A pair of mittens and the Old Cardigan that started the whole thing

the original cardigan design

Maybe 14 years ago I bought a very expensive pair of mittens for a friend. They were cashmere from reclaimed sweaters. I decided, after I realized that the price was not what my dyslexic brain first saw, that it was an investment. My plan was that one day my buddy, that I met at fashion design school, and I would make clothing to go with the mittens. Then in 2002 I decided to make myself a cardigan out of reclaimed sweaters. A co-worker really liked it so I made one for her. Then in the summer of 2003 I was between jobs and homes, moving from Victoria to Vancouver with a two month pit stop in Duncan. My dear mother said, "I want to go to a three day craft show out of town. Will you come so I don't go mad?" Like a fool I said yes. True to form my mother would not let me go empty handed. So to the cutting table I went and made patterns for the cardigan in three sizes. For my effort I sold not one cardigan and had one of the worst migraines due to the heat. Got to love August. By September I was living in Vancouver with maybe 15 cardigans. I went to one store that sold local designer stuff and they sent me down to Gastown to Dream. For two years they sold my cardigans in the fall and winter. When my on call daycare job became a full time daycare job I was no longer able to keep up with selling at the shop. Then I was inspired by a poncho I had seen. So I messed around with a rectangle of cloth and came up with my cape. I sewed it in orange and grey reclaimed woolen sweaters. It was so cozy and practical because I left a gap at the bottom of the zipper to give ease of movement, I do not like being confined. One day I was checking out all of the funky shops on Main St. because it was now my neighborhood. I wandered in to a relatively new shop, Twigg&Hottie. The two owners had recently graduated from the same design school that my buddy and I had. I already liked them that just cinched it. Some months later I wandered into the shop with my cape on, Christine asked if I made it and if I wanted to sell them in the shop. How could I say no? Now every August I sheepishly go in to the shop and say, "So what do you think, do you want just the new sweater or do you think the cape should come too?" Several years in a row they have said, "Bring it!" So I do and they sell and then I smile, amazed they are still popular. So that is how the Sorcerer's Apprentice reclaimed line started. My mother is the WiZard of Felt. I have been apprentice to the wizard all my life so it seemed fitting to call the line the Sorcerer's Apperentice.

the first cape