Felt up

So, why am I wearing a bucket over my head? Actually, this is the pre-felted version of a hat. I decided I needed a warm hat that I could wear in the rain and I thought felting might make a thick, warm, water resistant fabric that might be perfect for my needs. Besides, I had a stash of Cascade 220 on hand. I used my Brother Home Knitter to cast on 120 stitches at a loose tension(9), and knit 45 rows, changing colors to include some black and some handdyed Cascade. I then put it onto size 10 needles, and knit in the round with a decrease every 15 sts X8, then knit plain, then decrease every 14 X8, then plain, etc until I had decreased to 8 stitches, whereupon I ran the yarn thru and pulled tight. Then I put the other side on circular needles and increased every 15 sts X8, knit one row plain, increase every 16 X8, etc. until I had about 10 rows of brim, then cast off. In retrospect I should have distributed the brim increases more randomly, as the result wasn't a circle but an octagon ( duh!), although a man on a runaway horse would never notice, as my mom says.
Now to throw it into the washing machine for a few cycles of hot/cold and keep my fingers crossed!
I also made a purse, as I had the knitting machine out, so here is the photo of that one ( pre felting)..