Uniqueness of fall
Kelsey Johnson, right, bags up a pair of mittens for a shopper during Saturday’s Rustic Mamas’ Market at Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna. Johnson lives in Blue Earth, but works in Owatonna. She sells mittens, hats, socks and more from repurposed wool sweaters. Staff photo by Kay Fate
Kelsey Johnson knows her audience.
The owner of Sugar Creek Mittens recently added embroidered mittens to her product lineup, “and they’ve been flying off the shelves,” she said. “All my Vikings are gone, the Huskies are gone…”
She was one of more than 150 vendors at last weekend’s Rustic Mamas’ Market, which offers a wide variety of homemade, home-baked and home-curated items.
Johnson is from Blue Earth but works in Owatonna as a sales analyst for High-Bar Brands, formerly Minimizer of Blooming Prairie.
In addition to mittens, she makes hats, socks, hair bows and scrunchies from recycled wool sweaters.
“I wash (the sweaters) in really hot water to try to get them felted and shrunk,” Johnson said. “Then they’re lined with fleece on the inside, so it’s super warm, soft and cozy.”
Self-taught, she’s been making the items – mostly mittens, as the name implies – for more than 10 years; she just started the embroidery process a couple years ago. The mittens fit most women and teens, but she makes other sizes upon request.
A little wooden button with the Sugar Creek Mittens brand is affixed to each pair. The ribbed cuffs usually come from a different sweater, either contrasting or matching. She also uses sherpa fabric for the cuffs.
It’s about a two-hour process from washer to wearer, “but I don’t ever really do one from start-to-finish,” Johnson said. “I’m usually cutting out the liners and sewing and doing those things, too.”
Her raw materials come from “lots of thrift stores,” she said, “but it’s getting very hard to find sweaters. They’re not… I think wool sweaters just aren’t made as much anymore – and more people are thrifting them to do things with them – so they’re very hard to find.
“Luckily, I do have a large stash,” Johnson said, which she purchased from a woman who went out of business.
Most are 100% wool, some are a wool blend, “and there might be some cashmere every now and then,” she said.
While she works on the mittens year-round, the Rustic Mamas’ fall market – the sixth year she’s attended – kicked off her season of selling.
“They do such a good job promoting this show,” Johnson said, “and the organization and helpers are just great. It’s my favorite show.”