Knit and woven yarns　 Knitted yarns are less twisted. Knit yarns require the fineness and length of raw material fibers

Knit and woven yarns　
Knitted yarns are less twisted
Knit yarns require the fineness and length of raw material fibers

This may sound like a bragging about knit yarns, but it is not widely known that knit yarns are made from the best raw materials when yarns are made (spun) from natural raw materials.
　
As we mentioned before, the basic process of making (spinning) yarn is “bundling and twisting raw material fibers,
The stronger the yarn is twisted, the stronger it becomes.
However, in the case of knit yarns, fluffy texture is essential, so strong twisting is not possible.
Since strong twisting is not possible, each raw material fiber must be long or it will easily fall out.
Since we want to make fluffy yarns, we cannot apply strong twisting, so we have no choice but to use long fibers. Naturally, long and thin raw materials are expensive.

Wool (animal hair), especially cashmere, sheep, angora, mohair, camel, and alpaca, which are called spun wool, have their own characteristics.
Sheep is versatile in both knitting and weaving yarns because of its long fiber and moderate crimp.
Alpaca is wet and soft, with little crimp, and its hair tends to shed easily, and the loose hairs tend to stick to other fabrics.
Angora is soft, but it is not stiff and breaks easily, scattering like dust.
Moheya is a straight fiber with good coloration, but it is difficult to knit due to its low elongation.
Cashmere has outstanding softness and lightness, but its fibers are thin and easily cut, making it inefficient to produce.
The differences are not only in the animal but also in the length of the fiber and the number of twists, etc., so in-depth knowledge and experience are required.

Woven cashmere is only as good as the fabric it is made from

On the other hand, weaving yarns requires a lot of twisting to make a firm yarn. The warp threads are stretched, the weft threads are threaded and woven together, and then the fabric is stuffed into the reed to make a single piece of cloth. To achieve this, it is necessary to increase the number of twists to make the yarn resistant to pulling.

The surface of the cashmere fabric is scratched to make the hair stand up and create a unique woven texture. The quality of the fluffing greatly affects the reputation of the fabric.
Traditionally, the fabric has been fluffed by scratching with mussels made from the dried fruit of the cheesel, which is a member of the thistle family. It is surprising that the thistle mussel produced that wavy cashmere fabric, and that is why European luxury fabric production factories grew their own home-grown cheesel. At that time, there were metal and other substitutes, but nothing could beat natural thistle berries.
As if proud of their fluffing technique, makers of cashmere fabrics often use the mark of the thistle seed. Loro Piana of Italy, which is said to be the representative of cashmere fabrics, has a thistle design on its mark, and Cagliacci, for example, has a thistle mark as well.
As you can see, even if the same raw material is used, the selection of raw materials differs because of the different requirements for the yarns.