Hand Knit Winter Wool Beanie

Imagining a classic fisherman from the Norwegian West Coast, rowing against the rolling waves and seaspray — we designed the beanie he would need and want.

The Westcoaster, and its longer cousin the Westcoaster Arctic Circle make out our new family of fisherman beanies.

The fisherman hats are knit with two threads of 100% sheep wool yarn, which gives them both the gritty look and the heat and insulation an old timey fisherman would need.

Or, in our case — what we needed when we scaled this fjord on the Norwegian West Coast.

Sheep wool as the fisherman’s choice

For Norwegians, sheep wool has been the primary winter knit material for generations, and having grown up wearing it, we are happy to pass on the experience.

For a true fisherman’s beanie, you can’t find a better material than wool. It insulates on a fibre level, by drawing moisture away from your body and into the material itself. For small amounts of moisture like sweat, moist air, a light drizzle, or the fisherman’s favorite — seaspray — wool does the job.

Or if you go up in the windy and snowy mountains, you want a material that creates enough heat for you to thrive. Wool is both warm, temperature adaptive and breathable.

No man-made material can really match it.

Our first winter beanie

The Westcoaster is for the tough winds on the ocean a rainy day. Your commute in a snow fall. The beanie you hide in your backpack when on a late fall hike, in case the cold winds come creeping.

Of all the beanies we’ve made, this is the first one made with winter in mind. And while the Westcoaster is made primarily to be rolled up over your ears, we made a longer version called the Westcoaster Arctic Circle, which fits well over your ears even when doubly folded.

I am confident the picturesque fisherman of the Norwegian West Coast would be proud to wear this beanie.