Things Scottish

Jamieson’s Dicey

Published on June 10, 2014March 11, 2019 by Jen6 Comments

I’ve been busy making some shaping improvements to my Dicey Highlands Bonnet design. Here knit with Jamiesons Of Shetland Spindrift 2ply wool yarn, with my new favorite diced band style using three colors. I think this particular one is more a man’s cap, and there is a particular Scottish fellow who may just have his name on it come Christmas. About the design elements. I’ve come to the opinion that it should be blocked flat , with the diced band brim eased into flatness as well , instead of blocking it with faced-band standing up . . .

The toorie is as before, one simply threads the ties of the toorie through the middle of the crown and ties it on . . .

Simple & pure ,

strong & good mannered too . . .

Such personality !

I am smitten already with this handsome creature . . .

The confident, all-natural, pragmatic sort . . .

My Dicey pattern is already a year old, and now I am only just now studying it’s many facets while trying out all kinds of yarns and test-knitting, for I honestly feel that the design is so deserving of every attention. This pattern will be having extensive test-knit samples knit up by myself and some friends, and is undergoing an update soon.

I’m already casting on another , testing my new shaping ideas, in a lively ensemble of colors… so watch this space ! 🙂

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Details on Ravelry HERE

Dicey

Published on June 2, 2013May 28, 2026 by Jen21 Comments

My new beret design I’ve named ” Dicey ” is a simple and fairly traditional Scottish style bonnet. It has a checked, or ‘diced’ band as it is called. It has come to me in a sort of time capsule of childhood memories of Peter Rabbit . . .

as well as my present-day intrigue of a name by “Tam O’ Shanter” . . .

In a poem by Robert Burns ‘Tam O’ Shanter’ tells a story of a farmer named Tam, who gets drunk with his friends in a public house and then rides home on his horse Meg, enduring a night of terror and misfortune. (click to go to resource)

The Scottish forename “Tam” (for Tom) followed by “mishanter” (misfortune, ill-luck, the devil) = Tam of shanter . Coincidental how the name for the style of Scottish bonnet which Tam wears is what we think today of the voluminous hat with a pom pom on top of it. Its evident that the hat called a ‘tam’ came from Robert Burns’ character.

Oh, and check out this old tobacco label ! The dicing on the band is rather vaguely penned . . .

Actually, as far back as 1500’s the bonnet was a popular thing to wear throughout Europe, and the diced or checked band is a motif I find very timeless and yet fashionably dynamic !

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Dicey is knitted with Virtual Yarns Hebridean 2ply shown here in colors “Selkie, Red Deer, and Sun Dew” (with a few rounds of Jamieson’s Spindrift black).

A small semi-felted pom pom, or “toorie” which sits on top, makes Dicey just a little bit whimsical, with real ‘sassitude’ .

Dicey has a sort of horizontally ‘incorporated’ cord stitch ( i-cord) bordering the diced motif either side . . .

Dicey has a built in ‘cord’ stitch knitted right into the fold on the band, lined with more rounds of knitting, then the turned hem is knit into the fabric with no stitching afterward, very neat and tidy !

Dicey is very much the traditionally inspired bonnet I wanted it to be.

Dicey has been undergoing many design changes since its beginning, but I feel I’ve finally arrived with the right motifs, the right techniques, the right yarn, the right gauge, the right shape.

I am pleased it is finished, and the pattern can be found on Ravelry here .

What Have We Here?

Published on May 31, 2013March 11, 2019 by Jen11 Comments

Looks a little like something the cat brought in.

It is the toorie . . . a decorative ball of fluff . . . a bobble.

It is to be tied to the imminent bonnet.

It has been in a bath, felted up a little, shook off, and will get one more trim.

Imminent Bonnet is back-stage (blocking & reblocking) soon to make it’s debut appearance!

So hold to your seats !

In the Home Stretch.

Published on August 15, 2011November 8, 2024 by Jen5 Comments

I am learning *so* much about so many things with this unexpectedly epic little project : a braided cable, cuffing and reversing direction of knitting, narrowing down into a garter section (I chose to use smaller needles as well), Eye-of-Partridge stitch, sock gussets, and soon to be toe shaping and kitchener stitch… and I’m reinforcing my skill in reading a pattern (something I haven’t done much of, strangely). I had to totally improvise picking up stitches, and I got my SSK and K2tog mixed up a few rows on the first kilt sock gusset start (quite obvious if you look closely at the one on the left). So far these have been a hugely valuable learning experience (John Anderson’s Kilt Hose on Ravelry here)

Tam O’ Shanter !

Published on August 1, 2011September 9, 2024 by Jen4 Comments

. . . This truth fand honest Tam o’ Shanter,
As he frae Ayr ae night did canter,
Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses
For honest men and bonnie lasses. . . .

(excerpt from Robert Burns Poem ” Tam O’ Shanter “)

The ” Tam o’ Shanter ” is a name given for the traditional Scottish bonnet which was born from a character in poet Robert Burns’ imagination, and comes to life in his epic poem Tam o’ Shanter. Also called a “Tam” or a “Tammy”, the hat is flat on top, usually made of wool , and has a pompom on top called a “toorie”, or pom pom, even a tassel, but also they are made without any. There is in fact, an actual arithmetic equation of the popular design, that the crown is twice the diameter of the head , but I’ve noticed many of the bonnets in different sizes and shapes. Originally, having only plant dyes available, the hat was made only in blue, but they are now popular in many colors, as well as tartan plaids. Tam o’ Shanters, the Balmoral bonnet, and the even the somewhat military Glengarry cap all are worn either formally or informally in Highland dress, as well as in uniforms of a number of military units. (I personally suspect the Glengarry evolved from the Balmoral Bonnet, as a scrunched or folded version, the advantage being that it can be folded flat and tucked into the waist of the kilt). These Scottish bonnets have been worn by men in a traditional sense ~ however, it is quite obvious that the Tam is popularly worn by women in modern day, especially the knit versions, having endless designs and motifs. The Scottish Bonnets I think are smartly fashionable, and though some styles have a bit of a regiment look, I think any excuse to wear one is acceptable!

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Originally a soft, knitted blue cap with a flat voluminous crown, it gave the Highlanders their nickname ‘Bluebonnets’. Here the Balmoral style of Scottish bonnets appears in a 16th century portrait …