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PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG - One of Pangnirtung's crafts has unexpectedly hit the big time.

The crocheted woollen hats common across Nunavut have caught international attention with the release of a documentary series about the North.

Lisea Atagoyuk crochets a Pang hat. The hats are a cottage industry, each individually crafted by one of 30 Pangnirtuurmuit women (or one man). - photo courtesy of Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts

Scottish comedian Billy Connolly wore a green hat from Pangnirtung for much of the filming of his TV show Journey to the Edge of the World. He visited Pang in the summer of 2008 as part of the filming of the series.

For the last two weeks Pangnirtung's Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts has received phone calls and e-mails almost every day. Most have been from Great Britain, from people ordering hats like Connolly's. One e-mail said the hats would an "obvious choice" for Scottish winters.

Through its online catalogue, Uqqurmiut charges $75 for the hats plus postage to the U.K. -- $12 according to Uqqurmiut general manager Kyra Fisher.

"It's been a giggle right through," Fisher said. "It's been a lot of fun."

One co-worker suggested Fisher receive an award for "creative marketing."

As of March 12, nine orders had been placed so far, most asking for two or three hats. Fisher said the demand was especially remarkable considering the worldwide economic weakness, which includes the U.K.

The Uqqurmiut centre distributes kits and materials in Pangnirtung for people to make the hats. Thirty women are currently produce them, along with one man who for some reason will only make hats in brown.

The British customers will have to wait, though, because Uqqurmiut's first priority is to produce 65 hats for the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit at the end of March.

Labour capacity is an issue for Uqqurmiut; the group had to turn down the opportunity to produce hats for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics because there was no way it could come up with 5,000 hats by the deadline without compromising quality.

Even for an experienced crochetier, such a hat takes a few hours to create.