Smittens

Belmont, NH

OUR Smittens Story … CELEBRATING OUR 15th year in business! In 2011 I saw a vendor selling sweater mittens at a craft fair that our 10-yr old daughter was selling at. She did a trade with her for a pair of sweater mittens for me. When we got home and I tried them on again I realized they didn’t fit well. I commented to my husband, David, that they felt more like an "oven mitt" and not very comfortable. He replied, "why don’t you make your own." So, we did. We went to our local thrift store to stock up on sweaters, found a pattern online which I modified to tailor our mittens to fit better.

Our production was done at our dining room table until one day, a month into our new craft, our kids (10 & 12) sat us down and had an intervention of sorts. They informed us that if we were going to continue it had to be in another part of the house. They wanted to sit down and have our family dinner and do homework at the table without our mittens everywhere. We moved our production into a spare room and started making and selling mittens at local craft fairs and on the ice during Pond Hockey in Meredith Bay. One night (early am) and a bottle of wine gone. David said, "let's call them SMITTENS" (Short for sweater mittens) and they have been ever since. We are a family business with our kids being part of the process since the beginning. My uncle, who is handicapped, also helps us by flipping the mittens right side out after being sewn and putting a liner in them. Over the 15 years, we have added a line of fleece hats, scarves & mittens as well as a Cashmere Gift Sets that are made from new cashmere scarves and lined with cashmere. 100% flannel/fleece backed blankets for cozy comfort and great year-round were added in 2023. We also do special orders for those who have a favorite sweater that no longer fits or from a loved one who has passed away.

We make mittens from re-purposed/re-cycled sweaters and other materials as well as a line of cashmere mittens, lined with cashmere paired with matching new scarf. We have a line of fleece hats, mittens & scarves as well as flannel/fleece backet blankets.