These felted hats are made from chunky handspun Shetland wool. The felting process makes the hats very soft, dense and warm. Over time the hat moulds itself to your head, a process that will go faster if − deliberately or not − you wear it when it is damp or wet.
I started making these during one of our summer holidays on Foula, using coloured roving from Jamieson. By hand spinning the wool I’m able to blend colours and create a slightly uneven chunky yarn. This provides an artisanal look, whilst also reducing knitting time of the hat. The oversized knitted hat is then felted in hot water, rubbing it with soap to soften and interlock the wool fibres. The hat is then left to dry on a hat mould to provide its shape.
My felted hats on Esty
I’m really please with the hats. Each is unique with it own personality, which also means that it remain fun to make the hats. I’m still experimenting with different degrees of felting, and may make some alternative models in the future. It would also be nice to try different embellishments using needle felting techniques.
I’ve now made these hats in a range of different colours, and also using natural un-dyed fleece.  Each hat is unique, and can be further altered by rolling the rim to different thicknesses. I sell my felted hats on Etsy.
Time and cost
There’s about 125g of wool in each hat, costing only a few pounds. They are however fairly time-consuming to make, involving approximately 5 hours of spinning, 2½ hours of knitting and half an hour for felting and finishing.
