The coat was gifted to my mother by her own mother to take on her "big OE" spanning 2 years, including visiting U.S.A, working in the U.K. and touring in a VW Combi through Europe with my father. Mother made the hat in the same year to match the coat. The coat was admired by American knitters. While in Madrid when my mother was attempting to cross a road, she felt a tug from behind and noticed a woman holding onto her coat. Once across the road the woman stopped mum and with little English language, she wanted to know where it was from and all about it. Mum also remembers wearing the coat to Church of England services in the U.K. It was so cold in Europe and England at that time that she also wore it as a dressing gown while travelling. Many years later the hat and coat were given to me, because when mother got older, she found the coat too heavy to wear. It has become a precious family heirloom that gets an outing every winter and is now 54 years old.