Bernie Sanders went from becoming a successful meme to becoming a nearly $ 20,000 crochet doll in less than a week.
After the image of the Vermont senator on the day of his inauguration went viral, showing him sitting in a folding chair, socially distanced from other guests, hunched against the cold wearing thick knitting gloves, Tobey King, Texas, started making crochet. She transformed the sensational meme she tended for days into a crochet doll.
It sold for $ 20,300.
“It’s mind-blowing because I knew Bernie was in fashion because of that image, and I already had a Bernie pattern and a Bernie doll. So, I went and got it and changed it super fast, ”said King.
Recreating Sanders’ exact look that captured people’s eyes and laughter took King about seven hours of uninterrupted crochet. His attention to detail is obvious, hitting the iconic gloves that stole the show on opening day.
“The gloves are not that hard, they are just a few color changes, a special point,” said King.
King, 46, initially posted photos of the 9-inch doll on her Instagram account, and they received thousands of likes and comments. On Saturday, she posted the doll on eBay and auctioned it off for $ 20,300, which she said will be donated to Meals on Wheels America.
Sanders himself has been using the meme to raise money for Meals on Wheels – his campaign sold T-shirts with the image and donated the money to charity. On Wednesday, the senator said he raised $ 1.8 million for the organization.
King said that she may have found her purpose.
“This is my new path,” said King. “This is a new way to help people in a way that I have never been able to do before.”
King, who lives in Corpus Christi, Texas, said more than 30,000 people bought his Sanders doll crochet pattern at his Etsy store. She said she hopes Sanders will approve of her efforts.
“I really hope he thinks it’s cool and that I’m doing something good,” said King.