Crochet and Knit Hats For Heroes

A while ago I came across a Facebook Group called Hats for Heroes that was asking people to crochet hats for children in Ireland affected by cancer.

At the time I wasn't very experienced in crochet but I was and I still am learning, so I thought I would give it a go, since I would be doing something I enjoyed for a good cause.

I contacted the people at Hats for Heroes to ask if the hats could be knitted and the answer was yes, but I still wanted to try crocheting some, so I looked for a nice pattern online and I found this lovely Tweetheart Hat crochet pattern which gives intructions for all sizes from newborn to adults.

Of course, as usual, I used a different wool from the one in the pattern, but I wasn't doing a specific size so I could experiment with different yarns, as long as it was soft (scratchy isn't an option when you've lost your hair after chemotherapy).

Here is my first Tweetheart hat made with soft Aran (worsted) yarn following the size for child: it is smaller than I expected but will fit a baby (maybe 3 or 6 months old), I'm not sure of the exact age since I don't have babies lining up to try on the hats:

Baby Tweetheart Crochet Hat

Then I used similar weight yarn and followed the adult size and I got a hat suitable for a child: I thought it would look prettier without the ear-flaps and I added a frilly picot edge and flower:

Child Flower Crochet Hat with Frilly Picot Edge

Then I thought it was time to make something less girly so I went out and bought some chunky navy and blue yarn to make a teen sized beanie hat, following the instructions for child size because the yarn was pretty thick:

Teen Crochet Hat with Navy and Blue Stripes

Since I had leftover yarn, I decided to knit a hat this time, casting on as many as I thought I would need for a child's hat and using a pattern I already had, but modifying it slightly it as I went:

Child Knitted Pompom Beanie Hat

Guess what? This one will fit a toddler or small child, just as I intended! The pompom was added as a result of feedback on my Facebook page (I think I was going to add it anyway;-)

As soon as all 4 hats are finished drying (I like to wash them in gentle shampoo or wool friendly detergent before shipping any knit or crochet clothing item I make), they will be off in the post on their way to Hats for Heroes who will forward them to Irish Hospitals where they will be given to children with cancer. I hope these hats will cheer the children up!

As much as I've enjoyed knitting and crocheting hats and daffodils for charity, I must really get a move on and work a lot harder on knitting new items and publishing new knitting patterns for my Etsy shop, which is slowly depleting itself as my Christmas items are coming to the end of their 4 months listing (the maximum before I have to pay commission to get them re-listed) and I am not planning on re-listing those until next October.

So off I go and pick up my knitting needles (after I've had my lunch of course, I need to eat yummy food and drink coffee to keep my creative brain cells active!)


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Knitted Daffodils for Irish Cancer Society

Each year in Ireland, daffodils are sold in every street corner to help raise money for Irish Cancer Society.

This year I found this blog post on Michelle Made This where you can find instructions on how to knit daffodils and the details on how to forward them to Irish Cancer Society so that they can be sold to help them raise money for their organisation.

So far I have knitted 11 daffodils, and I plan to make some more in the next two weeks which I will bring to the coffee morning in Roscommon on March 14th, unless I can find somewhere closer. I haven't contacted them yet (I have a bit of a phone phobia, and try avoiding making phone calls whenever possible, unless it's for a job that pays me to use the phone or a medical emergency). For more more information on any local events you can contact Irish Cancer Society on 1850 60 60 60.

Here's what I made so far:

Knitted Daffodils for Irish Cancer Society

I used the knitted pattern which can be downloaded for free here with a few changes in order to avoid bits of fiddly sewing:

• To make the trumpet, instead of casting off after the last row of petals where you get 7 stitches, I knit one row with one increase in each stitch: kfb (knit front and back of each stitch), which gives me 14 stitches. I can then knit the 4 rows of the trumpet and cast off before closing the daffodil, which does involve minimal sewing.
• In order to make the stem, I turn the closed daffodil on its back and pick up 5 stitches, trying to get them from around the middle, and evenly spaced to try and include one from each petal, then I use the i-cord method to knit the stem using green yarn - you can do this using 2 double pointed needles or 1 circular needle: once you have knit the first row, slide the stitches to the other side of the needle and knit the new row; you will need to knit the first stitch of each rows quite tight to avoid a gap and after a few rows you will start seeing a small tube shape. When you get to the length you want (I knit until I have an 8cm long stem), no need to cast off, just cut the yarn leaving a 8 cm tail, insert the yarn tail in a tapestry needle and thread through all 5 stitches starting from the stitch furthest to your yarn and make a knot to secure. Hide the tail inside the stem (I try bringing it up all the way to the top of the stem to make the stem a bit stronger).
• Add a safety pin. I'm afraid my safety pin doesn't look as neat as I would like it too, but this will not show once the daffodil is worn:

Back of knitted daffodil

The daffodils may look a bit complicated for beginners but they are actually very easy and I find them almost addictive to knit.

I'll get back to knitting some more next week, as I am busy crocheting a few bits which I can't share yet for my daughter's birthday party (which is coming closer than I thought since I realised there were only 28 days in February!) and I also need to sew the blue cabled cardigan I finished last week and gave myself today's deadline to do (5 pieces of knitted cardigan pieces aren't doing anyone any good when they're left in a shopping bag!).

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Little Hats for Charity: The Big Knit 2013

Every year, Innocent Drinks has a fundraising event for Age Action, that they call The Big Knit.

This year I've decided to try and knit some mini hats and send them off: these will be put on Innocent Smoothie bottles and for every bottle with a hat, Innocent Drinks will give 30c to Age Action.

So far I've made 4 hats and my daughter made one (the yellow one, she also made my Pom pom, for some reason mine just keep falling apart):

It's been fun to make these, and also an opportunity to experiment with different hat shapes. I might get around to make another 2 or 3 before I send them off on Monday (the deadline is October 4th). I got the pattern for the bird on Deramore's website (they have really funky ones you can download for free here). Unfortunately my bird hat doesn't look as good as the one from the pattern; my excuse is that I didn't have the same size yarn in the right colours.

I hope I can make more next year, if only I thought of starting in early summer!