Gransnet forums

Arts & crafts

Jelly bag knitted hat from the fifties

(25 Posts)
Nansypansy Fri 26-Nov-21 15:47:09

Just wondered if anyone remembers “jelly bag” knitted hats from their childhood? My friend bought one recently in Primark but I think they were Christmassy …. Has anyone got a pattern of one?

Calistemon Fri 26-Nov-21 15:53:04

www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/jelly-bag-2
Is this it?

I can't remember having one but my Mum knitted me bonnets like the ones in the top right hand picture.

Calistemon Fri 26-Nov-21 15:53:47

Ps it says "All sizes" on the Ravelry link.

Nansypansy Fri 26-Nov-21 20:04:47

I did see that pattern on line but I remember them to be longer with a proper Pom Pom on the end!

Calistemon Fri 26-Nov-21 22:26:58

Like this?

www.work4idlehands.com/Pattern_of_the_month/archives/2019/01/jelly_bag_hat.html

Auntieflo Fri 26-Nov-21 22:56:16

Oh my goodness Calistemon, I had one like that, knitted by my mum. Until I saw the picture, I had completely forgotten about it.

Calistemon Fri 26-Nov-21 23:14:37

And I got a bonnet!! As in the other picture grin
Actually, more than one.

annodomini Fri 26-Nov-21 23:19:18

I knitted myself a hat like the one in the photo when I was about 15. It kept my head warm when I was cycling to and from school - we didn't have school uniform hats. At some point, there was a craze among my friends for knitting balaclavas from a pattern we devised ourselves. We made them in our house colours and knitted a white 'poodle-wool' trim around the face. Bizarre! I don't think that fashion outlasted one winter!

Kalu Sat 27-Nov-21 00:12:13

I don’t remember those hats but I do remember wearing a scooter scarf.

Witzend Sat 27-Nov-21 08:41:56

I don’t remember those - I had a ‘pixie hood’ - anyone else?

I don’t know what happened to my mother’s old wartime pattern book, with the pattern for the mega-thick socks she made for DF who was on the RN Atlantic convoys. We used those socks for Christmas stockings for ages - a Dsis still has one.
There was also a lovely pattern for a baby’s jacket - very simple, much nicer IMO than fancy, lacy ones.

Juliet27 Sat 27-Nov-21 09:03:29

My mum in the 50s crocheted me a hat in a greyish blue colour and I heard the girl behind me in church say it looked like a dustbin lid. I don’t know whether I was more upset for myself or my mum. Mind you, I could see her point!

Anannymous Sat 27-Nov-21 11:27:32

We called them jelly bean hats. They hung almost to our waist. Mine was made of my nan’s scraps of wool.

DanniRae Sat 27-Nov-21 12:06:14

My mum knitted me a hat like the one top right in the photo - it was a lovely red colour. What a happy memory - thank you.

MiniMoon Sat 27-Nov-21 13:03:49

Kalu I had a scooter scarf too. It was very warm and cosy in the winter of 1962/3.
Never had a jelly bag hat though.

Purplepixie Sat 27-Nov-21 13:05:18

I love them and thank you so much for the link. Might dig out some wool later and make a one for charity.

3dognight Sat 27-Nov-21 13:11:37

Yes very good if you had a long ponytail if I remember correctly!
Caused a lot of hilarity in our family grin

midgey Sat 27-Nov-21 13:37:26

Do you remember Dr Who scarves? I knitted one for my daughter in the early eighties, it was so heavy when I finished!

Whiff Sat 27-Nov-21 19:18:22

Those hats are a blast from the past. My mom learnt to knit when she was 6 and only gave up when she 88 when she forgot how to read a pattern. But could still do the stitches so I told her which stitch to do. It broke her heart the day she forgot how to do the stitches . She lived until she was 90.

Calistemon Sat 27-Nov-21 22:42:34

I remember my Mum knitting me a scarf and pixie hood all in one.

She also used to knit me long scarves which crossed over at the front, went round the back and were held in place with a safety pin. It was very cold in the olden days ?

MissAdventure Sun 28-Nov-21 00:03:58

I had a white fur monstrosity that my nan bought me, with fur pompoms on the tie up bits.
I used to hide it in a hedge on the way to school and collect it on my way home.

Marmight Sun 28-Nov-21 00:31:25

I had a hat like the top left of the 4. It was yellow. Completely forgotten about it. It looks like a bottomless paper bag scrunched at the top ?
I can remember being bundled up in winter in a belted school coat with my home knitted stripey scarf tucked into the belt fore and aft, zip up ankle boots over knee high socks and bare thighs. Brrrgh. So cold.

CanadianGran Sun 28-Nov-21 06:35:53

Gosh I remember those long hats. I really wanted one. For some reason I remember some of the boys wore them, so they must have been popular for a short while in the late 60's?

I remember my mum knit a hat for me, it was a band that tied under my chin, and it had large paillettes. Very stylish hmm

Oopsadaisy1 Sun 28-Nov-21 06:46:50

Mum made me a similar hat to the other picture, but she threaded a head band through the front so that it didn’t have to have ties and it stayed on even in the strongest wind. I have a photo of it when I visited Father Christmas in his grotto in the 1950s.

marshmarigold132 Sun 28-Nov-21 08:48:31

I’ve still got that knitting pattern!

Socksandsocks01 Tue 07-Dec-21 10:17:40

I'd never heard of jelly bean hats what a strange name. I find knitting so therapeutic and it kept my mother going that's for sure. She made bed socks for grandchildren every Xmas. Happy days. I make fingerless gloves as gifts but I really need to knit well in advance in future. I'd love to make boat socks for my brother he would wear them for sure. I'm just learning to use 4 needles though.