Tudor Flat Cap

I downloaded Chris Lanning's instructions for a Flat Cap last Thursday and stopped by Knit-N from the Heart and picked up 2 skeins of Galway in a heathered black and 2 skeins of Cascade 220 in a heathered brown. I knit the black wool first. Despite doing a swatch and fulling it, I was still uncertain if the finished cap would full down to the correct size. I'm still uncertain as the person who's head it is for was not available for a fitting so I am guessing.

The knit itself went relatively quick, although I did frog a couple inches to make the radius an inch smaller. I knit a cap with a single fold and a 2 layer brim.


The double fold cap is from the Victoria and Albert collection in London and is a knitted and fulled cap dated to the 16th century. I'm uncertain how my single fold cap compairs, personally I don't think the brim is deep enough so I'm going to remedy that on cap #2. I am pleased that the yarn I purchased is a similar color to the surviving cap (although I'm sure the original color was much darker). The brim on this cap appears to be a single layer and mine is a double so I may change that as well.

I fulled my cap in the washer with hot water and an addition of a kettle of boiling water to the wash. I agitated the cap for 45 minutes before rinsing and laying it flat to dry. The fulling is nice and even and wonderfully tight.