.
Glossary Of Terms
Cashmere – The cashmere fibre used to produce a Last Of England jumper comes from the under hair of goats herded in Inner Mongolia. This soft under hair is rare and it takes the yield of three goats to create one jumper. The goats are shorn in the Spring after Winter has ended and their coats are at their fullest. The harsher the Winter the more plentiful the harvest of cashmere.
Dehairing – This is the process of removing any coarse, thick strands of the goat’s outer coat away from the soft under hair fibres used to create cashmere. This process is intricate and tricky and if not performed well can lead to a sub-standard product.
Dyeing – The procedure of giving colour to the cashmere wool is called ‘dyeing’. The colour must be deep and level. The dye must not run when it comes into contact with moisture, must not fade in sunlight and must not harden the fibres.
Spinning – The action of twisting the cashmere fibres together to make a single thread. The cashmere fibres used in Last Of England jumpers have to start out at a minimum of 34mm in length before being ‘spun’ together. Shorter fibres would make a garment weaker, resulting in a loss of shape and ‘piling’.
Knitting – Knitting is where the yarn is made into pieces or panels on industrial knitting machines. A knitting machine’s gauge (number of needles per inch) is one factor in determining the density of the garment.
Ply – Another factor in determining the density of a garment is checking its ply. Ply refers to the weight of the wool used when knitting a jumper. One ply cashmere jumpers are knitted using one strand of wool. Two Ply jumpers are knitted using two strands of wool. The weight of a two ply jumper is superior to that of a one ply jumper due to the greater amount of wool utilised in its knitting.
Finishing – The components of a garment are hand-linked together together to finish the product off. Linking is a fiddly process requiring great eyesight, dexterity, patience and supreme attention to detail.
Washing – The fibres of a cashmere jumper are ‘greased up’ to protect them from the arduous knitting process. To remove the protective grease, the garments must be washed. This is carefully controlled to ensure the garment is kept in top condition. The soft waters of Scotland help contribute to the softness of the resultant cashmere product.
Piling – Otherwise known as ‘bobbling’ is caused by the rubbing of short fibres into small balls on the surface of the garment. Some piling will always occur to a small extent as jumpers rub on chairs and coats. Piling is more abundant in garments made cheaply that have used too short a length of cashmere fibre and or knitted too loosely. They might feel super soft at first as there is an abundance of surface fibres but will quickly lose their shape and ‘bobble’.