“I have worn it at least a thousand times, if not more like 1500 times. It has never pilled. It has never lost its shape.” Patrick says.
This has been the absolute staple, the bedrock, the hero of our collection for getting on for 10 years now. What is so great about our two-ply knitwear?
The fit
In two-ply, we do this classic men’s crew neck. We do a very classic men’s cardigan complete with grosgrain ribbon, very posh, and pockets. And we also do a men’s V-neck.
Rosamund: “And for women, we do the crew neck that I’m wearing. Very easy, timeless crew neck. And we also do a two-ply cardigan complete with pockets and also grosgrain.”
We don’t let women suffer. No skimping here on any of these details.
In terms of the styles, the men’s is very classic but we do have this saddle shoulder which just helps fit over the shoulder on the great variability of men’s shoulder shapes. Classic crew neck with a double rib, single rib at the bottom. Same on the women’s. So, good quality, good springy rib, which means it fits really well, sits nicely on the bottom. The men’s is quite a loose fit.
Rosamund: “I’d say the women’s is a regular fit. I’m wearing a 12.”
The fabric
We’ve been doing these sweaters a long time. Both men’s and women’s, all three styles, they’re all knitted in the same mill in Scotland from the same yarn, which comes from Yorkshire. So not far down the road from us here in Blackburn.
Starting with the yarn, it is spun by a mill called Z. Hinchliffe. Z. Hinchliffe has been spinning since 1766, I believe. It’s an amazing quality pure merino lambswool. It is an Australian wool. As I say, it’s spun at Hinchliffe in Denby Dale. They are amazing spinners. They spin yarn for some of the very best known designer labels, luxury labels on the planet. They make amazing yarn and we’ve been using it for a very long time.
I have a sweater in exactly this yarn, knitted in the factory I’m going to talk to you about in a second, that I’ve had now for nearly 20 years. I have worn it at least a thousand times, if not more like 1500 times. It has never pilled. It has never lost its shape. I have darned it. I darned the elbows and patched them and then I had to re-darn them and re-patch them. But that was probably after 800 or 900 [wears]. I do a lot of rubbing my elbows on the desk. It is an amazing quality yarn.
The make
The second thing that makes them so good is the mill in Hawick. Now, this mill in Hawick is an incredible quality knitwear mill. When we go up there, we see all sorts of designer pieces going through the line. We’re not allowed to name them because other people sell pretty much the same jumpers as these for a considerably higher price. So, we keep their name anonymous, but they’re an amazing mill.
Hawick, of course, is the home of knitwear. The global home of knitwear. At one time, probably 50% of the population of Hawick were employed in the knitwear industry. Brands that we know and love from the past like Lyle & Scott and Pringle, their home was in Hawick. Sadly, neither of those brands make in Hawick any more, but we do because we love the quality of the knitwear they do there. And we love the staff and we love the history and we love the knowledge and everything.
There is a reason why Hawick knitwear is synonymous the world over with quality. And that is largely because of the way they knit and the way they finish. And what is the secret of the finishing? Well, it’s a combination of things. It’s a combination of the detergents that they use, the length of time it sits in the washing machine, the wash cycle that they use, but specifically the water. Super, super soft Scottish water means it has an amazing softness but also a durability and a resistance to pilling that is amazing.
The colours
The colours are also amazing. I mean, having had my navy one, as I say, for 20 years. The colour never changes. The colour is incredibly fast on these sweaters. So, if you want a really beautiful true navy, you get that true navy.
Rosamund: “So, we do classic colours every year. So, you can always stock up on your basics, but as you said, such a high quality basic, and then seasonally we do introduce different colours. The way the colour is taken within the yarn after the washing makes such a beautiful finished product.”
