This pattern is for a thrummed cap.

Thrum caps were worn from Tudor times to the eighteenth century. And maybe into the nineteenth, as ‘Welsh wigs’ were thrummed.

Thrums were often loom waste; spun singles that were leftover after the piece was cut from the loom. Statutes at Large for 1606, said it was “lawful… to make Flocks, Thrums and Lambs Wool into Cloth…”. Which suggests some thrums were recycled into woven pieces, but others were incorporated into knitting; making the finished fabric insulative.

The cap is knitted large then fulled (felted and shrunk) down to fit. Gauge is for stocking stitch, before thrumming or fulling. Use needles to get gauge - as I knitted the originals from handspun, you may well need to do this.

I have included notes for spinning and dyeing the yarn but the pattern works well with aran weight commercial yarn, as well (Although I’d recommend 100% wool).

You should need an extra ball of yarn for the thrums, which can be cut into lengths of around 6”. You can combine colours, or make it as a traditional cap - all one colour.