About The CARON Collection

It's not often that a household project leads to a new business
but that's exactly what happened to Lois Caron,
the founder and president of The CARON Collection.

It all began when Lois started shopping for some needlepoint kits to re-cover a set of dining room chairs that had belonged to a great aunt. Her great aunt had taught her to crochet when she was 8 and in her 20's she learned to knit, but somehow needlepoint had always seemed like a stuffy, Victorian pastime. What a surprise when she discovered she enjoyed stitching! She never finished the chairs but within months she was designing patterns based on oriental rugs. After approaching a needlework shop, who expressed interest in selling her patterns, she started handpainting patterns on needlepoint canvas. Later she started dabbling in dyeing fibers and began experimenting with variegated colors. It wasn't long before tubs of dyes and threads covered her kitchen floor.

Thread Dying Variegated Threads Drying Lois Caron at the computer.

Over the years the business has moved into successively larger quarters and the staff has grown considerably. Although labor intensive, the variegated threads continue to be hand-dyed because the subtle color combinations just can't be matched by commercial dyeing methods. But now Lois uses a computer to generate the designer patterns for publication and the ordering process and inventory control is computerized. Quality and a commitment to excellence continue to be the cornerstones of the business and what The CARON collection is known for.

The CARON Collection now includes 12 different thread lines with almost 200 different color combinations. The hand-dyed variegated cottons, silks and wools that set them apart from other thread manufacturers have become the favorites of designers around the world. Despite industry predictions that it would be years before sales of a new line of designer patterns would take off The CARON Collection's "designer booklets", introduced in 1995, have far exceeded all expectations. The full line also includes what started it all - hand painted canvases, in "exclusive" limited editions.

The CARON Collection designs have become popular additions in many needlework publications. Feature articles about the company and Lois Caron have been published around the world. The CARON Collection line is now distributed in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Holland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

And now with the debut of The CARON Collection's "Dyed and Gone to Heaven" web site Lois hopes to provide the inspiration for others to start a lifelong love affair with needlework and needlecrafts, too. We hope our visitors will tour the site and take advantage of all the resources it has to offer. Have fun and enjoy! And please support your local needlework shops who have helped so many get started in this rewarding and creative field.

CARON email: mail@caron-net.com / Webmaster nika@connix.com