From knitted berets to hand-sculpted felted hats

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Over the years I have made many hats: knitting them up on circular needles I have always found great fun. Much to my dismay though, my woollen creations, although admired here in Buenos Aires, were never sought after when I tried to sell them at local craft fairs. 

It seems that here in Buenos Aires it is not a common thing for a woman to wear a hat. First of all it never gets cold enough in winter so there is not a need  to wear one and secondly there isn't a hat wearing tradition so even at formal events like weddings you will very rarely see a lady wearing one.                                                                                                                                            

My husband always reminds me of when we met up at Victoria Station in London the day after our first meeting. I met him wearing a bright red  knitted beret, slanted across my head. It was a cold morning in February and of course a common accessory to wear at that time of the year. The look on his face when he saw my colourful beret though revealed a certain embarrassment and lack of knowledge about this long standing tradition.                                                            

This week I am back at my hat making antics and instead of getting out my circular needles I got out my merino wool top, a circular resist and started to work on a felted beret with colourful topped off with a flower and then a sculpted polka dot hat also with a flower on the top.

Both hats were made under the supervision of Andrea Graham during a two afternoon web cam felting class. Once again I had great fun making these hats, now we will have to see what my husband will say should I wear them.