Charity Knitting

Update on 2016 hat count: 48 hats collected so far!!

Charity-knitting group. We meet the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the Beaverton Lodge, 12900 SW Ninth St in Beaverton (off of Watson), in the upstairs lobby. The Guild has been supporting chemo hats and purple hats and there’s a new charity opportunity as well. Full details on that will be announced at our March 17 meeting. Whatever your charity of choice, come and join us for a couple hours to build new friendships and have some fun.

We are knitting both chemo hats and premie hats. The adult-sized ones go to Knight’s OHSU cancer center on 158th and Walker. The small ones go to Dornbecher Hospital near the VA. The hats need to be soft and washable. Superwash wool is OK, but a good yarn choice is acrylic or a bamboo blend, and, in the summer, cotton or cotton/bamboo. They should be as cheerful and fun as possible using various colors or patterns, lace, etc. Anna is collecting the hats at meetings and distributing them. Contact her for more information and see the chart below for sizing/yarn information.

purplehats CLICK for Babies (Purple Hat Campaign to prevent shaking babies) is collects purple hats for babies every September. For information regarding the charity, please visit their website. Participating hospitals give a purple hat to each newborn baby to remind the parents not to shake the baby when he/she cries for an extended period called the “period of purple crying.” The result of this shaking (“Shaken-Baby Syndrome”) can land the baby in the Emergency Room. Some do not make it back home, and the ones who do are irremediably brain-damaged.

Free patterns and guidelines on crafting and sizing the hats are available from the “Stitchers Club‘’ . Think about it: Just one tiny hat, which will take very little of your time to make, could potentially save a little life! Isn’t it worth it? Anna will continue to collect purple hats throughout the year and deliver them after the September meeting. Many thanks to all who knit for charity as the items are always appreciated!

More sources for hat patterns are here:  Stitchers Club – Head HuggersKnitting Pattern CentralYarnspirationsCascade YarnsLion BrandAll CraftsAllfreeknitting – And, of course, Ravelry!

Purple Baby Hat Guidelines and Helpful Hints from Anna
Purple hats should be knitted in soft and washable Acrylic. Very small hats can be knitted using 4 dpns, or Magic Loop, or on 2 circular needles because a 16” circular will yield too large a hat for a small baby or a preemie.
Needle Size Yarn Type Number of Stitches Cast On Finished Circumference and Slightly Stretched
6 Bulky 48 12 – 14”
5 Caron Soft 84 12 – 13 1\2”
9 Doubled Caron Soft 44 14 – 15”

 

Chemo Hat Guidelines and Helpful Hints from Anna
Chemo hats should be knitted in soft and washable Acrylic. Hats can be knit on 16” circular, double point, or 2 circular needles.
Needle Size Yarn Type Number of Stitches Cast On Finished Circumference and Slightly Stretched
11 Norville Serenity Chunky 48 20 – 22”
9 Plymouth DK/Brioche Rib 84 22 – 26”
7 Caron Soft 72 18 – 20”
11 Marble, 2 Strands 44 17 – 20”
9 Sport Yarn/Brioche Rib 88 20 – 26”
8 Worsted/2×2 Rib 72 14 – 19”
7 Caron Soft/Seed St 75 18 – 20”

Update on the Purple Hats effort for 2015. We’ve started on 2016 knitting already!

A great big ‘Thank you, kind and generous knitters!’ A total of 191 hats were delivered for 2015. The breakdown: – 111 purple hats to Randall Children’s Hospital. They will triage and send to wherever they are needed. – 64 hats to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital for young cancer patients, and 16 adult-sized hats went to OHSU Oncology Center. All the hats were knitted with love and care by you, some of my students and myself. Please keep those needles clicking, as the need seems endless! – Anna