I visited our local art/craft store and set up shop in the free craft space to measure the hood.

There's only a few pieces, really, so measuring didn't take long. But I was surprised!

"In 1936 a body was found in marshland near Skjoldehamn (Shield Harbor) on the Norwegian island of Andoya.  The body was not part of an archeological dig but rather found and sent to the Tromso University Museum, the oldest scientific institution in Northern Norway, by a local farmer.  He found the body (accidentally cutting off a foot in the process) when cutting peat from the bog and sent it via mail to the museum for further analysis."

Very interesting to see these little braided ropes on the sides of the hood! This article says that people aren't quite sure what the braids are for - maybe tying behind the head for peripheral vision, maybe tying under the chin to keep the hood secure.

The hood I have is felted wool, but the historical hood is actually a 2/2 woolen twill.

This PDF also introduced me to the term gore, which seems similar to a dart - a little chunk of fabric that changes the shape of a sewn garment. I found a great article from Handcrafted History on how to use gores for medieval fashion. The square pieces of the Skjoldenhamn hood are gores.

This document also mentions that the hood is slightly lower in the front, which hugs the face a little tighter. The one I have is straight on the top.

Very good craft info here!!

This is how I've been looking lately, no joke.

This article is obviously wonderful and thorough because Handcrafted History is amazing.

I found a couple videos on this method and it seems pretty dang simple.

Using some dry willow, I made four little pegs.

I got a few nice thick pieces of yarn, doubled them up, tied them to the ceiling, and wrapped each yarn to a willow peg.

Then I summoned a friend to juggle the pins with me!

I kid you not that it took only moments for us to make a beautiful, strong, lovely braid.

My own sweet mother, after trying on my hood, demanded that I make her one as well. She wears a nearly exclusive wardrobe of all black, and so, black it shall be.

Sunday, 2 March 2025, 2:15pm

Cutting the liner first. I found a great cotton flannel pattern, and I'm going to cut it at 17" wide and 56" tall.

It's so fantastically easy to cut on a woven pattern!

I added 1/2" to the dimensions I measured on my own hood, in order to give some room for seams.

The side panels I cut at 12.5" on each side.

I don't have any way to mark the wool, so I just placed the cotton liner on top of the wool fabric and cut it along the same line. I don't know if this is best practice or not but it seems to be working!

Yeah I know my floor is dirty! So what!!

I don't have a particular destination for this hood, but I'm hooked on making them and I want to scratch the itch.

Saturday, 15 March 2025, 11:15am - 11:30am (15min)

I have quite a random fabric stash I'd like to bust up, and another hood might be just the thing for it.

I really like this fabric, it's quite loose-woven but is very soft. Good for a spring hood rather than a deep-winter hood!

I'm going to try and cut a double-wide piece for the hood section, because this fabric is big enough to save me a seam (I hope!)

I realize I'll still have to cut halfway up the back of the hood to fit the two square sections... oh well.

Done! Two 12" squares. These dimensions are a bit smaller than the first hood I made, because that one ended up feeling a bit oversized.

Saturday, 15 March 2025, 11:45am - 12:15pm (30min)

After a quick break to make some coffee, I'm back. Looking through my stash I was tempted by this huge burlap sack.

I was peeking around #skjoldehamn tags on instagram to see what other folks are doing with this project, and I noticed one that was exceptionally long.

How cool! I like this very much. It makes me think that the size of the hood is quite adjustable. Here's my first attempt at figuring out the equation:

So, in the original, F would equal 15.5" and G is 12". I want to make a hood for someone who is taller, so I may try and increase G to something like 16"!

I like these round numbers! 16" and 32" are very nice and clean.

I am making this next hood for a friend of mine who is taller than me. When she tried on my hood, it looked a little small. I think this 16" hood will be a nice fit for her.

Monday, 14 March 2025, 12:00pm - 2:30pm (2.5 hours)

Looking through my stash, I have a nice navy wool and a soft brown wool that I think would look excellent with a bright yellow liner of linen.

This blue wool fabric was just about exactly 64" long, which is perfect, because I can cut one long piece for the top of the hood rather than two 32" pieces!

I don't have a very long ruler and I don't have any kind of tailor's chalk to mark the wool, so I put a few little red threads along my cut line to guide my scissors.

Friday, 6 June 2025, 11:00am - 11:30am

Using some whole-number, easy measurements today. I'm trying to find the exact perfect set of measurements for the hood. I really liked making the 16"x16"32" hood because it was so nice and square! But, really, a hood that size is approaching poncho dimensions and that's not the point of this garment. So, this one is going to be 13"x17"x28".

I'm cutting up this beautiful woolen blanket for the wool shell!

You know I only mess with fluff-loomed materials.

I don't really have a good solution for cutting big fabric pieces so I'm using my cutting mat as a ruler. My lines are a liiiiiiitte wonky but that's alright. Probably.

This is my first time using this little chalk marker pen thing and it seems to be doing a good job!

I'm using the leftover pieces of fabric for small squares... for an upcoming project... still in the works... pretty top secret stuff.... .......

Woolen shell is done!

2:30pm - 5:00pm

I have the summer free, now, and I'm wanting to make a whole bunch of these hoods. Also, my fabric stash is a bit overflowing. So, today, I'd like to cut as many pieces as possible!