Day 25, What a surprising process

Making felt hats by knitting them first is always a risky process when you are using a yarn you’ve never used before. I knitted a small square in the yarn and processed it in the washing machine to see how it would shrink. It came out really short, so I decided to knit a really tall hat, and just hope I could stretch and pull it into shape. It looked like a long veil when I finished knitting. (She was cracking up under there!) Then I washed it in the washer for 10 minutes in hot water with a little soap and an old pair of jeans. After the first wash it looked like something the cat-in-the-hat would wear and slid right down over her head. So, I washed it again for 10 minutes using the same process, but omitting the soap. It was a much smaller version of the cat-in-the-hat. And so the work began. I used a large bowl to stretch it over just to get the basic shape to change from long and tall to short and round. This can only be done when you take it out of the washer and it is still wet. Once dry, the felt is set. Then I formed it on a hat form. The mannequin was still laughing when I tried it on her, but I think she was expressing how much she liked the finished hat, don't you?

If you are interested in the pattern for this one, drop me a note.