Does Your Homemade Knitwear Pill? - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

About: Disappointing Naadam Knitwear

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Does Your Homemade Knitwear Pill?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I haven't knitted in decades, and can't remember if the items I made thirty years ago pilled.

Hubs Greg had an Aran cable jumper that his Mum made 40 years ago - and it hasn't pilled at all! Another his Mum made a little later pilled.

I see some handmade knitwear in client's wardrobes that have pilled. Some have not. Same unpredictability so far.

Are you a knitter and does the knitwear you make pill?

Thanks! I'm very curious

General

33 replies

Latest reply was from Cee

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

It depends on so many things-the yarn you use, how it’s worn and how you care for it. Merino wool and cashmere have pilled on me. I currently have a cotton sweater with pills, but I didn’t knit that. The length of the fiber in the yarn affects it, too, as well as the twist.

Roxanna

Veteran

Funny - I was just thinking about this. I thrift handmade knitwear a lot and I find that the older stuff doesn’t pill (just like older machine knit knitwear doesn’t pill either.)

Indigoprint

Veteran

I knit. I think the pilling is dependant on the quality of the yarn. Seems like anything that has even a little polyester in it tends to pill.
Alpaca yarns get fuzzy often but those who love alpaca find that endearing, like faded blue jeans.
Most of what I knit with 100% natural fibers do not pill, including socks, sweaters and scarves.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks, everyone. Very interesting!

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

My mother knit many sweaters for me over the years. The only ones I recall pilling were knit from acrylic yarn, and worn and washed a lot. She also knit cotton or wool sweaters, and I don't recall any pilling on those. Also, not all of the acrylic ones pilled.

merwoman

Veteran

Well here are the results of my very small and personal survey:
- sweaters have all been knit in the last year ( I really have enjoyed rediscovering knitting)
- I only knit with natural ‘fibres’
- sweaters not washed frequently, but when they are, machine wash hand wash cycle

Pic one: three sweaters knit from mohair silk blend. Carmel coloured one worn heavily through the winter/ early spring…no pilling.

Pic two: three sweaters knit from 100% cotton yarn, no pilling, but some stretching.

Pic three: Alpacino yarn, blend of alpaca and merino…no pilling

Pic four: 100% wool, don’t believe there is any pilling, but it’s packed away for summer.

Bear in mind that all of these garments are < one year old, but it sure is interesting.

1
2
3
4

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

WOW, Merwoman. You knit beautifully! Stunning knitwear - and NO pilling

Indigoprint

Veteran

Alpacino what a fun name for a yarn. Will have to look for that when I pick up my needles again.
Very beautiful sweaters thanks for sharing.

phoebe

The sweaters I made didn't but they were all non synthetic, mostly single fiber type yarns of good quality. I didn't use cashmere, as I made mostly sportswear type sweaters, and alpaca is too fiber shedding for me although it is lovely.

Yarns intended for hand knitting are probably not processed the same way because they aren't fed into machines for mass production.

I'm sorry you were disappointed by Naadam, in my experience cashmere, while warm and soft, is delicate no matter how long or fine the thread and maybe it's not possible to really know for sure how your clients wore their items, especially if they had high expectations of durability.

I also completely agree with Rachylou's comment in today's blog post, things are most definitely, fundamentally, not what they were, in the building business the quality of wood has changed dramatically as there is very little old growth to be had.

merwoman

Veteran

Thank you Angie and indigoprint! I find knitting very therapeutic and calming. Alpacino is from ‘ wool And the gang’, lots of fun names for their products.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Indigoprint and Phoebe, I'd love to see your work! Thanks for your expert knitting perspectives.

Merwoman, maybe I need to take up knitting again. Although I can just picture the CHAOS with mischievous tiny Jo....

Sharan, your Mama was an AMAZING knitter!

Cee

Veteran

I asked a ewe if she ever pilled and she was unsurprisingly sheepish about it.

Indigoprint

Veteran

Cee...too fun!

Joy

Veteran

I have never learned to knit but am willing to buy yarn and pay someone to knit me a good sweater that is less likely to pill. Wearing a small cross body bag all day, every day, takes a toll.

Anonymous

My grandma was an amazing knitter. I just came across a sweater she did, and it wasn't pilled. But I'm not sure if it had ever been worn either, as it was buried in mom's stuff.

Staysfit

Veteran

I’m fairly new to knitting. I knit several sweaters in my twenties, took a long hiatus and started again now that my children have moved out. I still have my first sweater, made with some sort of burgundy colored Rowan yarn. It’s an Aran weight wool, and in pristine condition despite its age…over 30 years. It’s a very oversized style, and I wear it every winter. It’s my outdoor hiking sweater so I wear a down vest or puffer over it and still no pilling.

