Spreading Love With Socks
Great Big Story's video The Man Making Socks for Canada’s Homeless features Bob Rutherford, a retired farm mechanics instructor who was looking to put his skills to good use. Bob had used his ingenuity and DIY attitude when accepting a tough challenge from a friend: build a sock knitting machine by hand, from scratch. He took on the challenge and built two machines, which could knit an impressive 90 stitches per second.
After the loss of his wife, Bob was thinking about the next chapter in his life, and looking for something to do. His son, Scot, helped him figure out a project that made a lot of sense: start using his tube sock machines to make socks for folks in need.
His handmade machines turned into the basis for a project to supply socks to those in need in Western Canadian provinces, distributed through community centers and outreach programs.
· Don't miss: check out Charitable Crafters for ideas and links to charitable groups.
At heart, Bob is a tinkerer and a man on a mission. He and three pals - Glynn Sully, George Slater, and Barney Sullivan - have banded together to churn out socks on a weekly basis. They feed yarn into the machines, cut the tubes into proper lengths, and finish them off by stitching the raw edges. You can see his machines in action in the video below.
Bob and his generous cohorts of “Socks by Bob” have managed to make and distribute over 11,600 pairs of socks since they started, in 2010. Some of the yarn is donated - from the Custom Woolen Mills, near Calgary - and some is purchased through funds raised by Scot.
You might like: American Crafts, How to Knit - For Beginners, Yarn and Knitting Basics, and Knitting Videos.
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