Quest to make a good Balmoral bonnet

**pdcorlis** · 25th March 10, 01:43 PM

I am always amazed by the collective knowledge of this forum!

**BoldHighlander** · 25th March 10, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by tulloch

While I too find the size a wee bit small for my taste,
I applaud you on your work & I also really like the shade of blue that you chose!

**tulloch** · 25th March 10, 04:23 PM

P.S. I gave this cap to a friend today with a much smaller head than mine. Fits well and he is appreciative. I am sure it will be seen at Loon Mountain this year.

**guitarmatt** · 26th March 10, 08:51 AM

I've only done 2 felted projects before, so this comes from really no experience. My method was to pour boiling water over my knitting and then immediately put the kettle back on. Then I roughed up my knitting a bit, using gloves and wooden spoons because of the really hot water. Once the kettle came to a boil I drained the sink, doused the knitting with ice cold water from the tap (since we get ice cold water straight from the tap this time of year), let the cold water drain off then plugged the drain and poured over the new hot water. Repeat until awesome. It worked really well, and you can feel the work pulling in tighter and tighter every you do the cold water douse.

**mrtackytn** · 26th March 10, 09:52 AM

Looks absolutely SUPER !! Want to try a bottle ot rifle green next ??

**tulloch** · 30th March 10, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by Friday

In felting as well as knitting gauge, gauge, gauge. Next time you want to knit a balmoral and felt it, knit a 4X4 inch swatch and determining your stitch to row gauge. Once you have a stitch to row gauge felt the swatch to determine shrinkage. Make sure you mark the swatch in some way to determine which way your stitches go compared to the rows. Stitches and rows do not shrink at the same rate.

Thanks. I will give this a try. Do you think hot water followed by cold is the trick? Rub a lot on a washboard? Brush it?

**tulloch** · 30th March 10, 03:39 PM

Matt I will try your suggestion. Thanks for the feedback.

**tulloch** · 30th March 10, 03:48 PM

I just finished another very like the one above. Photos will be posted in the morning with good light. To anyone who cares to put in their two cents / tuppence - what is the difference between the tam and the Balmoral?

**Friday** · 31st March 10, 04:24 AM

Originally Posted by tulloch

Thanks. I will give this a try. Do you think hot water followed by cold is the trick? Rub a lot on a washboard? Brush it?

I'm lazy and use the washing machine on hot.

**Pleater** · 31st March 10, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by tulloch

I just finished another very like the one above. Photos will be posted in the morning with good light. To anyone who cares to put in their two cents / tuppence - what is the difference between these two bonnets?

I think the most important difference is the depth of the band - a beret has just a small lip around the head opening, which is bound in leather for the military, whilst the balmoral has - an estimated - 1 and 1/2 to 2 inch headband.

Where a knitted pattern has been put into the band using the Fairisle technique it requires either a second layer of knitting to cover the floats (loose strands), or a ribbon sewn onto the back - otherwise the floats will roll together and deform the band.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: