Heavy Cable Knit or Lightweight Quarter Zip: Choosing Your Autumn Knitwear

There's a particular morning every October when the coat comes out of the cupboard and you realise it isn't quite enough on its own. That's when knitwear earns its place. Our new autumn range comes in two shapes, and they do rather different jobs.

The cable knit: weight and texture

Our cable knit is a 7-gauge. A lower gauge means a thicker, more substantial knit, which gives the cable pattern room to stand out. It's made from a blend of 70% merino wool and 30% cashmere: the merino brings warmth and structure, the cashmere a softness you notice the moment you pull it on. Worn alone it's a relaxed, considered piece for the weekend, and it sits comfortably over a shirt when the evenings turn.

SHOP THE CABLE KNIT

The quarter zip: the finer layer

The quarter zip is a 12-gauge, a finer knit, in 100% ethically sourced merino wool. Being lighter, it layers more easily: under a blazer or a coat without adding bulk, or on its own with the zip at whatever height suits the day. Merino is also naturally good at regulating temperature, which is why it works as well in a warm office as on a cold platform.

SHOP THE QUARTER ZIP

Made in Portugal, with one detail from Kenya

Both ranges are knitted in Portugal, using materials from the Italian mill Papi Fabio in Bologna. To be clear, the knitwear is not made in Kenya. What comes from Kenya is a small detail of hand-woven Kikoy fabric on every piece, woven by artisans in Nairobi. It's a quiet signature rather than a statement: British design first, with Kenyan character running through it.

Choosing between them

If you want one piece that does the work of a light jacket on a mild day, the cable knit is the one. If you want something that layers neatly under everything else, the quarter zip. You could reasonably own both, and we wouldn't discourage it.

As with everything we make, 20% of profits go to conservation and community projects in Kenya.