Hand made items are loved for the fact that each piece is given special attention when being made, while those that prefer the factory pieces enjoy the sizing consistency and fashion trends. Garments that are knitted in a knitting factory are normally made on a knitting machine. Handmade items are made by hand with knitting needles.

The original "knitting factory" utilized huge industrial knitting machines run by individuals; however, today most knitting machines are run by computers. The computer, like an individual, still uses a knitting pattern in order to produce the product.

The knitting pattern tells the person or computer how the yarn should be manipulated in order to make the item that is desired. The downside to using large knitting machines is that they must be repaired and maintained on a regular basis because of their constant use.

In addition to repair, maintenance and basic programming of machines, human employees serve a vital role in the knitting factory. Knitting machines do not produce knit shirts, bags or any other type of knitted product.

Instead, they produce rows of knitted fabric. Employees must take these rows of knit fabric to a laundry area, where they are washed and dried to ensure that products made from the fabric can be laundered without shrinking or damage.

After the fabric is laundered, it is taken to a cutting room, where employees manually cut the pieces of knit products, such as shirt fronts or sleeves. Cutting the pieces by hand helps ensure the accuracy of each piece. Those cut pieces are then sewn together and finished, by hand, by skilled sewers who make sure each seam is properly sewn and reinforced.

It is true that those knitted fabrics made in a knitting factory and those that are handcrafted have many differences. Those differences make it hard to compare the two to each other. While the factory made pieces can be purchased in large quantities that will all look similar, handmade pieces will have an original appeal.

Which you choose is actually a personal choice, but why choose at all? You can enjoy those items that are made on a knitting machine and still love your handcrafted pieces as well.