A Ymir 2026 I setup a display of my progress in knitting. I (of course) neglected to get any pictures of the display. The display image is from KASF 2026. I included the following items:
- Black wool Scholar’s hat
- Black wool Scholar’s hat knit by Annora the Wise (my mother)
- Black wool Frankenhat
- Black wool flat cap
- Red wool flat cap
- (KASF display also included) Red Thrum cap #1 AKA Objectionable Dreadlocks Hat
Scholar’s hat
Display document about Scholar’s Hat.
In 2018 my mother taught me to knit. We both knit a scholar’s hat using Wicked Woolens/Sally Pointer’s pattern available on Ravelry. I then fulled** my hat in the washing machine with soap and hot water using the extended wash cycle. I ended up with a hat which shrank to the point of being unusable. I’ve included my mother’s knit version of the same hat so that visitors can compare the two hats to gauge the difference that fulling makes in the finished product.
Lesson learned: fulling with soap in the washing machine with hot water on the extended cycle is not recommended unless you significantly increase your gauge and stitch count A LOT to account for the extreme shrinkage in the final product.
Frankenhat
Display document about Fankenhat.
For my second knitting project I cobbled together two completely different knitting patterns to make my own pattern (like you do).
The cap looks to me like it should have and icord and 4 ridges (right cap in the inspiration image) like the Scholar’s hat) but fit like a coif with ear flaps that can be tied at the top of your head. I think Frankenhat came close.. but unfortunately neither my husband nor my son will wear it.
This hat was gently fulled by hand in a tub of warm water by walking the wool (massaging the hat gently) and pounding it with a rubber mallet until it was “enough”. Notice between the un-fulled and fulled images, the stitches have completely disappeared from the surface of the hat. (I have to also LOL at myself that “gentle fulling” involves beating the hat with a rubber mallet.)
Lesson learned: make sure someone will wear a knitted project before committing to making a knitted project or just be happy with the experience of creating a thing. Also, gentle fulling is labor intensive but the final results are worth it.
Thrum Caps AKA: “The Objectionable Dreadlocks Hat” and “The Hat of Cringe”
I did not display my “objectionable dreadlocks hat” at Ymir 2026 because I knew I planned to wear “The Hat of Cringe” during the day and it’s hard to tell the story of the first hat without also showing off the second hat. I will have them both with me at KASF.
Flat Cap
Display document about flat caps.
I displayed both a black and red wool flat cap knitted using the pattern from the Modern Maker. The rad cap is my latest knitted project. I’ve knit A LOT of other projects between my first few projects and these flat caps. The black cap was fulled by running it through the washing machine set to cold once. The red cap was fulled by running it twice through the washing machine set to cold.
Lesson learned: don’t leave your knitting where your dog can get to it.
** Felting vs. Fulling
Felting is when you take raw fiber (ie, roving) and heat/agitate it to form a felted fabric.
Fulling is when you take woven/knitted item made of spun fibers and use heat/agitation to raise the surface on the item to bind the fibers together.
