I decided to felt the crown of my hat by hand. So I got out my trusty felting tools..

It worked like a charm. But I sure was glad that I had decided to hand felt the top! I found that I had not secured the top stitches very well..

If this had happened in the washer this whole thing would have been a knitting Titanic..

 After a quick stitch up I finished hand felting the top. I threw her in the washer and she came out just fine and is happily drying, while Hattie stands guard. I used a yoga ball covered with a tea towel to shape the top, and then I cut a hole in that box so the ball would sit down in and I could dry the brim flat! So far.. so good!

The pattern, by the way, will be going up in the contest in Lynn Markman’s Yahoo group. I’ll give the other particulars sometime over the weekend with the reveal!