A Sailor’s Hat

 

(This paper was submitted as documentation for an Arts and Sciences competition. The intention is to be a historical fiction)

 

A Sailor’s Hat

Figure 1 A nalbound beret in 90% alpaca, 10% silk handspun yarn.

The following text is from the diary of a young sailor. These pages were found in the attic of a house in Palos de la Frontera, Spain. We are fortunate that some of the pages have survived the years, although the name of the sailor was lost.

 

“The year is 1519, and I have signed onto a ship, it being my seventeenth year and I am anxious to see the new territories that so many are journeying to. We set sail from the rich shores of Spain to travel to the new world. This will be my first journey across the sea.

I have learned much in the past few months. Swabbing the deck day in and day out. Repairing sails. Endless hours in the crows nest watching a never ending expanse of water. And knots, so many knots, will these nautical men ever complete their list of knots? Salt fish, salt beef, hard tack, their culinary skills leave much to be desired. It is not all bad. There are many fine men among the crew. And the shanties, ah the shanties. Some are haunting, some cheerful, and some are downright risqué. Such language! And put into song!

We stopped to resupply in Santo Domingo, our new port in Cuba. My what a lively town! The nights are alive with noise, while the mornings are very quiet as most everyones’ heads are hurting. But we are continuing on to Peru, and the captain has been putting many a grumbling man in his place.

After many months my gear is in a sorry state. I am particularly sad about the state of my boina, the excellent cap which one French crewman insists on calling a béret. On sunny days I move the body forwards and it shades my eyes. How I wish I had bought a second, but alas, we are so far away from Maria’s little shop.

While it is good to have land under my feet for a time, I did not expect to be a mountaineer! It seems that these mountains go ever upwards. Vast expanses of sand, rocks, and short stubby grass. It is amazing that anything lives in this land.

We have finally found a village. The air is so thin up here. Everywhere you look it should be a desert, but it is cold! It must be the heights.

The locals have a strange animal. It is like a sheep, but not like a sheep. They call it an alpaca, and they live in great herds. The most striking feature of these wooly animals is their long neck, it is so long that one can look me in the eyes. Instead of a deep throaty baa, these animals make a soft hum. Until one gets excited, and then there is a great trumpeting EEEE EEE EEEE, which sometimes appears to be for joy, and other times appears to be an alarm. They have amazing wool, which the locals spin into yarn, but it doesn’t have lanolin as a sheep, instead these animals appear to take dust baths, and is a source of great joy to them.

My boina is so threadbare at this point, I really must replace it. My poor head was so cold during the night.

Success! One of the young ladies gave me two balls of yarn! It is gorgeous stuff, and so soft. I need to find some knitting needles. The young lady seemed rather pleased, is she being generous? Or is this local courting behavior?

I have not found knitting needles! How is that possible in a crew where so many are talented with strings and ropes! The local vegetation is not yielding substitutes to make my own. I may have to suffer the cold for the rest of this excursion.

Bjorn has offered to teach me a technique from his home in Norway, he calls it nalbinding, and we can use a blunt sail needle with my new yarn. He has had the least amount of trouble with the cold, and has told us many a story of cold snowy nights, with lights dancing in the sky. He says that his mother and grandmother practiced this nalbinding during evenings around the fire, and made many hats, mittens, and socks.

I really am putting all the new curses I have learned to use. This nalbinding is like sewing, but it is not like sewing. And here I thought mending a sail was difficult. How does one keep track of all these loops?

It has been a few days. My head is still very cold during the night. I am now more determined than ever to finish this new boina. Bjorn says that I am improving.

It is done! My new boina is very warm, though much more floppy than my old one. This alpaca yarn does not act in the same way as a sheep’s yarn. It’s odd, but for something so fluffy, it has a weight to it. Captain has said we are leaving in the morning, at least I get one night to test if my head will now stay warm.

Goodness! The young lady who spun the yarn was very sad this morning when we left. Her father seemed pleased though. Maybe having so many guests was a trial for him, it seems that they would be having a nice quiet life when there are no visitors.

We have made it back to the ship and have set sail. Already the mountains seem like a dream. A dream where I can reach up to my cap and touch a cloud. I really must get some sleep before watch.”

 

*The above is a work of fiction, any resemblance to an actual diary is purely coincidental. Palos de la Frontera, Spain is the port where Christopher Columbus set sail a few years earlier. Santo Domingo, Cuba served as a Spanish port during the Age of Discovery. Alpacas actually do hum, trumpet, take dust baths, and live in herds.

 

Figure 2 Spinning a purchased batt (type of fiber preparation) into yarn.

Figure 3 Green is spun and plied, orange is being spun.

Figure 4 All spun up, ready for nalbinding.

Figure 5 The finished beret.

Berets have long been one of my favorite hat styles, so it pleases me that this style has been around since bronze age Europe.

This one is made using my handspun yarn, which was made from locally purchased batts (a style of fiber preparation), and is 90% alpaca, and 10% silk. It is nalbound, with the main body done in York stitch, while the brim is Mammen stitch.