Homeless Man Knits Hats for Others

February 24, 2017 by Sarah White 3 Comments

I know we all love a heartwarming story about knitting, right? This one comes to us via the Medford Mail Tribune (that’s in Oregon) and profiles Trinidad Flores, a homeless man who spends his time loom knitting hats to give to other homeless people and for babies.

He’s knit more than 1,000 hats, and he gives them away to people he meets on the street, as well as to a local WIC office and a hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

He says he’s been homeless for about three years, and he started knitting to help combat his depression. Local business owners support him and give him donations, and many know him only as “the hat man.”

“When you give a person something productive to do, it changes the mindset. When you change the mindset, other things start to change, too,” he told the paper, saying that he might like to start his own nonprofit to teach homeless people to knit for charity.

What a lovely story, proof of the power of knitting and the fact that anyone can help other people with the work of their hands.

[Photo by Jamie Lusch of the Mail Tribune.]

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Comments

Roxanne says
February 25, 2017 at 8:48 am
God Bless this man for his thoughtfulness, good things will surely come his way……Good Luck!
Mary Carroll says
February 25, 2017 at 7:27 pm
This really warms my heart. I have done the same thing in my area, Modesto, Ca.(Really Ceres, but no one knows where that is.). I have a lot of yarn , I would love to give to THE HAT MAN,as soon as I get the extra money to send to him. Of course I would have to have an address. We are planning a move to Arkansas. It would be wonderful if I didn’t have to move it. Please let me know, Thank You.Mary
Hat Man says
May 10, 2017 at 3:51 pm
Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement. I appreciate what you have said and take it to heart.

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Christmas Sock Knitting Patterns

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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