This is a chunky knitted watch cap: eight-ply in knit-speak. In other knit-speak, it is hand-framed. That is to say, made by a single skilful knitter, who carefully controls with quality and tension of the knit on an old, hand-operated contraption. Rare indeed, these days — especially in Britain.
The crown of the cap is tuck-stitch, which is the undisputed champion, at least in these parts, of heartily textured knitwear. It is also a dense stitch, with the strands of yarn folded up and over each other, and so helps keep in the heat. The rest of the cap is rib-stitch: king of reassuring head-clamping reliability.
The yarn is soft merino lambswool — 1/3.8 Nm, to be exact. It is plush and buoyant, with a soft and dry hand, and is spun in County Donegal in Ireland using traditional regional techniques refined over a couple of centuries — notably being riddled this way and that with neps and burrs of colour.
