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Dianne Brockberg knits a hat at Ridge View Estates in Pipestone. Some of the hats she’s made will be given away at the annual Pipestone County Christmas Care on Dec. 13. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
Dianne Brockberg uses her enjoyment of knitting to make hats that she donates for local children.
The 82-year-old grew up east of Jasper and graduated from Jasper High School. After graduating from high school, she went to business college in Minneapolis and then moved to Sioux Falls where she lived and worked for 62 years. She took a knitting class at a hobby shop in Sioux Falls when she moved there and has knitted ever since.
When she moved to Ridge View Estates in Pipestone in December, she went to visit her friend Gail Hachmann, who recently passed away, and Hachmann showed her hats that she was knitting for children in the area. Brockberg thought it looked like fun and started making hats too.
“I like to make things that I can give away, especially when it comes to the children,” Brockberg said.
She said Hachmann introduced her to Pipestone Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Erica Volkir and Administrative Manager Tom Steffes, and she brings her hats to them. Volkir said the hats will be distributed to children in need during the annual Pipestone County Christmas Care program on Dec. 13.
Brockberg has made around 18 hats so far and continues to work on more. She said she knits for around two or three hours a day in the afternoons and evenings, and it takes a coupe weeks to knit each hat.
“I kind of create my own design, my own colors,” she said.
Brockberg said she’s always enjoyed being active in her community and knitted prayer shawls at Peace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls when she lived there. She also made quilts with a group from the church and sang in the church choir. In addition to that, she was a charter member of the Sweet Adelines Barbershop Chorus, a member of the Kiwanis Club and an usher at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls. Since moving to Pipestone, she has started singing in the choir at St. Paul Lutheran.