Felting Success? Not So Much.

July 30, 2006

I wear hats: To keep the sun from my eyes, to keep warm in the winter, to keep the rainwater off my glasses, to take attention from my many bad-hair days. I am continually in search of hat patterns, whether they be for fabric or yarn.

Why do I love the Fiber Trends patterns so much, I wonder? Must be the tasty pictures - it's definitely not that they're NO-BRAINER patterns. Enter the red (to-be) felted hat with large brim.

I started this hat months and months ago (but still this calendar year), other things kept pushing it from the top of the list. Last night I finally finished knitting the hat.

Details: Fiber Trends Felt Hat II, designed by Bev Galeskas. I chose the wide-brimmed version. Yarn was Patons Classic Wool/Merino in Bright Red. The hat took a little less than 2 skeins.

Here's how the hat looked before felting:



I filled the kitchen sink with hot-hot water, put on my gloves, added a bit of Woolite (man, does that stuff suds up! I thought I'd been frugal with the soap, but ended up bailing out lots and lots of suds) and started kneading, rubbing, and agitating. I continued to add more hot/boiling water to the sink whenever the temp got cool - as in whenever my hands weren't screaming from the heat. It took awhile, but finally the felting started to happen. Way cool. Or hot. Whatever.

Note: The Patons Classic Wool Bright Red RUNS. The water was not just pink, it was red. Glad I didn't try it in the machine with other stuff.

Finally, all stitch definition was gone. I rinsed in cold water - and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed, darn those suds - got some towels and blotted and rolled and hugged, then did it all again a few more times.

Hmmm. Looks kinda big, still. Well, what the hey. I'll stick it into a hot dryer. 40 minutes later (yes, I checked it during that time), the hat was still damp-ish, but dry enough to try on:



Side trip: I went and looked it up. The character on Fat Albert that has the same kind of hat (except it's pink) is called Dumb Donald.

Not to be discouraged, I turned the brim up, just like it shows in the picture:



As I began writing this post, referring to the pattern to get the correct information for you - because I'm sure all of my readers want to rush right out and get their own pattern to make a hat just like mine - I noticed something on the pattern: Use size US 10 1/2 needles. I had used size 13 for the whole hat. That's what I get for stopping and starting a project, months apart.

So, will it be a purse? Will it see the scissors and a sewing machine? Will it be a flowerpot cozy? Only time will tell.

Yours truly, Dumb Donald

Labels: felting, knitting

permalink 6 Comments:

At 7/30/2006 4:02 PM,  cathych Babbled Back:  

wow, I am truly glad for you that it didnt stay the way it looked in that first pic, lol!!!!!!!!

At 7/30/2006 4:40 PM,  Old Hag Babbled Back:  

ROFLMAO! oooh girl.... your sense of humor just slays me! And I am sure glad I'm not the only one that makes boo-boos like that! It is a cute hat...even though it's a tad big! ;o)

At 7/30/2006 5:20 PM,  Knitcrazy Babbled Back:  

LOL... Love your Post!!!!

Pretty !!! It looks like a Sun Hat :)

At 7/31/2006 4:07 PM,  T Babbled Back:  

Mom says:
"So what's the problem? It'll keep the rain off your glasses, cover up your bad hair days, keep the sun out of your eyes and keep you warm in the winter. I like it!!"

At 7/31/2006 8:45 PM,  Anonymous Babbled Back:  

How about using it as a deoration? Make some pretty felted flowers and then sew them on and hang it on the wall.

Turn it upsidedown and fill it with some pretty yarn.

Dress up the fall scare-crow with it.

I like your flower-pot cozy idea as well.

At 10/05/2006 2:25 PM,  Looming Looney Babbled Back:  

OMG! This is too funny. I laughed all the way through the read. Hat to say it but you do look like Dumb Donald.

Too funny. I can't wait to see what you make of it. ROFLOL

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