Item #299

Wakayama Special Loopwheel Raglan Crewneck Sweatshirt - Blac

From Standard & Strange

Our love of loopwheels is no secret. Produced entirely on vintage machines, loopwheels are knit very, very slowly. The machines that produce our loopwheel fabric can knit about a half roll of fabric in a day, humming along at just 1 meter per hour. In comparison, a modern knitting machine can blast out about five full rolls a day, operating at roughly 10 times the speed of a loopwheeler. The fabrics created are anything but equal. The "slow and steady" nature of loopwheel machines comes from the gravity-fed nature of the knit - with minimal tension applied, the finished product is light, airy, and remarkably soft from the moment its knit. Plus, loopwheel knits famously lack any side seams, being knit in a circular pattern (hence the name). Our new crewneck sweater was also designed to honor vintage styles while enhancing the product. We opted for a cut-and-sew approach rather than using a tubular body for this garment, which is part of our strategy to give each piece as much life as possible. Tubular bodies will twist and shrink over time much more than sewn panels, with little benefit other than aesthetic. The flatlock side seams adds stability to the garment without taking away comfort. The flatseamer sewing process gives a soft, stretchy, comfortable seam with very little bulk but requires quite a bit of skill on the part of the machinist, especially when sewing the complicated lines of our modified raglan sleeve. The fabric is a super long staple 100% cotton knit, with a