Tag Archives: Musher hats

Musher hats

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threehats_lowres

Hat, scarf, and mitten combos are clearly the headgear of choice for spectators at M.U.S.H. dogsled events. They were out in force back in 2012 when this feature last appeared on my blog. And I’ve never seen these except at a dogsled event. This trio favored the more natural fur look. But the obviously synthetic one are totally cute and warm as well.

onehat_lowres

Here’s another with a nice sense of humor. Maybe an imitation skunk?

skunkhat_lowres

The ears seem to be an essential part of the “look” of the headgear even though they perform no particular function.

mittenhat_lowres

But it’s not like all the special dogsled event headgear followed this trend. There was also a good deal of natural fur in attendance, including little Daniel Boone (or is it Davy Crockett) and his dad. When the little one flicked his head around, his hat’s tail flipped dramatically.

twohats_lowresAnd this has got to be a vintage Red Wing cap, don’t you think?

detroithat_lowres

The mushers are also mostly mittened and this fellow wore what looked to be a great Nordic-style pattern. Here it is in close-up and, surprise, I think I see a Red Wing insignia at the wrist:

mitten

Mushers’ hats

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Last weekend’s M.U.S.H. (Mid-Union Sled Haulers) dog sled race at Clear Lake State Park, near Atlanta (Michigan), caught me unawares in the adventurous hat department. This musher wore a knitted hat with dog fur spun into the yarn. Siberian Huskie, I believe.  It works for the athletes doing all the pulling, so why not also for the musher?

These Samoyeds donated their hair to be spun and knitted into another warm hat:

Samoyeds go through a massive twice-yearly shed (they “blow hair”) and also basically keep up a steady supply of tufts that a dedicated dog hair spinner put to good use in this hat. Its owner told me that there’s nothing warmer. This hat looks like it’s felted and molded itself to its owner’s head. The Samoyed has longer guard hairs but it’s the shorter, softer undercoat that sheds seasonally.

This musher looked so perky in what might have been a synthetic fur, I thought I’d show off her hat for its inspirational value. It takes a confident woman to pull off this look. (And she does!)

Finally, there’s this gentleman. Yes, for me, at first there’s a strong gross-out factor. But that wears off. Mushers have very strong bonds to their dogs. Since this was an event celebrating dogs, I assumed this was one (and not a coyote, for example). And I’m imagining that this was likely a very special dog. Maybe a team leader. Maybe he had heroic moments somehow. Maybe he spent tons of hours by his master’s campfire. Or I suppose maybe his master just decided he’d make a nice hat. Waste not, want not. Anyway, here they are:

I thought the races would be interesting and they were (see my previous post). But I was surprised that the day also provided some knitting inspiration.