A Slashed Knit Hat for a Landsknecht

Today I'm adapting a simple re-enactment style knit and fulled Tudor style sixteenth century cap into something much more exuberant to suit a Landsknecht costume impression. With slashed fabric and added feathers, this is an easy adaptation to a standard hat.

[k.jespersen]

We *ALL* need a "rather daft hat" in our collections! This is going on the to-be-made list.

[sarahmccostumes]

Everything I read about Landsknecht costume just makes me think of modern subcultures, especially punk/crustpunk! Its just so relateable. You're wearing clothes that make you stand out, you're DIY-ing your own stuff, instead of repairing the rips in your jeans you just make more rips and call it fashion...
I wonder what there is to learn about subcultures in general from reading the landsknecht in that context and drawing parallels to e.g. 20thC crustpunk?

[JustSaralius]

When you said "huge shears" I still didn't expect that! 😂 7:37

[ravensthatflywiththenightm]

Just discovered your channel.

Subscribed! 🧿🧿

[MarciaHouston]

Thanks, Sally. I found your pattern for the cap on Ravelry. I only had a short set of double point needles so I made a half size just to try it out. The cap came out very nice, instructions easy to follow, and fits my stuffed teddy bear😄

[benjaminmack]

There is a peculiar building in Trowbridge which i learnt was for drying teasels. Its funny the bits of history you never realise existed!

[raraavis]

I don't know why, but I really like those hats. It's something I would totally wear with my modern wool coat! I don't really like the pressure of a normal hat around my head anyways, although I still prefer them over knitted caps. Maybe I should try one, that mostly sits on top of the head.
I visited an original wool processing/fabric making plant with all the machinery (still in working condition) from the early 20th century a while ago. Steam operated and everything. So fascinating. It was closed up in the 1960's without ever being modernized and then laid completely dormant and undisturbed till it was bought and turned into a museum some 35 years later. They polished everything up and actually turn the machines on and everything during guided tours.
They used those scrubby plant thingies in one of the machines for the same purpose. If you're ever in the Cologne area in Germany, I highly recommend checking it out.
I'll post a link to a video in a separate comment, in case YouTube deletes it. They sadly don't seem to have someone doing social media stuff for them, so it's just an older video in German - but it does show some of the beautiful old machinery, if that is something that is interesting to you (I know, your main area of interest is farther back in history).

[TealCheetah]

a bunch of macho dudes sitting around camp, slicing up their hats is such a funny mental image

[debvoz]

I had read that the origin of the puff and slash style of the Landsknecht was in clothing looted on the field – the garments had slashes from swords, and they cut away the blood stains leaving holes in the fabric, then put another layer of clothing beneath that had holes in different places creating the distinctive look. Later of course, they were created deliberately. Is that correct? I always thought it was a fascinating idea.

[headstanding_Penguin]

I'd love a more indept tutorial on this, especially on the knitting and then felting part, please!

[Beryllahawk]

Wow, I learned so much in this! The word "plush" takes on a whole new level of meaning when you understand how much went into getting a piece of wool to BE plush. For some reason I thought napped fabrics were made in ways similar to terry cloth or velvet, so this entire idea was REALLY new and interesting to learn about!
My grandmother was German and she had a couple of very silly stories about Landsknecht, but the thing I remember her telling me was that the entire lot of them were "just well dressed bullies."
I suppose that really depends on perspective though - after all if you're the person hiring the mercenaries I'm sure that fancy hat made a good impression! A wealthy mercenary is generally a quite skilled fighter, else he wouldn't have lived long enough to amass that wealth in the first place!

[penihavir]

I never realized that those were knit to start. Very cool! Thanks!!!

[CARthebard]

I'm excited to try this out for myself!

[MEDavis-knph]

Fun and lovely indeed! Made me think of the carefully knit patterned tubular knit child's sweater I slashed to add sleeves. The heart attack didn't happen! Miracle, the sweater is well worn, alive and well 50 years later.

[evelinharmannfan]

For anyone who is interested, the German pronunciation of the "k" in "Landsknecht" is hard, like in "kale" or "cock". And the hat needed to be felted not only for looks, but also for practical reasons, to make it more waterproof. Landsknechte had to stay outside a lot and had a tough life.

[Denuhm]

I love this, it looks amazing and has inspired me to make one of my own! Thank you so much :3

[davidtmacknet]

You: "I'm doing this entirely freehand."
Us: "we noticed and are terrified!" 😂

[ThisSmallGnome]

I would dearly love to see a how-to on the sprang hairnet!

[deborahdanhauer]

That’s just cool! Thanks for the demo🐝🤗❤️

[JustSaralius]

I would be so happy if you did a collab with Welsh Viking (Jimmy) some time!