After writing the post about the young women decorating the city with crochet, Patrice (a Crochet Spot reader) sent me a related article about a man who hangs his crocheted hats around the city.

Ernie (not really his real name) taught himself to crochet four months ago. Three times a week he crochets wool hats and hangs them up in the poorest neighborhoods of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is even said that his hats get disbursed to some of Grand Rapids’ “most unapproachable residents”.

Here is a hat hanging on a tree waiting for someone to take it!



Each hat is hung with a friendly tag, which says something like:“Take me, I’m free!”“Free to a good head.”“You deserve this.”“Enjoy!”“Smile!”

So far Ernie has hung 30 to 35 hats and counting. He doesn’t want credit or publicity from his actions. All he wants is to help people keep warm, no matter who they are.

Here is a picture of Ernie hanging a hat.



I believe that Ernie’s actions is something that everyday people can do. In fact, Ernie is an everyday person that takes an extra step to help others. In Ernie’s words, “I just think everybody should be treated as a human being. And if everybody did just one little thing, it would improve the lives of so many people.”

I agree!

Source: The Grand Rapids Press