Mima’s Tam - Fair Isle Hat kit

This hat was designed as part of my Locket's Book & Craft Club in 2023 and goes with the Anne Cleaves Shetland novel Red Bones.  

I wanted to create a slouchy tam style of hat that looks good on anyone and also wanted it to have a vintage, possibly 1940s vibe to connect to the parts of the story dating to that era, and that is what inspired my colour palette. Nice contrasting shades but with an earthy feel.

The Poppy red clearly relates to the title of the book and the multi-tonal Osprey is there to conjure up the peat fires in Mama’s croft. I chose the Yellow Ochre because there are a lot of references to the bright yellow raincoat that Mima is wearing when she is shot, and the fact that it had been given to her by Hattie - was her death a case of  mistaken identity? The other shades just spoke to me of the island and sea.