Con-Quest inmates donate crocheted items to hospital

UTAH STATE PRISON — Donald Klink sits on his bunk doing something most people wouldn't expect from a convicted felon.

As other men in white inmate uniforms mill around the prison dormitory's dayroom, the 48-year-old deftly runs another chain of stitches on the vibrant green blanket he's crocheting.

"I really enjoy it. It keeps me out of the mix. It's soothing for the soul," Klink said earlier as he displayed a completed waffle-pattern blanket made with a double crochet stitch.

Klink is one of 400 in the Con-Quest program, which is housed at the Utah State Prison. Con-Quest — dubbed a "therapeutic community" — is a highly structured, 12-month drug and alcohol treatment program for inmates with substance abuse problems. Crocheting, although not currently offered as a formal class, is a means of helping prisoners change their lives.

"When I first walked in it was kind of funny to see a 280-pound man with tattoos on his head and face sitting there with a ball of yarn crocheting a puppy dog," Jeremy Reed said.

Reed, 25, is among six Con-Quest residents who crochet blankets, scarves and hats for donation to Primary Children's Medical Center or LDS Humanitarian Services. He has been in the program for almost four years, and although he graduated, he stays on to "teach what I've learned from the program, try to help out the new residents that come in, and by doing that, further my recovery."

One of the concepts residents learn in Con-Quest is to "stop, be quiet and get space" when they feel frustration or anger taking hold.

"(Crocheting) is a perfect avenue to be able to do that," Reed said. "It's a real good outlet. You can put on your headphones, sit on your bunk and crochet your frustrations away."

Like Klink, Reed learned to crochet by trial and error under the watchful eye of another inmate. Michael Jensen's introduction to the craft, however, came as a young boy at his grandmother's knee.

"For about 30 years I thought, 'Man, what kind of sissy does that?' " Jensen admitted.

But after being locked up in the state prison in Gunnison, the 48-year-old said he took up a crochet hook again and started creating blankets, stuffed animals and other projects. When he was placed in Con-Quest nearly four years ago, Jensen said he "jumped on the bandwagon" with the crochet project.