While the space does have a knitting machine, a circular knitting machine makes it much easier to knit hats and anything else that can be made with a tube. With one of these, you can knit an adult-sized hat in about an hour.
There's two main brands of circular knitting machines you can find: Sentro and Addi. The Sentro ones are entirely made of plastic and wear out quickly. The New Haven Library makerspace got a Sentro, and after being used regularly, the plastic track that the hooks run on wore out within a year. It's better to get the Addi, which is reported to be much sturdier.
They also come in multiple sizes. The Addi Express Kingsize would be the correct size for hats. The smaller sizes make i-cords or tubes suitable for socks or toys.
https://addi.de/en/c/knitting/addiexpress/knitting-machines/