Knitted Felted Hat

Figure A

Steps:

1. Knit the hat, using 100 percent merino wool and big needles to knit a ridiculously oversized hat (figure A).

Figure B

2. Felt the hat.

If you look at wool under a microscope, it looks just like human hair: a shaft of overlapping scales. When submerged in warm water, those scales pull away from the shaft and start to slip around. Add a little soap, and the scales really move. Add some agitation, and the scales start to get crinkly and attach to their neighbors. That's when wool begins to felt. It shrinks, becomes more dense and less flexible.

Figure D

The simplest method for this is to get the hat wet and toss it into a zippered plastic bag with some hand soap. Then rub it around for 20 minutes or until you start to see some felting action. Take it out every once in awhile and try it on. You can adjust the shape and size of the hat quite a bit through felting.

3. Let it dry overnight.