THE IDEA FOR BE SWEET WAS BORN when Nadine Curtis lived in South Africa 's Cape Town from 2002 to 2004 and became enamored with the handcrafted goods she saw there. From handbags made out of recycled materials like wire and beads to hand-knit mohair scarves and shawls in an array of striking colors, these products embodied the ideals of beauty, creativity and resourcefulness. And that's not all: the job creation programmess and women's empowerment groups making the goods offer opportunity and hope to a new generation of craftspeople.

All of the Be Sweet yarn is hand spun and dyed by women in South Africa who work within successful job creation programmes. (Read more about it on Be Sweet's website)

The baby mohair yarn comes from the fleece of Angora goats that are the descendants of a breed originally from Tibet and brought from Turkmenistan to Turkey, where the Turks reserved the rare and precious yarn for royalty. In 1830, The Turks shipped a group of does and castrated bucks to South Africa, not knowing that one doe was pregnant and would give birth to a male kid. Interbreeding with local breeds eventually resulted in a hardier Angora goat, and now South Africa produces 65% of the world’s mohair.