WDYBT: What Did You Buy Today

Some awesome argyle intarsias by Ballantyne.

Ballantyne (new old stock)
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vintage 1970's Ballantyne
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vintage 70's Ballantyne.
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I bought about a dozen all up, some new old stock and others vintage. A few were solid colours of bone, black and dark grey, heaps of argyle intarsias and others. Some Ballantyne are thin knit, some are medium knit and others are thick knit (see pic above).

The Ballantyne were known to be called "handmade" because they had hand-framed diamond intarsias, and indeed the intarsia work had hand sewing and hand framing that even the top Italian cashmere houses don't even do apparently.

Check out this link (good article):
http://robbreport.com/Fashion/Style-Knitting-Wits

Top quotes from the link
his coarse, burly fingers prove nimble enough to manipulate individually the finest strands of cashmere around the razor-sharp needles that line the iron base of the frame. Hope, who has plied this craft since the age of 15, is one of the few remaining knitters in Scotland capable of such work.

AND especially this:
The type of loom that he operates became obsolete more than 75 years ago, when most manufacturers abandoned it in favor of automated equipment that can produce in minutes what a knitter such as Hope requires days to make. While Ballantyne utilizes mass-production machinery for many of its knits, it also continues to operate more than two dozen hand looms at its dingy, 85-year-old knitting factory in Innerleithen, Scotland, located a picturesque hour’s drive south of Edinburgh. “Other cashmere companies—such as Malo, Loro Piana, and Brunello Cucinelli—try to duplicate the look of a hand-knit sweater, but they do it with machines because they need the mass quantity to be profitable,” explains Tom Harkness, Ballantyne’s Scotland-based chief operating officer

and,
Unlike many of its competitors, Ballantyne attaches the sweaters’ collars, cuffs, and waistbands by hand. “

and,
Furthermore, Ballantyne uses single-ply cashmere yarns almost exclusively. These are finer than other yarns and therefore are more prone to breaking during the manufacturing process. “We could increase our production by a third if we did more two-ply yarns, because every person in the factory can do two-ply knitting—but not everyone is capable of doing one-ply,” says Harkness, noting that the head of a two-ply knitting needle is larger to accommodate the thicker yarn.

and,
The delicacy and complexity of single-ply knitting account for the relatively high cost of Ballantyne intarsias. Prices start at about $1,100 for simple repeat patterns and can quadruple for more complex designs and custom orders. “Some of our most complicated patterns can take even an accomplished knitter such as Richard Hope as many as two days to make,” says Harkness, “and that is only for the front of the sweater.”


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My basic observations (my opinion)
- lots of obvious handwork in the scottish Ballantyne intarsia jumpers.
- the thinner 1 ply are just as good as the thicker two ply jumpers imo because they are all a solid tight knitted cashmere made with long strand cashmere therefore it makes no sense that they would be inferior if the cashmere length is long for both the 1 and 2 ply jumpers. Why would Ballantyne spend more skill to make an inferior jumper if 2 ply is cheaper and easier to make??? 2 ply may be better for other makers, but my impression is that this is not the case with vintage Ballantyne. We need to be careful of igent waffle and use our own brains and observation and research OUTSIDE of internet forums. I don't like to use the forums for my research, l like to use my own common sense.
- I saw a Hermes' 1 ply job and it looked cheap and awful, but this is not so with Ballantyne vintage.
 
Great stuff. Please let us know what you think of the new Berk stuff. I really hope it is up to the old Ballantyne standard, and not just over priced William Lockie.

I shall. What l also wonder is if the cashmere is up to the old standards before overpopulation of goats started happening. The vegetation is not supposed to be near as lush as what it was in Mongolia, so does this mean lesser quality cashmere??

I have become very interested in Ballantyne and cashmere of late and have done lots of enjoyable reading on the subject. What l really want to know is how hand framed intarsias are done so l can further appreciate the handwork that used to go into Ballantyne.

O.k...according to the article those old hand looms are no longer made, BUT now Berk uses the old knitters from Ballantyne, but but but, does that mean the Berk will no longer be up to the old standard of Ballantyne because the old looms are no longer used and less handwork is employed?? Notice how Berk only sells intarsia as bespoke or special orders...is that because few of the old makers are now alive??

