Hello! My name is Caroline (AKA Puppy). Welcome to Little Package, a cycling cap & happy-making web-based business. I started Little Package in 2005 — all because I couldn’t buy a cycling cap that fit my big head. My first cap was a hideous purple thing, but I kept at it…
I have been sewing for over 35 years, and until recently, I made the best handmade cycling caps there were. They were made right, they look good, they fit, and above all they make people happy. Loads of Little Package Caps are still out in the wild being enjoyed, but I no longer sew caps. Sorry to disappoint, but times have changed in happy ways.
If you would like to use the same template and techniques I used, my sewing patterns are available right here.
A little more about me
- I graduated with Nursing degree from Oregon Health & Science University in 2002 and worked as a travel nurse.
- I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2013. That’s where I got the name Puppy. Before that I was into bikes bikes bikes.
- I moved into a 1983 Vanagon in December 2013 and drove away from Portland on January 1, 2014.
- In 2015 and 2016, I tackled more tough hikes: the Sierra High Route solo, the mini epic Lowest to Highest Route through Death Valley, the Hayduke Trail solo (~850 miles through Southern Utah & Arizona), among others… I single-handedly put a new engine in my van September 2016.
- In Spring 2017 I found almost every mile of the undeveloped Lonesome Miner Trail near Death Valley, except two short sections ruined by rock slide. I hiked the snowy Sierra via the San Joaquin River Trail to a Vipassana sitting in June. In November, I completed my second thru hike of the Hayduke Trail, eastbound. My van is now watertight around the windshield and the heater box sealed; we are looking forward to a warm and dry winter.
- In early 2018 I floated the Colorado River, and spent most the year recovering financially. I volunteered 7 weeks helping at Hiker Heaven, and hiked a lot in the mountains around my new California home (Owens Valley), but otherwise decided to chill on the thru-hiking and become a better backpacker.
- In 2019, I shoveled countless shovel-fulls of snow, hiked about 800 miles in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California, and have managed to install bigger brakes & booster, new wheels/tires, and a handmade new wiring harness in my Vanagon. I nabbed three state highpoints, and explored some other remote ranges with a wonderful new companion. I still suck at backpacking though.
- In 2020 I started a garden, a pantry, made bread, bought a sewing machine, and my mother moved in with me and my boyfriend in a very remote, off-grid plot of land. Yikes, it almost sounds like a horror film. IT WAS! I moved all my photos off Instagram to this site.
- 2021-2023. I’ve been working on building something of a tiny home (more on that soon), but don’t you worry – I still have my Westfalia! I also have a Jeep Cherokee now so I can be a little more lazy about getting to those hard-to-reach scenic spots.
I currently support my itinerant lifestyle by punching the right keys and talking to strangers. I have been building websites for over twenty years, and have worked with Wordpress since it came out in 2003. I no longer sew cycling caps, but I do ADVENTURE!
To my Friends and Customers:
I owe it to my friends and my customers for supporting and encouraging me. Thank you!
Clients have included:
- Bridgetown Cycling
- Beloved / Cycle Works Oregon
- Corsa Concepts
- Cyclisme
- Green Submarine Racing
- Ira Ryan Cycles
- Gründelbrüisers
- Hammer Velo
- Hankbuilt
- Portland Bicycle Studio
- Rapha
- Sugar Wheelworks
- Super Relax
- Sweetpea Bicycles
- Team Beer
- Timothy Everest
- Vanilla Cycles
- VeloDirt
Here are pictures of just some of the cycling caps I made over the years.