Chemo Hats

Several years ago a group of women from the Woman's Club of Minneapolis, many of them cancer survivors, started knitting chemo caps for patients at the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). Two years ago, they donated over 300 hats. By donation time in April, HCMC had just one hat left. Last year over 400 hats were donated! HCMC was happy about the increased donation, because in addition to chemo patients, they would like to make sure that any child that visits the hospital during the winter is given a hat if he/she doesn't have one. In order to accommodate these needs, more people are needed to participate.

Hats don't require a lot of yardage, so many avid knitters and crocheters may have leftovers from projects that can be used to knit a hat or two. The only issue in regard to the chemo hats is that they need to be made with soft yarns that won't itch. When people lose their hair, the scalp is extremely sensitive. We recommend using cotton or microfiber yarns.

The Grace Akhrem patterns pictured in this post would make great chemo caps. They will be available at the store within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, if you are antsy to get started, Head Huggers, has a number of free patterns for hats that would be suitable for chemo patients.

Feel free to drop off your completed hats at the store. Label them HCMC, and Alison will deliver them to the Woman's Club of Minneapolis.