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Minnesota gifts crafted with passion

One of the greatest joys in traveling is discovering unique products and surprising stores tucked along main streets. If you want to make a practical investment this season, here are some favorite products from around Minnesota. All are hand-crafted and designed to last long after the standard carbon-copy fashions fall apart or go out of style.

Funky mittens & hats

1. We discovered Northland Woolens wonderful mittens and hats at the local Scheel's in St. Cloud. What started out as a 4-H project with angora rabbits years ago has grown into a cool cottage industry in Nelson, Minn., near Alexandria. My favorite product: Twice-Baked mittens and hats made with recycled wool sweaters and a hodge-podge of funky buttons. Made sure you know what colors to look for--each is unique You don't even have to put them in the closet or jam them in your pockets. Use them as part of your winter decor. Like quilts? Check out their sweaters patched together with recycled pieces.



Hand-crafted bags & purses

2. OK, I admit it. I love bags and am always on the search for perfect one. Two of my favorite travel pieces come from Minnesota: a buttery soft bison leather wallet that slips into side pockets of pants and a sturdy, outdoorsy leather-and-canvas satchel classy enough to work as a purse, big enough for my camera and even press kits. The satchel comes from Duluth's Frost River.

The wallet is one of the humbler items from the hard-working Buffalo Billfold Company workshop in Worthington, Minnesota. If you want to be impressed, take a look at the tony retailers where their goods are sold across the country. They use super-soft bison leather, usually accented with a buffalo nickel (see photo), for a variety of products from a make-your-own-baseball kit to lovely purses and classy carry-ons you wouldn't want baggage handlers touching.

Don't miss their Buffalo Billfold store in Worthington (formerly known as The Cow's Outside). You'll find a delightful variety of regional gifts from pipestone and jewelry to guidebooks and leather goods galore. If owner Bill Keitel is there, say "Hi!" He's helped put Worthington on the map with national windsurfing competitions.


Stylish, adventurous outerwear

When a family includes some of the world's best adventurers, you better believe they know how to stay warm. Besides being practical, Ely-based Wintergreen Northernwear makes some of the most distinctive coats around. They typically run $250-$315. Not cheap, but they're not made in a third-world sweatshop either. I was able to score a red coat that I adore for about $40. How? I found a used, large child-sized one in the bargain basement below their classy downtown Ely store (there's one at Fitger's in Duluth, too). It had been a rental for customers of the Schurke family, which also runs dogsledding vacations throughout the winter. That, too, would be on my wish list.

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