This Isn't a Habit Quite Yet

I actually finished the hat back on the 1st, at least I took it as far as I thought it was worth taking. Now that the wind and fog have let up I can post pictures. Although before I started this visual and written record I doubt it would have ever seen the light of day, but anyway here it is in all it's hairy glory. I meant to have my sons model it, but they're off cleaning our pastures. If you compare the pictures you can see the amount of shrinkage. What you can't see is how hairy it is, even after trying a sweater shaver on it.

Interestingly it took less time to lay out the fiber and pattern than it did to create the felt. When I make a scarf, especially if I put any designs in it, it takes a lot longer to lay out the fiber than it does to work the fiber to felt. It also took a lot less time to full the hat to this point than I thought it would. Alpaca can take a while to get going, but once it starts to entangle it works pretty quickly.





As can be seen, the ear flap things are closer to being neck warmers, but at least this looks more like a serviceable hat than it did when I started. I could probably get it even harder if I worked it a bit more, but I'm quitting while I'm ahead - on this project anyway.

It isn't quite what I had planned on when I started, but at least it's gotten me felting again.

I think I'll try and find something I can do using a lissome/gertie ball. All my other hat forms are packed and it'll be another two months before I can get them back. But I do have the lissome balls right now - hmmmm.