Bernie Sanders went from a hit meme to a crochet doll of almost $ 20,000 in less than a week.
After a senator’s inauguration day in Vermont went viral and he sat on a folding chair, socially distanced from other guests, hunched over in the cold, with a thick knitted glove, Tobey King in Texas began to dislike. She turned the sensational meme that has been trending for days into a crocheted doll.
It sold for $ 20,300.
‘It’s amazing because I knew Bernie was leaning because of the picture, and I already had a Bernie pattern and a Bernie doll. “So, I just got it and adapted it quickly,” King said.
Recreating Sanders’ exact appearance that caught people’s eyes and laughed, King took about seven hours of relentless crocheting. Her attention to detail is clear and nails the iconic gloves that stole the show on inauguration day.
“The gloves are not that hard, but they just change color, a special stitch,” King said.
King, 46, initially posted photos of the 9-inch doll on her Instagram account, and they received thousands of likes and comments. By Saturday, she had placed the doll on eBay and auctioned it off for $ 20,300, which she said would be donated to Meals on Wheels America.
Sanders himself used the meme to raise money for Meals on Wheels – his campaign sold sweatshirts with the image and donated the proceeds to the charity. The senator said on Wednesday that he had raised $ 1.8 million for the organization.
King said she may have found her purpose.
“This is my new path,” King said. “It’s a new way of helping people in a way I’ve never been able to do before.”
King, who lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, said more than 30,000 people bought her Sanders doll crochet pattern at her Etsy store. She said she hopes Sanders approves of her efforts.
“I really hope he thinks it’s something cool and that I’m doing something good,” King said.