Mad as a Hatter

About 10 years ago, I was attending the American Craft Council show in Baltimore and I bought the best hat. It was the perfect hat. It was a tweed Polartec® bucket-style hat. It was light-weight and warm and I could chuck it in the washer and drier and it would come out perfectly.

I took it with me when I moved to the UK and it was ideal for the climate and the styles there. It was perfect with my old Barbour coats, both the heavy long one and the short quilted one. Somehow, along the way, between here and there, then and now, I lost the hat.

With all of the cold weather we’ve been having, I’ve been wishing for that hat again, and I am on a search to find a replacement. I Googled “fleece hat/American Craft Council” and came up with a vendor I thought it might have been, but it wasn’t. She recommended someone else, but I don’t think it’s the same person. I am waiting to hear back.

So, in the meantime, I’ve been looking at some other contenders, but none are quite right. Here are some of the ones I’ve considered.

A waxed cotton hat with a tweed band. I had a similar one, and the waxed cotton close to my ears made everything echo. I know, crazy.

This is pretty similar to the one I had, but the tweed may have been a little more “hounds-toothy”.

This one is waxed cotton and fleece. Somewhat of a contender.

These two are fun, but they’re not as casual as I am looking for. I’d feel bad chucking this in the laundry, or getting it really wet walking Connor.

If this was Polartec® instead of tweed, I’d like it a lot more.

This is the right sort of shape, but it’s a wee bit busy for my taste.

The thing is, I could probably make one myself. But it would be a matter of sourcing the right fabric and then finding the time to make it. By the time that happens, it will be warm again, and I won’t need the hat.