Monmouth Cap

A few months ago, I made a set utensils for Nancy. She was happy to have the treenware, and asked if I wanted anything. Now, I'm no great knitter (ok, I'm mot a knitter at all...), so I asked her if she'd make me a Monmouth-style cap. She helped me sort out a style and color, and right before Christmas, a package showed up.

The cap nestled within was beautiful.... and .... Large. Now, I'm no small guy, topping the scales at around 280 pounds, and standing over 6 feet tall, but this thing would have fit two of my pumpkin-sized heads. If you look closely, you can see that the hat is rolled up about 3 times, just so I can see.

Nancy sent me an email, which I got a few days later, telling me to 'full' or wash the hat until it fit. Now, to full a wool item, you apparently have to wash but not dry the item. If I would have dried the hat, it probably would have been to small to fit my 2 year old son. So I washed it. It shrunk up nicely, but was still a little too big, so I washed it once more, and hung it up in the laundry room. Ta-da! The hat now fits nicely,the knitting is much tighter due to shrinkage, and I now have a period-correct piece of headgear for those cold days up at the fort. AND.... it's in french colors.

Go check out Nancy's site. She runs a great blog, and she'll probably do a post on the hat real soon.