+6Well! This one has been brewing since December when I finished this hat. Our household has an annual winter solstice gift exchange/party and this year I drew our beloved leader, Master Killian. His persona is late period, and he presented me with an opportunity to make something I'd had on my list of things to try for a while, a knitted and fulled flat cap.
I've been making berets and Scottish bonnets for a number of years, mostly for reenactors in the Jacobite/French & Indian War/Revolutionary War circles, so I had some experience with making fulled caps, which turned out to be a good thing because the only online pattern I found that looked viable turned out to seem needlessly complicated to me. Not having had the chance to examine an actual period cap myself, I decided to use my Scottish bonnet pattern as a staring point. In the future I'd love to do a bit more research about if these caps were knitted top-down or bottom-up, how they were cast on and bound off, etc. Some of those variables are impossible to sort out, so we just have to do what we can. Others are probably only discernible from examining physical objects.
In any case, I based the shape and look of the cap on this one from the British Museum, though I did not copy the 11 stitches per inch gauge of the original, opting for a worsted weight yarn that's probably closer to 6-8 stitches per inch when fulled. This makes for a warmer and more waterproof cap, which can come in handy in our neck of the woods.
Because I designed the pattern myself, I decided to offer it for sale through my Etsy and Ravelry shops to the general public, but I've given it to several SCA folk who are interested in historical knitting, and would be happy to share with any blog reader who's interested in giving it a try, in the spirit of free and open exchange of info. If you'd like a copy, use the contact me link above, or email me at ursula@destrattone.com and I'll send it to you free of charge. I'd love to see photos and hear your feedback!
For now, though, here is a picture of the finished item, and a few photos of Master Killian himself modeling it. Thank you to my husband, Lord Aonghus, for the photos, and to Master Killian for excellent modeling skills.
I've been making berets and Scottish bonnets for a number of years, mostly for reenactors in the Jacobite/French & Indian War/Revolutionary War circles, so I had some experience with making fulled caps, which turned out to be a good thing because the only online pattern I found that looked viable turned out to seem needlessly complicated to me. Not having had the chance to examine an actual period cap myself, I decided to use my Scottish bonnet pattern as a staring point. In the future I'd love to do a bit more research about if these caps were knitted top-down or bottom-up, how they were cast on and bound off, etc. Some of those variables are impossible to sort out, so we just have to do what we can. Others are probably only discernible from examining physical objects.
In any case, I based the shape and look of the cap on this one from the British Museum, though I did not copy the 11 stitches per inch gauge of the original, opting for a worsted weight yarn that's probably closer to 6-8 stitches per inch when fulled. This makes for a warmer and more waterproof cap, which can come in handy in our neck of the woods.
Because I designed the pattern myself, I decided to offer it for sale through my Etsy and Ravelry shops to the general public, but I've given it to several SCA folk who are interested in historical knitting, and would be happy to share with any blog reader who's interested in giving it a try, in the spirit of free and open exchange of info. If you'd like a copy, use the contact me link above, or email me at ursula@destrattone.com and I'll send it to you free of charge. I'd love to see photos and hear your feedback!
For now, though, here is a picture of the finished item, and a few photos of Master Killian himself modeling it. Thank you to my husband, Lord Aonghus, for the photos, and to Master Killian for excellent modeling skills.
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