About Us

Thanks for your interest in my funny little company. My name is Anna-Maria Mountfort and I make mittens for kids. It’s kinda hilarious explaining what I do. When I tell a man, they often ask me if I knit them.  When I tell a woman, they ask me, “Do they stay actually stay on kids?”  The happy answer is ‘YES!”
 
mimiTENS came to be because I could not find mittens that stayed on my daughter.  I thought that maybe I could design something useful and attractive.  So I tried and tried until I came up with a pattern and concept that I liked.  It was hard because I have no design training and had no contacts in manufacturing.  But I persevered and here we are.  mimiTENS are available in Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Slovakia, Japan, Belgium and the UK. 
 
Something that makes me happy and proud is that mimiTENS are made in Canada.  To me, it’s the right thing to do even if it means that my product is more expensive than my competitors.  The way I see it, if you buy olive oil from Italy, kids mittens from Canada is pretty logical. 
 
I have also been careful in the fabrics that I use.  mimiTENS are lined with two special fabrics: 3M’s Recycled Thinsulate and an Oeko-Tex certified bamboo-rayon fleece.  The Recycled Thinsulate is 100 gram weight and is toasty.  This fabric is made with post-consumer waste plastic – stuff like old water and pop bottles.  The bamboo fabric is super soft and because they finish the fabric with steam and not enzymes, it is easier on the skin. 
 
What most interests me now is the shape of business to come.  Heh heh.
I am totally sensitive to how hard economic times affect us – from the practical realities of trying to feed your family to the wear on the collective psyche.  And what I want more than anything from mimiTENS is to offer a hopeful example of solid design, good practices and straight-up profitability. 
 
Between you and me, I want to turn mimiTENS into the most rad social enterprise.  I can’t do what Toms Shoes does because I want to manufacture in Canada.  But I can partner with a charity and work out something that serves everyone involved.  The wheels are in motion.  I hope it works.
 
And so, I would like to end this some of the things that I believe in…
 
Pursue joy.  Feel it, then deal with it.  You don’t want a thick skin.  You want a strong heart. But feel as much as you can because it will remind you that you are alive.  There is no such thing as ‘away’.  I listen to a lot of angry music and then smooth it over with disco.  ‘Celebration’ by Kool and the Gang is one of the greatest achievements of western civilization.  So is, ‘Merchandise’ by Fugazi. Your personal awesomeness has nothing to do with anyone else’s personal awesomeness.  There is enough to go around.  Gossip is pathetic.  Money is energy. I am built for happiness.  So are you.