Bernie Sanders' huge mittens have been going viral. (Source: AP) As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took oath as the US President and Vice President on January 20, something else caught the attention of netizens — it was a glimpse of left-winger Bernie Sanders wearing huge knitted mittens.
The 79-year-old senator from Vermont was photographed sitting on a folding chair wearing a green coat with arms crossed, covered with the mittens.
Bernie Sanders attending Joe Biden Presidential Inauguration. (Source: fangrenqi/Instagram)
Turns out, the mittens were made by Jen Ellis of Essex Junction, a teacher, out of an old sweater. She gave the mittens to Sander more than two years ago and was surprised to see him wear them on a campaign trail.
The mittens are made from repurposed wool sweaters and lined with fleece from recycled plastic bottles.
Bernie’s mittens are made by Jen Ellis, a teacher from Essex Junction, Vt. She gave them to him 2+ years ago and was surprised when he began wearing them on the campaign trail. They are made from repurposed wool sweaters and lined with fleece made from recycled plastic bottles. pic.twitter.com/ErLr29lY2t
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) January 20, 2021
“I love it that he loves them, and that he wears them. And I’m totally honored that he wore them today,” Eliis told nbcboston.com in an interview.
While Ellis works as a full-time elementary school teacher, she also upcycles used wool clothes into mittens as a side business. Her daughter Helen reportedly went to a childcare centre owned by one of Sanders’ relatives. And when they wanted gifts from the staff a couple of years back, the mother had an “in” who could slip a pair to the politician. Ellis, however, said she has never met the senator.
“The fact that these mittens, which were made from recycled and repurposed materials, made it to the national stage is really a shoutout to Vermont. I’m really proud that he took them to D.C. and that he was there for this historic moment,” she further said in the interview.