Bernie Sanders' iconic mittens were handmade by a lesbian teacher

She first sent a pair to Sanders after he lost to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

In a now-viral picture, United States senator Bernie Sanders was photographed on inauguration day, sitting socially-distanced and alone on a folding chair, arms and legs crossed; wearing a green jacket and oversized hand-knitted mittens on a particularly cold day. Then I line them with fleece, which is also a recycled material, made out of plastic bottles, shredded plastic.

She learned through a common acquaintance that Sanders liked the mittens. Ellis, however, doesn't make them anymore.

Thanks to the mittens memes, in just a few days, Sanders managed to make countless cameo appearances in hit TV-shows, tour all over Toronto visiting landmarks and still somehow found time to deep-sea dive in order to teach kids the beauty of science. Usually she and her assistant create between 500 and 600 pairs per year, Boldt said.

Ellis' phone will not stop ringing and her email inbox is exploding.

The photo of him sat at the ceremony has been cut and pasted for many more uses including a GIF for social media users to post on their stories.

Alongside the image, she wrote: "Bernie has always been there for me our son and our greatest treasure".

"I mean, people are so amusing".

"I'm flattered that they want them, but there are lots of people on Etsy who sell them and hopefully people will get some business from them", Ellis told Jewish Insider. "And you know, if you have something and you give it away, and it brings somebody joy and then it blows up and the entire world experiences joy, that's wonderful".

The woman who created the thick brown and beige mittens, Jennifer Ellis, hadn't even met Sanders before the inauguration. "I am a second grade teacher, and I'm a mom, and all that keeps me really busy".

"Not just one pair - people want lots of them", she said.

She prefers to spend time with her family, including her five-year-old daughter.

And if others are out there selling mittens on the internet, she wishes them well.