Getting to know Catherine from The Small Bird Workshop
Circle R Livestock: A Family Farm
One of our big goals for Sweet Paprika this year was to source a new line of Canadian wool yarns. We started contacting farms and mills last January, researching options, connecting with farmers, and collecting samples.
Eventually we settled on working with wool from Circle R Livestock, a family farm in southern Ontario. Over the spring we worked out the details to have the wool milled in New Brunswick, and we then spent the summer doing dye tests and creating colour recipes for our new Winfield (worsted) and Sutton (bulky) yarn lines.
Frolic Report 2016
Shawl Club 2016 – Designers and Artists
One of the best parts about running Sweet Paprika is the chance to make friends with other designers, artists, and small-business owners both locally and globally.
Let me introduce you to all the people who have helped make the 2016 Sweet Paprika Shawl Club happen: Kira Dulany, Fancy That - Creations by Francine, Puretea, Jennifer Wood and Tudor Parau.
Kith & Kin designer interview: Sabrina Miller
Last (but certainly not least!) in our series of interviews with the designers from our Kith & Kin Collection is Sabrina Miller, designer of the wonderful Chili Powder Mittens.
Sabrina is a friend of ours here in Montreal and, although she does have tons of design experience from her work as a set and costume designer, I'm proud to say that this was her first-ever published knitting pattern!
Kith & Kin designer interview: Thorn Maiden Designs
Next up in our series of blog interviews is Rachel Anderson from Ireland, designer of the Blue Skies and Butterflies mittens.
Rachel originally planned to offer these mittens in two sizes, but when I asked her if she could expand the size range from child to adult, she more than rose to the challenge and sent us a pattern with 8 sizes to fit everyone from toddlers to men's extra large!
Kith & Kin designer interview: Marie Godsey
Kith & Kin designer interview: Valeria Kerkkä
Kith & Kin designer interview: Joan Beebe
The second in our series of blog interviews is with Joan Beebe from North Carolina. Joan designed the Macon Mittens for our collection and was kind enough to knit two samples for us: one adult and one toddler size.
This design really caught my eye with combination of Latvian Braids and cables and my toddler could not wait to try them on when the samples arrived in the mail!
Kith & Kin designer interview: Josie Mercier
One of the best parts about putting together our Kith & Kin Collection of mitten patterns was getting to work with knit designers from all over the world.
First up for our series of blog interviews is Josie Mercier from Belleville, Ontario here in Canada. Josie designed the wonderfully addictive Frost and Twilight Mitts for our collection.
