The Felt Hat - Tacking on Trim

The felt hat is done!

To finish, I first dipped the edges of the cording in an anti-fraying solution (probably Fray Check). I wrapped the cording around the hat twice and ended used the excess to form a little loop.
I was originally going to use a feather as well, but decided not too at this time. The hat is set up in such a way that adding a feather later would be relatively straightforward.

I threaded a needle with the same thread I used to turn back the edges and whip-stitched around the cord to hold it to the hat.

Currently it is on a "hat stand" which I got at Big Lots for $3.

So that's done!

It's not my masterpiece. I can look at it and find a lot of imperfections, which I'm sure people wouldn't see immediately. I have been told that a lot of other people feel that way, so it is not just me.

Since it's been a few days since I finished it, I can look at it and not see those "mistakes". For a first time attempt, I did rather well.

The William and Mary Fringed Fleece Blanket

This time, I made a blanket for my dad's birthday. The colors are green and gold for William and Mary. Go Tribe!

My dad's birthday was yesterday, March 29, but I made this back on February 24, before Spring Break.

If you need a refresher on how this works, look here.

The Felt Hat - Finishing the Edges

Things I have learned in Millinery:
1) Steam is hot
2) Just because the Presser Foot looks like it's down doesn't mean the Presser Foot is actually down.

For finishing the felt hat, I started by turning the edges of the brim over by 1/2 inch and topstitching from the bottom. On that note, two layers of felt is very thick and hard to sew. Consequently, I started by messing up because the presser foot was not down, so I had to rip out those stitches.

The next time, I had the presser foot down so the stitches held together. However, because the felt was so thick, I couldn't pin it together. For the record, I had less trouble pinning and sewing together four layers of canvas.

So I stopped every few stitches to fold the next section of felt over. When I finished, the stitching was uneven because the felt would shift over the needle when I went to turn over the next section. So I ripped out all the stitches and tried again.

This time I stopped the needle in the felt every time I went to turn over the next section. The stitching was still uneven but it was better.

Then I went to look for some trimming. I settled on some gold cording attached to tape. I ripped out the thread attaching the cording to the tape, which was slow going, but I did not unravel the cording.

That cording still needs to be tacked on, by the way.

I then ironed the tape to use as the inside ribbon for my hat. It's not gros-grain, but I think it will work. I stitched the tape into my hat with the machine. Again's it's not even, but that bit will be covered by the cording, so that doesn't matter as much.

All that is left is the trimming. If I get enough time, this hat should be finished this week.

The Felt Hat

Another thing I've been doing in class is pulling a felt hat.

The felt body (the actual piece of shaped felt) was ordered from a place called ManHatCo - they are really nice people. I got to visit their shop in NYC during Spring Break.

The black thing is a hat block made of plastic, ordered from HatShapers.com. It is the Fedora, size small.

It was my intention to make a Tyrolean hat, which is why I chose the fedora hat block.

Pulled the hat wasn't hard, just time-consuming. I started by soaking the hat in warm water and stretched it out the hat block. It doesn't want to form that form, so I had to keep pulling at it. I put elastic over the base to keep the base stretched so it wouldn't snap back to its original form.

I also loaded it down with chains wrapped in plastic bags so it wouldn't snap back, especially at the crown.

Felt takes a while to dry, so I did this right before leaving for break. When I got back, the felt had dried to the right shape - mostly. the base was very wrinkly.

I spent about two hours with a steamer in order to steam out the wrinkles. I didn't get them all, but it no longer looks wrinkled.

After all that, I could finally measure out how long I wanted the brim to be and cut off the excess.

I still have to turn back and sew the edges and trim the crown.

A Different Washcloth - The Washcloth Doll Part 2

I'm sorry for missing the post on Friday; RL interferred and my computer wouldn't turn on. Besides, this pattern was only completed on Saturday so I would have needed to post about something else anyway.


For the next part of this project, I used the same yarn and the same size needles with a slightly different pattern, which I had meant to do the first time. I misread this pattern, which mutated into the pattern from before. I do have to say I like this pattern better.

The right side

The wrong side

Cast on 38 stitches.
Knit three rows
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K3, Purl to last 3, K3
Row 3: K3, (P2, K1) x 10, P2, K3
Row 4: K3, (K2, P1)x10, K5

Do Rows 1-4 12 times.
Knit 4 rows and bind off, weaving ends in.

A Washcloth - The Washcloth Doll Part 1

So my next project is another knitting thing (not a scarf):

This is a washcloth knitted over Spring Break. It is based on a pattern I heavily mutated from Ravelry.

With Red Heart Soft Yarn Worsted Weight White yarn and on size 6 needles:

Cast on 36 stitches.
Knit three rows.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K3, P30 (until there are three stitches left), K3
Row 3: K3, (P2, K1)x10, K3
Row 4: K3, (K2, P1)x10, K3

Do Rows 1 - 4 twelve times.

Knit 4 rows and bind off, weaving in the ends.

The right side:

The wrong side:

When I get further into the project, I will explain it more.

The Blue Scarf-Shawl Thing OR My Second First Knitting Project

Note: I amd on Spring Break, so this is a filler-post.

When I was 12, my grandmother tried to teach me how to knit. She started me off with a few rows and then left me to make my scarf. At least, that's what I thought at the time. Looking back, that ball of yarn would never have been to make a scarf.

In any case, I tried to knit for a few weeks but I soon forgot how to purl and my stitches were getting too tight to easily get off the needle. I set it aside.

My first knitting project, in all its would-be glory

A few years later I decided to learn again and got a ball of yarn, a pair of needles, and how-to-knit booklet. I found the instructions too confusing and lost interest. The yarn would sit beneath my bed for years.

In senior year of high school, I decided to try again. This time, I had a friend who also knits. We both had Oceanography together, so one day when our teacher was out she showed me how to start a row and how to knit and purl on what was left of the yarn my grandmother gave me. The sub was a nice, elderly lady who knitted herself and so didn't mind us doing this.

That night I fished out the blue yarn from years previous and cast on many, many stitches. I think I thought that it was to be practice only but I never ripped them out. It was knitted on size 8 needles but I can't remember now the type of yarn.

Thus began the light blue scarf and with it, my habit of knitting in class. I guess I didn't understand how wide it would be. I finished off the yarn and voila! My scarf.

Yeah. It is actually more the size of a shawl. It currently lives in a pile in my room.

With one scarf behind me, I set off to make another one as senior year wound down. This one was in stockinette and so curled. The yarn was form the Vanessa White collection, knitted on size 10 needles.

This one also lives in a pile in my room. It isn't really long enough to wear.

And that was how I spent the second semester of my senior year.

NaNoWriMo Round-Up

For those of you unaware, I participate in NaNoWriMo, that is, National Novel Writing Month. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November.

Some of you might be thinking: What does this have to do with knitting and fleece and lambdas? Isn't that what this blog is about? (Except the lambdas)

A Really Tiny Update - Coming Soon

It's time for Spring Break! And over break I'm going to be working on a new project.

Details will be coming soon. And no, it is not a scarf.