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All-season wear, light cool weather days
Year-round comfort, ideal for moderate climate
Cold weather, great for fall and winter days
Versatile wear, comfortable for mild conditions
Curiosa and Limited Editions
Choose your Westcoaster, or scroll down to learn more
*The Arctic Circle is about one inch longer than the Regular. Built to cover your ears when double folded.
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Shaped by the Wild Norwegian West Coast Weather, a
The Westcoaster is a hand knit wool beanie hat, knit in Norway, the old fashioned way, with knitting needles — no machinery. It’s double-thread knit with high quality 100% sheep wool yarn, developed on the Norwegian West Coast. The wool’s coarseness is below the itchiness level of 30µm, making it non-itchy to the average wearer. It is a thick beanie meant primarily for the winter, but it works well for the coldest days of spring and fall as well. It comes with no tags or markings, making it naturally a fold-it-as-you-like beanie.
Being 100% wool, it enjoys the inherent qualities of the material — wool’s ability to draw a lot of moisture into itself, leaving your skin dry even when sweating. It is also naturally anti-bacterial, and can go a long time only being aired out, not washed.
The Westcoaster is knit with two threads side by side on the knitting needles. Something that makes it twice as thick and chunky. The unique knobby look, which comes from the knitting technique is also accentuated by the thickness of the knit.
While we experience temperature differently, -10°C/15°F to 10°C/50°F is generally a good sweet spot, the Arctic Circle being the best for those lower ranges.
An important aspect to understand, if you want to use these beanies in extreme weather, is that wool is not particularly wind resistant. It is primarily a powerful insulator. So if you are heading into a storm, learn the skill of layering. Wool as an inner layer to insulate you, and a windproof hood outside to windproof you. The combination of these two will offer you the maximum heat. But for most regular winter days, the beanie is enough in itself.
The Westcoaster comes in Regular and Arctic Circle variants. The Arctic Circle is primarily made to accommodate a different style — specifically if you want a double fold to go all the way over your ears. But it also doubles as an XL, since the extra inch of length gives you more material to stretch, and the yarn is stretchy enough for anyone but a giant.
People above 60cm head circumference, 7 1/2 hat size, are usually happier with the Arctic Circle.
Norwegian raw wool is available to us, but our yarn provider on the West Coast sources the wool for this beanie from Uruguay, specifically because the Norwegian raw wool is coarser, and is better used for outer layer wear, such as sweaters. The sheep used for our wool are guaranteed not to be mulesed.
The beanie’s design uses a knobby knitting style called seed stitch, and the double thread makes the pattern more dramatic.
It arrives as one long, tight knit unit ready to stretch to fit your head, and for you to fold as you will. Single fold, double fold, roll-up or even unfolded, are all valid ways to wear this beanie.
It comes without any tag or markings, which is a callback to our heritage — when my mom knit for me as a child, there were no labels anywhere. Just needles, yarn, and skillful craftsmanship — and, as we like to point out, patience.
The Eastfold is knit with 100% sheep wool yarn, specifically sourced from the kind climate of Uruguay, to ensure soft itch-free wool. It is processed on the Norwegian West Coast, in one of Norway's oldest yarn mills.
Hailed by Norwegians for centuries, sheep wool is the number one choice among knitters. Along with choosing wool because of its historical significance in Norwegian knitting history, there are timeless features associated with wool.
We have free worldwide shipping with tracking. You can return your hat up to 60 days after your purchase, and get a full refund — if the hat is still in good shape and includes the Certificate of Authenticity. You pay for return shipping, and the refund will be issued once we've received the hat/hats back and have seen that they're in good shape.
You can return your hat up to 60 days after your purchase, and get a full refund — if the hat is still in good shape and includes the Certificate of Authenticity. You pay for return shipping, and the refund will be issued once we've received the hat/hats (and their Certificate of Authenticity) back and have seen that they're in good shape.
If your hat unravels or a thread snaps with reasonable use the first 10 years after your purchase, we'll patch it up, or if that is impossible, replace it. You only cover the shipping costs.
Norway made
Keeping with the four centuries old tradition of Norwegian hand knitting, we knit every piece with patience and attention to detail. Our family have done so since grandma began knitting in 1932.
We are here to share with you the experience of growing up with hand knit wool, right off the needles. No gimmicks, just the wool, the honed skill, and the patience.
The Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle variant is simply about an inch longer than the Regular.
The Regular is built for a single fold to cover the ear, and a double fold to go above the ear. The Arctic Circle covers the ears even on double fold. And it is really hot!
Uniting the locals
Norwegians already knit for pleasure, in their own houses, and we used this existing culture, to offer a secondary income for passionate knitters. We don’t employ anyone, but pay per beanie.
The Norwegian yarn mill that supplies us has been around since 1888, and are outspoken and detailed about their care for animals and humans along the entire line of production, whether its imported raw wool, or from Norway.
Leftover yarn from knits is gathered, and used first for Mom’s Market custom knits, then the final leftover stubs are used for pillow stuffing.
There is Artwork to go with the Westcoaster!
The Navigator of the North Sea fixes his eye on the shoreline as he rides the storm, heading for the safe harbour he calls home — on the Norwegian West Coast.
All the while, he's wearing a Westcoaster against the cold and seaspray.
Get 30% off the artwork if you buy it with a Westcoaster beanie.
Frequently asked beanie questions
The most common question is about sizing, and it is actually a bit complex, so take the time to read about your beanie below.
There are two most common reasons why the beanie would seem different upon opening it and first trying it on.
Our beanies are knit without a tag, so you may fold it once, twice, or even roll it up. We personally like the twice-folded style the best, and push that look most often in our marketing. The history of the fold is, in short, that the laboring man would need some flexibility in headwear. When you need to hear, or if the sun pokes out, you fold it up. When the weather roughens, you fold it back down. It's sort of like zipping down your jacket when the sun peaks out.
I like to have the opportunity to explain our reasoning before I disclose that it is nylon. We all hate plastic that ends up in nature, but we are using it in a product that is meant to last.
The reason we have 20% nylon is that it allows the yarn to be spun thinner, while keeping the needed durability. This makes these beanies thinner visually, but also a bit cooler, and makes them more suitable for all-year usage.
Other beanies are more suited to the winter, though they all work fine for windy cool days on the ocean, or high altitude hikes on a cloudy days.
We hand knit every beanie in Norway, with yarn purchased from one of Norway's oldest yarn mills. This mill offers both Norwegian and internationally sourced wool. We have purposefully selected yarn types sourced from South America and Australia, not to save money — the price points are approximately the same as for Norwegian wool — but because wool from these climates are softer, and less likely to itch. If you want genuine Norwegian wool, and are ready to risk the itch, contact us and we'll see what we can do.
To most of the world, we do. Free shipping with tracking. There are a few rare instances where it has not been available, and then we select the best possible alternative. These packages also arrive with no trouble.
If your beanie unravels under reasonable circumstances, within the first 10 years of its life, we will patch it for you for free. But you have to pay for shipping both ways. This is a way to maintain the beanie as long as possible, making it a keepsake.
When a beanie is finished, the thread is attached by sowing it into the finished product several rounds. Sometimes that end thread comes poking out — most often on the inside, as we try attaching it that way. It doesn't mean it is coming loose. If it comes out on the outside, try pushing it back in — use a needle if needed. The beanie will not unravel — and if it does, please refer to our guarantee.
We did not choose wool — hundreds of years of Norwegian tradition chose that for us. It is an amazing insulator, with the special feature that it pulls moisture away from your skin. Norwegians have sworn to wool both historically, and in modern day outdoors apparel. You just can't beat the natural fiber that is wool.
It all started with my mom, then my grandma joined the team. My mother designs all the beanies (sometimes with input from me), and we recruit as many knitters as we need from around Norway. But it is always hand knit, the traditional way, and quality controlled by my mom.
We are not sharing numbers, because that would require giving you an understanding of our entire production cycle, including admin time, marketing, recruiting, packaging, shipping and so on. But every knitter is happy with the pay (otherwise they wouldn't have worked with us), and they know the brand, the website, and the final price.
Hand knitting is the genesis and the core of our company. We hand knit because we are here to honor and tell the story of our Norwegian heritage. Generations after generations hand knitting wool apparel to keep their families warm. And the tradition is still alive and well. Also hand knit beanies comes with a personal touch and history that machine-knit goods just can't match.
I (the Son) actually live in Sweden, while my Mom remains in Norway and handles all the logistics over there. We ship large batches to Sweden in order to offer better shipping times and to be able to include tracking in the free shipping alternative.