I made this teal and mustard Rowan tweed yarn sweater this year. I wore it often and it did not pill.

An old eggplant colored topper, made in my late 20’s, from softer yarn with some cashmere has a few pills. I shave it before wearing and they come off easily. You can see the pilling most easily at the edges of the sleeves.

The socks I knit are not pilling despite multiple washes. Regia yarn.

I haven’t had a chance to wear my new turtleneck so I’m not sure if it will pill.

1
2
3
4

RobinF

Veteran

Merwoman, you are quick! I love to knit but have a problem finishing

I am very disappointed in one of mine, a fair isle sweater made with decent quality wool yarn. It is billing pretty badly. And yet a hat I made out of less expensive 50/50 wool/poly has worn great after years of winter wear. I guess it is like purchased sweaters, price isn't the best way to judge whether it will pill.

JAileen

Veteran

My hand knits do not pill. I don’t know why. I knit an Aran sweater in high school and it is absolutely perfect. The yarn traditionally used with them still has its lanolin and that may have something to do with it. The red sweater is about 30 years old. The yarn was Italian mohair with thick parts that knit into bobbles. My socks are all a wool/nylon blend.

I bought a sweater from Nordstrom a few years that pilled just by looking at it. It was completely synthetic. It was soft and pretty, but so ridiculously annoying that I had to donate it.

1
2
3
4

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks, knitters!

JAileen, your aran looks EXACTLY like Greg's that his Mum made for him 40 years ago. Zero pilling.

Staysfit, a 30 year-old sweater! No pilling. AMAZING. Like the arans.

Cee, one of your very best

RobinF, soooo disappointing

whidbeygirl

From my years of raising alpacas and harvesting their fiber, I learned it's all about the staple length and micron of the fiber. Those qualities can vary on each animal due to genetics, diet, and how often sheared. And, the quality of other fibers blended. This applies across all types of animal fibers. Even though alpaca is an extremely soft and stretchy fiber short fibers can make it feel a bit scratchy. Plus if the coarse guard hairs are not sorted out (also true on goats and sheep) it will degrade the quality of yarn and the resulting garment might feel scratchy and pill.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Appreciate your VERY detailed and expert opinion, whidbeygirl. It all sounds very tricky!

Aquamarine

Veteran

I knit, but it’s been a few years since I knit a sweater. I have kept most of them and very few have pilled. Not sure why, except I almost always buy high-quality wool/natural fiber yarn…maybe that helps? (I rarely knit with cotton yarns, however. I find them too hard on my hands.)

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Interesting thread! I don't own any homemade knits but will keep an eye out. Very interested in whidbeygirl's comment - this would explain the unpredictability even within a brand.

Rejoiceandbe

I knit quite a lot -often socks, mittens and blankets which are things that get used and washed frequently in my family. While pure wool will eventually pill if used a lot ( my cats love our wool blanket), I have noticed the greatest and quickest signs of wear with things made out of acrylic yarn. Socks yarns however need to have some degree of synthetics in them or they wear out too quickly on the pressure points of heels and toes.
These 2 pictures show a wool blanket (1) and acrylic blanket (2) of the same age.

1
2

Rejoiceandbe

I knit quite a lot -often socks, mittens and blankets which are things that get used and washed frequently in my family. While pure wool will eventually pill if used a lot ( my cats love our wool blanket), I have noticed the greatest and quickest signs of wear with things made out of acrylic yarn. Socks yarns however need to have some degree of synthetics in them or they wear out too quickly on the pressure points of heels and toes.
These 2 pictures show a wool blanket (1) and acrylic blanket (2) of the same age.

Cee

Veteran

Thank you for the compliment, Angie and Indigoprint

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks for the info, everyone!

Especially enjoying seeing your knitted works of art

Joy

Veteran

I heard a lady say that you can take care of your cashmere sweaters by wearing a coat over them in the car to prevent seat belt pilling. Just a thought. Whidbeygirl. That sounds labor intense, sorting hairs, but it makes sense. I used to spin fibers into yarn and the longer fibers are easier to spin. New Zealand sheep were valued for there long fleece but it still needed lots of washing and combing.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Angie the 1995 black/cream rose patterned jumper that my MIL knitted for me has not pilled at all. I have worn it 18 times this winter with my black skivvy under (that might be a black mock turtleneck to you). It is a thick wool I think but would need to ask her if you want any more details than that. I am guessing it will be NZ wool. Pics from last year below.

1
2

12