Hi!
My name is Jytte, the little gal that creates all of these cool beanies that goes by the brand name JYTTE®.
They truly are manufactured, really “made”, here in the Rocky Mountains of USA.
The factory is in Hailey, Idaho.
The knitting machines are running, the gang is sewing, the dogs are hanging out and I’m co-coordinating designs, yarn, customers and production.
Colorful, quality, environmental, pride, integrity towards our workplace and community are the words I would use to describe our product and company.
The story is this:
I was born in Denmark and immigrated to Canada as a little girl, yes, by boat to Montreal.
My parents arrived speaking only Danish and German, our worldly possessions in their hands, ready to start a new life adventure in America.
I grew up in a very strict old Euro family where work ethic was ingrained, manners where not questioned and knitting was a right of passage. The alternative was the dreaded “wooden spoon”! I naturally knit and sewed my clothes and was being groomed to marry the boy next door.
“But, but…what about my bike, skiing, the adventures?”
It was definitely a fight of wills and passion. First was the realization that my friends did not wear wool knit bathing suits for swimming lessons. Then there was trying to explain what I was eating for lunch. My name? Not this again!
So I was officially a teenager in America. Goodbye liverwurst, I refused to curtsy upon introductions and the knitting?….not a chance I’m going to unravel that sweater to make a bikini! How old do I have to be to legally change my name?
The boy next door? I think he might still be living there. I moved out in search of my life.
Those adventures, skiing, the outdoors and the people I met where huge. These passions are what connected my childhood years, with the lifestyle love that my dad had instilled in me to another natural, forgotten and unknown skill I possessed for coloring and creating knit fabric.
I was in my 20”s and had moved from Whistler, BC to Sun Valley, Id when I had the good fortune to be chosen to ski in ski films for Dick Barrymore. That was to become the first step to what is now my career in knit fabric and product design.
After putting together a photo journal of one of our trips for Winnie Jones at Roffe, so she could see where all her great clothing was being used, I received a call to say Demetre Sweaters was looking for a sweater designer and they knew of my talents.
I had been moonlighting my skiing and lifestyle by hand knitting custom hats and sweaters for clients, along with writing knitting patterns for national magazines.
I went on to design for many corporate companies in the outdoor industry. Descente, Salomon, Burton, Swix, Wigwam, Marmot, Mountain Hardwear. I was responsible for developing colors, knit design, colorations, fibers, new leader product and had the opportunity to be involved at the mill production level.
Most consumers don’t usually realize that they are following a designer from one season to the next when they get excited about a product from one company to another. I felt and experienced very positive consumers reactions to the product I created, so I kept evolving my own beanies along the way.
In 1998 I stepped away from all my consulting work. Hailey had been my home since the mid 70’s. A new opportunity had presented itself and a 5000 sg. ft. factory was built from scratch here in the Wood River Valley of Idaho. We purchased the finest European CNC machines, sourced the best wools (100% Merino) we could find, worked with domestic dye houses, employed local residents and created the only knitting mill in the state of Idaho to make JYTTE® hats.
In 2008/2009 we moved the factory up the highway to it’s current location in the airport business park in Hailey.
We are a very unusual company making a very unique product. The product and business evolved from my passions and lifestyle which translates authentic, colorful, fun and quality.
The beanies are coveted by people who gravitate to those qualities in their own lives. Our patterns and colorations are constantly changing reflecting the experiences that are ongoing.
Real product for real people, Really living Life!
But we don’t stop there.
We are constantly thinking up ways to recycle our scraps. We are very proud to be able to not impact our mountain environment with unnecessary trash.
Our excess micro fleece remnants are sewn into cat beds, both sold and donated to rescue shelters and clinics.
We creatively make products from our knit fabric remnants. They are always fun and original items such as teddy bears, pouches, mitts, cat toys, finger-less wrist gloves all of which we make available on a limited offering.
Thank you for helping to complete the circle of these lifestyle passions and this venture by purchasing and wearing our beanies.
Know that you are supporting everything from true local craftsmanship, a minimal Eco footprint, dogs in the workplace thru to the adventures and stories that really create the fabric designs that we produce.
We don’t just talk it, we live it, we design it, we make it…. so you can go and play in it!
Safe journeys. And have fun!