See...so many questions l want answered. This is the thing, l like to know details and processes so l can form my own opinions, but how is one to do this, who do l contact?? Personal visits are the only way. Hard to get a good understanding of this topic. It would be really nice to really understand what is going on.

Maybe Berk is the starting place to talk to and hopefully get in contact with some old workers who can answer some questions.
 
Some awesome argyle intarsias by Ballantyne.

Ballantyne (new old stock)
photo hosting

vintage 1970's Ballantyne
adult photo hosting

vintage 70's Ballantyne.
imageupload

I bought about a dozen all up, some new old stock and others vintage. A few were solid colours of bone, black and dark grey, heaps of argyle intarsias and others. Some Ballantyne are thin knit, some are medium knit and others are thick knit (see pic above).

\
and this:
http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/688_hand_intarsia
Hand Intarsias are employed by luxury cashmere knitwear companies, particularly in the Scottish borders. Luxury garments produced in this way are renowned all over the world, especially in Japan and the USA.

Intarsia is a traditional knitting technique which uses a single piece of yarn for each area of colour. The name means ‘inlaid by hand'. Knitting machines cannot interweave the yarns to achieve the same quality or patterns as intarsia.

A Hand Intarsia works at a knitting frame picking up the yarns by hand and placing them in precisely the right position to create the pattern. They work from a chart, which shows them the design and measurements. On average it takes two to four hours to produce a sweater, although more intricate designs can take all day.



My observations and opinion

- It seems like the old Scottish makers did lots of handwork, especially with their intarsias where-as the ltalian firms never did.
- lt seems the ltalians were about mass production and especially marketing in more recent decades (see quote by Tom Harkness two posts up). And to me the ltalians have created a PERCEPTION to the world as being the best and have made themselves famous where-as the Scottish were much more modest and never cared for that image and were more focused on quality and didn't care so much for marketing. The Scottish lived in the old world of focusing on quality where-as the ltalians were quick to focus on modern world marketing techniques of creating PERCEPTION of luxury masterpieces.

Personally l like the old ways...l like modest blokes who don't care for hype and charging double for a name. $2,000 + for a machine made ltalian non pattern sweater, really???

I'll need to speak with some industry folks to get to the bottom of this. Did the ltalians do intarsia hand work decades ago or was it mainly a U.K thing?
 
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AHA!
Hand Manipulation Intarsia ~ full video


Now l can appreciate how complicated intarsia knitting is and how individual threads need to be hand manipulated.
 
Schott Perfecto
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vintage Pringle cashmere:
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Supposed to be red, but even if it's orange it is still awesome. Been trying to get orange and red cashmere V necks for ages but they have always eluded me. There are Hermes' and Lora Piana orange V necks, but meh, i'll skip the ltalian stuff thanks very much.

Never been a fan of online buying, but l do make an exception with jumpers.
 
The BB pants are great and those Clark and Elliot fits are ideal for the alpha male in a world where pants are made to emasculate and wear on the hips so you can sashay and wiggle your butt like some mincing prancing queen, or Justin Trudeau.
 
vintage Pringle cashmere:
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Supposed to be red, but even if it's orange it is still awesome. Been trying to get orange and red cashmere V necks for ages but they have always eluded me. There are Hermes' and Lora Piana orange V necks, but meh, i'll skip the ltalian stuff thanks very much.

Never been a fan of online buying, but l do make an exception with jumpers.

I got my Pringle jumper and it is mind blowingly awesome. It is bright red and in perfect condition and incredible, and it is a favourite.

I also bought this stunning Ballantyne:
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I also bought this Lyle & Scott vintage cashmere for some fun:
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Other pics coming soon, some real stunners (all argyle intarsia). Btw, I lined my draws with cedar wood to keep moths away. I have an entire large chest of draws devoted to cashmere and lambswool jumpers. I am trying to get more colourful argyles and get away from the common grays and browns that Ballantyne usually do.
 
