Bamboo Skull Cap

This is a new skull cap that I've just posted to my website.  It's made almost entirely from bamboo, which may sound a little weird, but spinable fibers come from a variety of plants, like hemp, flax (linen), bamboo and cotton of course.  There is also corn fiber, but I haven't tried that yet.  The bamboo looks very much like silk and has a subtle sheen that I like very much. The blues and lavenders are all bamboo, and the dark green is hemp, which is not shiny at all, so that makes for some nice contrast.

Spring Hat

This is the second hat I made for the customer in Arizona.  It's made from hemp, linen and cotton.  He wanted browns with blue and green accents again, but since plant fibers use a very different sort of dye process, the colors are a little lighter.  He was very happy with this hat as well.

A New Design

I've been busy this winter with survival issues related to firewood and dealing with wrecked roads due to huge rains here in Mendocino County, CA.  Not much time for making hats, but I do want to post a couple of new ones.  

I had a custom order for two hats from some very nice folks in Arizona.  One was a lighter weight hat for spring and the other a very warm winter hat.  The winter hat actually ended up inspiring a new style.  It's a sort of cross between a small tam and my modified fez hat style.  The fez hat is usually flat on top with extra body created by using two ply yarn that sort of tweedy.  I also incorporate a longish tassel with a bead on the end.  I call this a tassel fez. The one pictured here is modified to make the top a bit wider and turned under.  My customer liked this style but instead of the tassel, he wanted a design in browns with blue and green accents

So this is what I came up with.  A modified tassel fez hat but with a design on top instead of the tassel.  He loved it, and it's still cold enough to wear this winter!