'Great for the crafters': P.E.I. smitten maker excited by Bernie's viral meme

When Kaitlyn Trainor saw the viral pictures of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders following the inauguration of President Joe Biden this week, she knew immediately what he was wearing on his hands.

Smittens, mittens put together with material from recycled sweaters.

"I thought, 'It's great for the crafters out there.' I was at work so I didn't really see it happening but I did see it after," Trainor told Island Morning host Mitch Cormier.

Trainor is one of a trio known as Trainor Smittens.

"It's three generations of love, I like to say. Me, my mom and my grammie," she said.

"It's a good way to spend time together."

The small business dates back to when Trainor was a university student, and they saw a pair of smittens at a craft show. It started with the idea they would just make some for themselves, and grew from there.

Now the three women comb the thrift stores for old wool sweaters, and sew them together with a lining of cashmere or merino wool. Very little goes to waste. The cuffs for the mittens come from the bottom of sweaters or the sleeves.

It takes about an hour for the three of them to make a pair.

"It is a bit of a process to put it all together, but it's fun," she said.

Trainor said their stock is down after Christmas, but they were working over the weekend to make more in the face of an expected increase in demand following all the attention last week.

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