I bought a vintage 1980's cashmere argyle called The Highlander (made in Scotland). Dunno what the quality is like but l took a gamble. It is a stunning navy blue argyle.
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I have loved the look of argyles since l was a kid, but l never had the chance to get one of sufficient quality because you never see them in Oz. I once rang a highend golf course asking if they sold them or knew where l could get one. Argyles have loads of character.

Now l think it is time to get some chunky aran jumpers. I will get a red, green and bone cashmere cable both Berk (online) and a navy and bullrush colour of Inis Meain from my local store. I'll start with this first:
http://www.henrybucks.com.au/store/Inis-Meain-Aran-Cable-Crew-Neck-Sweater-4600324.html
then,
https://www.berkcashmere.co.uk/product.php?id=512&name=BERK+-+Cable+Crew+Neck+4+Ply

That should do me, BUT one thing l do need is a bunch of roll necks. I have never been able to get them, they have always eluded me. Grr. Oh, l will also get some more thermal wool underlay clothing (top and pants) and then l will be set for knitwear. I get very cold so l need these types of things. I also wear a lot of tweeds and flannels over 6 months of the year.

Oh...should get a few shawl lapel chunky cardigans too. I used to have a real beauty, it was a medium deep blue with massive purple buttons from the 1970's, it was amazing!
 
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Looks great that argyle! I see you had go vintage back to the 80s when argyle's where in abundance and could be sourced readily. But is anyone making good quality and affordable argyles these days?
 
A forest green vintage John Laing cashmere argyle jumper. Wanted to check out the quality so l decided to get a good one.
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The vintage Pringles l have are stunning, the Ballantynes are works of art, and the Lyle & Scott are good fun. All are very different from each other,and l appreciate them all.

My favourites are definitely the 1 ply Ballantyne arglyes, those are really special works of art and totally amazing. Love how Ballantyne tried to maintain the quality of the 2,000's argyles with the tight knit and handwork with the addition of more vibrant colours to get new markets.
 
These argyles are all well and good but you need something like these if you really want to rip it up on the fairway:

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Both intarsia knitted!
 
These argyles are all well and good but you need something like these if you really want to rip it up on the fairway:

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Both intarsia knitted!

Wow, those would cost a fortune, so much work has gone into them.

Yes, l should take up golf again, l would definitely look the part with my winter argyles and Paul & Shark summer attire (no logos). It is funny how some of the things l really like tend to have a golfing flavour to it. Argyles are awesome!

I checked out some Loro Piana vicunas. Would be nice to have just ONE for a treat, but by golly by gee...won't be getting any of those in this life time. :bigtears:
https://www.loropiana.com/en/eshop/knitwear-bomber-bomber-classic-vicuna/p-FAD7373

https://www.loropiana.com/en/eshop/knitwear-mezzocollo-vicuna/p-FAF9472
 
I've been hunting for luxury turtlenecks for years, so today l got my first really good one. It's in near new condition and of substantial cashmere weight. I'll probably wear it in the cold weather under a thick tweed coat. I am glad l bought it because l can't get anything like that locally. The quality is supposed to be outstanding! Will be excited to get this one.
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If l can get a small collection of turtlenecks l will be very happy. Turtlenecks under a coat is a very old school look.
 
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Not bad but the collars look a bit puny. I bought a couple of these recently to provide cover for my foxed ones

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I wear all my foxed ones on weekend and around the neighbourhood. I'm getting to prefer the foxed ones to the "business" ones. I occasionally can get Ms fxh aka "The Handbrake" to condescend to sew a few zigzag stitches across worn collars etc while she has a tiny break from making herself skirts etc.
 
Foxed cuffs is top top elite old money look. Bonus points if you drive a ratty Range Rover or Volvo.
 
You wanna be top top elite old money too?

I think it would be alright. At the very least, it would be good to know the insider knowledge about foxxed cuffs and all of that. FNB knows all the insider info of the sartorial secrets of the ultra elites, but l don't know hardly any so it would be good to know some stuff. The clues elites send out through their clothing is an interesting subject, especially the ultra elite old money types.
 

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