Remembtance Day hat, felted version
I had the idea for this Remembrance Day hat a couple of weeks ago. it was supposed to be a felted version of a twenties cloche with a crocheted poppy. I think I have discovered on Halloween and today why knitted felting was a short lived fad. Firstly a felted hat has at least 50% more stitches in it than a regular hat because of the shrinkage. Secondly, the washing machine turns into a real crapshoot.
Remembrance Day hat, unfelted version
unfelted version, top view
I spent the last couple of days off and on knitting the felted hat. I mapped it out on paper and used the (newly recovered) tension square that I had made and lost for the witches hat on Halloween to calculate the stitches. I knitted and knitted, and then put it in the washer and dryer. I got a pattern for the crocheted poppy from Treasures in Needlework by Mrs Warren and Mrs Pullan, 1870, and threw it in the laundry with the hat. This morning I got them out and found what I thought was a shapless, unusable mess.
I then set about spending today knitting the second (unfelted) hat and making a scaled down crocheted poppy from my head. Now I am not sure which one is better.
gillianknits 
they’re both nice Gillian, but I prefer the knit one…it seems to fit better and snugger to the head.
I love the shape
Thanks Carole
I like the felted hat Gillian, but the poppy on the unfelted one looked better. If it’s cold enough for me to wear a hat I’d want it to be a warm one.
Sheila
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I know what you mean…and I will give it to the felted hat that it is warm, what it lacks in shape, it makes up for in insulation I guess. I put it on for a while yesterday when I was knitting and I had to take it off.
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