This hat is knitted in the round, from the top of the crown to the edge of the brim and then felted-to-fit. It’s a fairly fast, one-skein project that provides a chance to explore the expressive potential of felting—with the brim turned and/or shaped differently during the drying process this pattern can run the gamut from cocktail-hour Robin Hood to “Kiss me, Hardy!” The instructions given here are for a hat that is inspired by the fêtes galantes of Antoine Watteau. It requires knitting with double pointed needles, short row shaping, three types of increase (KFB, M1B and M1F) and a decrease bind off, sewn bind off or another very loose cast off of your choice. As it is felted in the end, the pattern is very forgiving of less-than-exquisite short row technique.

The Cascade Soft Spun, which I have used for the hat shown in the pattern is heavy for a worsted-weight yarn. If you choose a different yarn, I would recommend another un-plied, heavy worsted or aran-weight yarn, like Reynolds Lopi or Malabrigo Worsted.