• “a true Hobbit Adventure"

    Merri M., Pre-reader of chapter 1

  • "It’s beautiful!! I’m deeply inspired. About 40 pages in after a midnight session. Couldn’t sleep, it was perfect. It’ll be the first physical book I finish in years."

    Ethan Thompson, Marketing Director of WESN  (Upon reading 2nd book draft)

  • “Your use of language and structure is excellent.”

    Knute S., Pre-reader of chapter 1

Want to feature Red Thread?

Are you a book reviewer, represent a press outlet, or own an independent bookstore, please talk to us directly at hello@redhatfactory.com

Red Thread hardcover book by Red Hat Factory founder Benjamin Antoni Andersen

The Story behind our Norwegian brand is coming December 8th

How I Built a Norwegian Heritage Outdoors Brand — And Fulfilled My Childhood Dream on the Way

More than twenty years ago, on a narrow Norwegian mountain road, a childhood dream began forming. But it was in seed-form — as vague and misty as the distant vistas that inspired it.

Years later, by way of meeting a rather innocuous Red Hat Cult, I stumbled into starting my own hat company, deeply rooted in my family’s heritage of hand-knitting. Lost and anxious, far from home — far from those mountains I loved — the dream seemed to coalesce into something tangible. But that was when the Norwegian demon I’d carried since childhood awoke.

Before it all was over, I would have to return to where the dream had been born, understand what had been lost on the way, and reclaim it.

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  • "Highly recommended to anyone who wants to dig deeper in the struggles and fears of bringing forth their own dreams from scratch, as well as inspiring to help you reflect in your own roots."

    Pablo Diaz, Engineer at Scania  (Upon reading 2nd book draft)

  • "I can almost smell the trees and feel the sunshine."

    Bob Lukach, Pre-reader of chapter 1

  • "I absolutely loved it and cannot wait for the entire book to come out! I live in Alaska and enjoy reading about people and places in other northern climates. Also, I left my big corporate attorney job last year to start my own leadership consulting company which I just launched a few months ago. I find your story incredibly inspiring and look forward to reading more. Thank you!!"

    Stephanie, Pre-reader of chapter 1

The Parts of the tale

The Norwegian Mountains

The story begins with the day I fell head over heels in love with Norway's endless mountainscapes. And with two major mountain trips being a core part of this story, you can expect us to return to the outdoors in grand fashion before it’s all over. With a camera and a script to tell a tale.

The Red Hat And Norwegian Heritage

At the point in the story where I encounter red hats for the first time, we dive deeply into their history and what made them such iconic symbols for adventure. And as this thread connects with my own family history through the knitting of my first hat, we sprinkle the story with a plenty of gems from my family history, and my Norwegian heritage.

The Struggle

The summer of 2020 was a breaking point for my building of this company. I woke up several nights a week shaking with panic attacks, and our economy was a dark black hole of my own making. My company was about to go down with me, unless I could turn it all around.

All Threads Weave Together

The mountains which we travel through connect to sheep, connects to wool, connects to Grandma. Grandma in turn connects us to old Norwegian WWII stories that bears meaning to the brand. Me carrying a camera on those travels tie back to when I first began developing my skills in storytelling, which led to the brand being founded.

With my own travels and struggles to get this brand off the ground as a lens, all the threads will tie together in a fashion that when we finish it off, you'll look back and see how the sometimes meandering threads make a coherent picture. And my hope is that it'll give you a kick out the door and an inspiration to go on your own adventure.

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You'll get the first chapter when you sign up

Current Progress

  • The Book

    All is done.

  • The Marketing

    Pre-order and launch dates are public!
    Respectively November 10th and December 8th.

  • The Practicalities

    Oh, there's too much right now for me to mention. I don't have time. Gotta go back to work.

But what the heck is this brand?

If you ended up on this page by way of book marketing but don't know who we are, let me shortly introduce us.

We are Red Hat Factory, and we bring you hand knit wool beanies on the Norwegian South Coast. Honoring the 400 year old tradition of knitting in Norway, we do it the old fashioned way with only knitting needles, wool yarn, and a whole lot of patience.

Meet Our Main Beanie Collection

1 4

8000+ Beanies Sold and 1000+ reviews later

We love the people, and the people loves us. (At least that's what the numbers indicate.)