In men’s, we definitely always have grey, charcoal, navy. We usually have black. We usually have burgundy and bottle green. Your absolute bankers, the ones that have always been part of a men’s wardrobe for a century or so. We do change those colours up. We tend to change the men’s colours a little less frequently, but I think we always keep a core in men’s and women’s that never changes. With men’s, we probably bring in a new colour every two to three years, maybe sometimes a couple of new colours if we’ve got some new colours in the range that we think will really work for our customers.
With women’s, maybe a new colour every season, maybe sometimes two new colours every season. It’s a fantastic range of yarns and the yarn card is always a joy to pick from, but it’s just really about whether we want something timeless and classic like a navy, or something more punchy and bring some vivid colour. I think our bestselling colour for women in the last couple of years is a colour called truffle, which is a really lovely soft natural pale brown...
[Name]: “And then thistle, which is again a lovely kind of natural paler purple, like the colour that you get on the head of a thistle.”
In men’s it’s navy. It’s always navy. Always has been, always will be. When I spoke to the mill about making these, they told me that 70% of all the jumpers they make for men are navy. And I love a bit of navy. Who doesn’t?
How to wear
[Name]: “It’s great to layer up. I think the key is that these lambswool pieces, these two-ply pieces, are so useful pretty much all year round. The kind of thing just as it starts to get cool, you’d wear it. But you can definitely layer it up with a lightweight jacket over the top or with outerwear. You can fit shirts underneath. They’re just super timeless and easy.”
A navy one is brilliant with a pair of our blue denims. I mean, really, they’re great with so many things.
So there you have it. Amazing quality, amazing, amazing price. I don’t think you will find any two-ply pure lambswool sweaters anything like this price anywhere else on the planet. So, I do think they’re the best value jumpers, but they’re amazing quality. I think they’re unbeatable quality, frankly, in an amazing set of colours. And three classic styles for men, two classic styles for women.
“I have worn it at least a thousand times, if not more like 1500 times. It has never pilled. It has never lost its shape.” Patrick says.
This has been the absolute staple, the bedrock, the hero of our collection for getting on for 10 years now. What is so great about our two-ply knitwear?
The fit
In two-ply, we do this classic men’s crew neck. We do a very classic men’s cardigan complete with grosgrain ribbon, very posh, and pockets. And we also do a men’s V-neck.
Rosamund: “And for women, we do the crew neck that I’m wearing. Very easy, timeless crew neck. And we also do a two-ply cardigan complete with pockets and also grosgrain.”
We don’t let women suffer. No skimping here on any of these details.
In terms of the styles, the men’s is very classic but we do have this saddle shoulder which just helps fit over the shoulder on the great variability of men’s shoulder shapes. Classic crew neck with a double rib, single rib at the bottom. Same on the women’s. So, good quality, good springy rib, which means it fits really well, sits nicely on the bottom. The men’s is quite a loose fit.
Rosamund: “I’d say the women’s is a regular fit. I’m wearing a 12.”
The fabric
We’ve been doing these sweaters a long time. Both men’s and women’s, all three styles, they’re all knitted in the same mill in Scotland from the same yarn, which comes from Yorkshire. So not far down the road from us here in Blackburn.
Starting with the yarn, it is spun by a mill called Z. Hinchliffe. Z. Hinchliffe has been spinning since 1766, I believe. It’s an amazing quality pure merino lambswool. It is an Australian wool. As I say, it’s spun at Hinchliffe in Denby Dale. They are amazing spinners. They spin yarn for some of the very best known designer labels, luxury labels on the planet. They make amazing yarn and we’ve been using it for a very long time.
I have a sweater in exactly this yarn, knitted in the factory I’m going to talk to you about in a second, that I’ve had now for nearly 20 years. I have worn it at least a thousand times, if not more like 1500 times. It has never pilled. It has never lost its shape. I have darned it. I darned the elbows and patched them and then I had to re-darn them and re-patch them. But that was probably after 800 or 900 [wears]. I do a lot of rubbing my elbows on the desk. It is an amazing quality yarn.
