Dolphina is first and foremost Sophie Deschamps - born and raised in "La Belle Province" but an adopted Kingstonian since 2010. Passionate about craft, as far back as she can remember, she has been sewing since she was about 7. Sophie got, as a Christmas present, a refurbished Singer Featherweight sewing machine and taught herself how to knit when she was about 8 from a coloring book. Sophie doesn't remember ever not knitting. In College, she was knitting in the Montreal subway when it was still 'a grandma thing'. In 2013, Dolphina started dabbling with her original box bag. Sophie thought it was perfect for small projects like socks and her local yarn shop agreed to take some on. That was the birth of Dolphina bags but it was a really slow start since she wasn't sure where she belonged. Everything changed in 2018 when Dolphina was accepted at the Kawartha Yarn and Fibre Festival in Fenelon Falls ON. Following that event, Dolphina started to get more notoriety in the Fibre world and it kicked doors wide open for her small business. "My style changed overtime and now I seek knitting related themes as much as I can. I am obsessed with Spoonflower where I like the idea of supporting indie graphic and surface designers. Overtime, I developed friendships with a number of them that I knew could supply custom fabric depending on the demand. I do believe a LOT in collaboration. "Community over competition" is a very important moto for me. I love being able to elevate other makers like me. Coming soon, I'll be starting to print my own design for lining. I really want to achieve a more uniform look where people recognize a Dolphina bag in the wild. I think my bags are a reflection of me and my personality; unique, bold, funky and fun!" Dolphina Collective is also a collection of fantastic indie dyers from Canada and the US. Small batch indie dyers that have one goal; share their love for colors. Timber Yarns out of Guelph On known for her bright and saturated self stripping sock yarn, Pretty String located in Ottawa ON, a local magician with colourful variegated, speckled and tonal colors to "dye" for. Native Fibers from Charlotte NC, where Meghan is inspirited by the Native American heritage and a proud descendant of the Karuk Tribe of Northern California choose the name to honour her Father and his Family by creating yarn inspired from the forest and all the elements. Primrose, particularly their Homestead base in sport and worsted. A beautiful Pennsylvania milled yarn which colors perfect for the most luscious projects. And there are more surprises coming very soon too. Dolphina was created as an escape and a form of balance from the chaos of a career in Law enforcement but becoming more and more present over time!
https://www.dolphinacollective.com/
