Fabric Type

Pique Knit Fabric is a double knit fabric made with a combination of knit and tuck stitches to create a mesh like appearance. It is often a cotton or cotton/polyester blend.

Pique Knit fabric is in which interlock is knitted in the first and fourth courses, while the second and fifth courses are half-gauge jersey courses knitted on one side of the fabric, and the third and sixth courses are halfgauge jersey courses knitted on the other side.

For Pique Knit Fabrics courses 2 and 3 are knitted on alternate needles, courses 5 and 6 are knitted on the intervening needles.

Pique Knit fabric shows stitches of seemingly normal length in one wale adjacent to long held stitches in the other wale as the needles of both sets are holding their loops either during one course or during three course.

Pique Knit fabric is a knit fabric with a similar texture is used in polo shirts.

Double pique knit fabrics

Generic name applied to a range of weft-knitted rib-based fabrics such as Swiss double pique knit fabric, French double pique knit fabric, Belgian double pique knit fabric etc. in which small hollows on the effect side known as pique knit fabric effect are obtained by a selection of knitted loops and floats.

• Swiss double pique knit fabric
• double pique knit fabric produced by knitting in the first and third course on all needles of the effect side of the fabric and on alternate and intervening needles of the reverse side; the second and fourth courses are halfgauge jersey courses knitted on the reverse side on the same needles that have knitted in the preceding course
• In French double pique knit fabric, the half-gauge jersey courses are not knitted on the same needles that have knitted in the preceding course but on the intervening needles.
• In Belgian double pique knit fabric, two half gauge jersey courses are knitted instead of one in a six-course repeat cycle.

Pique knit fabric seemed like an obvious choice as it is durable, flexible and breathes well. It is known for its geometric knit. If you look at it up close, it seems to form a "honeycomb" or "waffle" type of pattern.

As with double knit, double pique knit is a technique used to combine two types of threads. This is done for all kinds of reasons, sometimes it is to make a fabric stronger or to cut down costs by combining a lower quality material with a higher end one. It is also sometimes a design decision as combining textiles of different colours can create a singular effect.

Although pique knits in general are considered durable, the fibers used and tightness of the construction contribute to the extent of durability. Tighter knit construction causes fabric holes to be smaller than traditional pique, and may be called baby pique or micropique. This construction can add features such as snag resistance to a garment.