I made this hat for my friend, fabric artist Lorraine Roy, based on one of her works, “Tobermory sunset”.

Her pieces are perhaps best described as fabric paintings. She spreads countless fragments of cloth on the backing to create rich colours and textures, then fastens them using embroidery techniques. Her works frequently provide abstract representations of trees in the landscape or pond life.

I have blogged previously about how her work inspires me and highlighted a lecture she gave about the synergy of art and science.

“Tobermory sunset” is an impressionistic piece portraying one of Ontario’s most unusual and beautiful places. Tobermory is poised between Lake Huron, known for spectacular sunsets, and the hauntingly azure waters of Georgian Bay. It is one of my favourite places to visit, and I have camped at nearby Cyprus Lake in Bruce Peninsula National Park several times with my daughters.

To spin the yarn for this hat I chose a variety of fibres including fine merino wool, alpaca, silk and nylon Firestar. I core spun the yarn, then plied it with blue tsumugi silk from Habu Textiles. The colour blended perfectly and accentuated the remarkable coral-sea blues of those waters I can never forget.