About Us

Hi, my name is Diane Mahar and I am the owner and creator of everything at Colorado Mitten Company.

 

How it all started : My # 1 job is being a mom, then and now. I stayed at home and raised my daughter Kaitlyn and my son Jacob while my husband Mike worked. 

It was fulfilling and demanding day in and day out until one day you wake up and your kids are driving and capable of doing everything on their own. That left me suddenly “jobless” and a whole lot of time on my hands. 

I was shopping at a holiday market and fell in love with a pair of mittens there. Being a mom, I didn’t want to spend the money on myself. I later regretted that decision but had no idea it would change my future. 

I dusted off my sewing machine, went thrift shopping for wool sweaters, determined to make myself a pair. After MANY trial and errors, I had my first pair! 

As the winter and holiday season rolled around that year, I made mittens for my daughter’s friends and some for my family members in the COLD states of lowa and Minnesota. The response after gifting them that year made me realize this might be a journey worthy of my time and investment. 

On January 1, 2014 I opened COLORADO MITTEN COMPANY. 

Since then over 3,000 pairs have been made and sold! 

I also help my local community by donating about 10% of my mittens to the homeless. 

Like so many others, I hope you enjoy the superior craftsmanship, unique style and use of repurposed materials to make these handcrafted mittens and other items. 

Thank you for supporting small business! 

The Process: 

The patterns and styles are unique and cannot be duplicated because the sweaters are found randomly at thrift stores. 

After scouring thrift stores for wool sweaters, they are given a hot wash and a hotter dry to clean them and felt them to ensure no further shrinking occurs. 

I remove the buttons to reuse later. 

I cut all sweaters into pieces then I put different patterns and colors together to make wearable art that is stylish and practical. 

I line them in a polar fleece and add the button on the cuff for a decorative finish.