The make
The second thing that makes them so good is the mill in Hawick. Now, this mill in Hawick is an incredible quality knitwear mill. When we go up there, we see all sorts of designer pieces going through the line. We’re not allowed to name them because other people sell pretty much the same jumpers as these for a considerably higher price. So, we keep their name anonymous, but they’re an amazing mill.
Hawick, of course, is the home of knitwear. The global home of knitwear. At one time, probably 50% of the population of Hawick were employed in the knitwear industry. Brands that we know and love from the past like Lyle & Scott and Pringle, their home was in Hawick. Sadly, neither of those brands make in Hawick any more, but we do because we love the quality of the knitwear they do there. And we love the staff and we love the history and we love the knowledge and everything.
There is a reason why Hawick knitwear is synonymous the world over with quality. And that is largely because of the way they knit and the way they finish. And what is the secret of the finishing? Well, it’s a combination of things. It’s a combination of the detergents that they use, the length of time it sits in the washing machine, the wash cycle that they use, but specifically the water. Super, super soft Scottish water means it has an amazing softness but also a durability and a resistance to pilling that is amazing.
The colours
The colours are also amazing. I mean, having had my navy one, as I say, for 20 years. The colour never changes. The colour is incredibly fast on these sweaters. So, if you want a really beautiful true navy, you get that true navy.
Rosamund: “So, we do classic colours every year. So, you can always stock up on your basics, but as you said, such a high quality basic, and then seasonally we do introduce different colours. The way the colour is taken within the yarn after the washing makes such a beautiful finished product.”
In men’s, we definitely always have grey, charcoal, navy. We usually have black. We usually have burgundy and bottle green. Your absolute bankers, the ones that have always been part of a men’s wardrobe for a century or so. We do change those colours up. We tend to change the men’s colours a little less frequently, but I think we always keep a core in men’s and women’s that never changes. With men’s, we probably bring in a new colour every two to three years, maybe sometimes a couple of new colours if we’ve got some new colours in the range that we think will really work for our customers.
With women’s, maybe a new colour every season, maybe sometimes two new colours every season. It’s a fantastic range of yarns and the yarn card is always a joy to pick from, but it’s just really about whether we want something timeless and classic like a navy, or something more punchy and bring some vivid colour. I think our bestselling colour for women in the last couple of years is a colour called truffle, which is a really lovely soft natural pale brown...
[Name]: “And then thistle, which is again a lovely kind of natural paler purple, like the colour that you get on the head of a thistle.”
In men’s it’s navy. It’s always navy. Always has been, always will be. When I spoke to the mill about making these, they told me that 70% of all the jumpers they make for men are navy. And I love a bit of navy. Who doesn’t?
How to wear
[Name]: “It’s great to layer up. I think the key is that these lambswool pieces, these two-ply pieces, are so useful pretty much all year round. The kind of thing just as it starts to get cool, you’d wear it. But you can definitely layer it up with a lightweight jacket over the top or with outerwear. You can fit shirts underneath. They’re just super timeless and easy.”
A navy one is brilliant with a pair of our blue denims. I mean, really, they’re great with so many things.
So there you have it. Amazing quality, amazing, amazing price. I don’t think you will find any two-ply pure lambswool sweaters anything like this price anywhere else on the planet. So, I do think they’re the best value jumpers, but they’re amazing quality. I think they’re unbeatable quality, frankly, in an amazing set of colours. And three classic styles for men, two classic styles for women.
Crew necks, V-necks and cardigans in pure merino lambswool, knitted in Hawick. Discover the fit, fabric, colours and how to wear our 2-ply knitwear.
Many of you love the Field trouser, our heavy duty military inspired wide leg chinos. We’ve sold lots and lots of them this year (are we finally getting over our 20 year obsession with skinny?). So many in fact that we’ve decided to launch them in denim!
I have long fancied including a classic Guernsey in our collection and so last summer I was delighted to have the chance to visit the Le Tricoteur factory on the island's western coast.