I was thinking of my time working with Anna at her mill back in 2019 when I designed this hat. My first impressions of Manitoba when I arrived at the end of April that year were of sleeting snow and grey skies. I had just come from the West Coast by train and as I travelled east the weather turned back several months from balmy almost-swimming weather to dreary end-of-winter sleet. But I loved seeing the seasons shift into summer for a second time that year while lambs were born on the farm and I learned the ropes of working at Anna’s then-new mill.

This hat, with its three shades of undyed colours from Anna’s Shetland sheep, is inspired by those first couple of grey snowy days. Worked in the round with a thick, 2x2 rib brim and a simple colourwork design graduating from dark to light, it should keep anyone toasty on a stormy day.