Cat Hat Two ~

I finished the blue cat hat today - this one is a bit different than the grey one, as it has a rolled brim. It seemed that a blue cat hat would need to have blue eyes, so I found some fun buttons in my stash. This guy has some character, eh?
Still cute, and I'm sure it will be appreciated by Shirley's daughter.

Cat in the hat ~

I'm working on the second Cat Hat for Shirley's daughter who is going through chemo treatments for breast cancer. Shirley gave me the yarn for the knitting, and it is acrylic but soft, and a little splitty. But, this is what she would like another Cat Hat knit from, so cast on I do.
This morning it looked like this with my sheepy coffee cup, outside on the back deck. First day of real sunshine I can remember this month.
Here is some progress, already decreasing the crown. Still drinking coffee with sheepy mug, and my sweet Shadow cat is keeping track of the progress, and wondering what color whiskers will be on a blue cat hat.... Shadow, that is a very good question....

Power of Knitting ~

I received this simple email from a lovely sweet lady I know from our church:
My daughter is undergoing chemo for breast cancer and has already lost most of her hair. She saw a knit hat on someone last week that had cat ears, nose and whiskers on it. Do you have any idea where to get a pattern like that? Well, it happens that I know Ravelry, so I sent her some links to some hats that might fit this description. I cast on in a lovely and soft grey merino/bamboo, as I knew that she doesn't knit, and emailed her that I would be happy to knit a cat hat for her daughter. I'm busy with work, home, kids and "all things in my world" but I'm not fighting cancer, nor is one of my daughters fighting cancer...so knitting a cat hat seemed like a very small effort given the circumstance.....
I received this response:

You have no idea how much this means to me. She and I had not spoken but twice since last September when there was a "blowup" at our other daughter's wedding in SF. As horrible as this disease is, it has brought our family back together and brought my daughter back to me. We text back and forth several times a week (it is easier for her as talking on the phone seems to tire her out more quickly). My heart is nearly at peace again. When I sent her the cat hat picture yesterday, she wrote back, "Wow Mom, you have no idea how very much this means to me!" So, finally I am, through your kindness, able to do something special for her that no one else is doing! It is thrilling for me. She said she is resting lots this week and maybe she will be able to come over on Saturday, when we will celebrate Easter and her daughter's birthday. Keep your fingers crossed. We are so hoping she will be able to join us. I'm sure she will feel she can never have too many cat hats - she loves cats and takes in every one people dump on their road. They don't all stay, or survive the coyotes out there, but she is very much a nurturer. Thank you again for your thoughtfulness and kindness in doing these hats for me and my daughter.
I was speechless......
Do not ever underestimate the power of knitting - even knitting a cat hat.... I encourage you all to share some knitted kindness this holiday weekend of Easter and Earth Day... knitting makes the world a better place...

Windy City Complete ~

This Windy City Hat is a great pattern. Fun to knit, as the lace is easy to knit and easy to follow. My kids love the finished hat, and asked if I would knit them hats out of this same pattern. Quite a vote of confidence for this pattern!!! This is knit with 100% alpaca, purchased at my local yarn shop, Cultured Purls. The reason for the many pictures is to capture the deep purple color as well as the lace pattern (plus rockin'10 is so darn cute!).
This is chemo cap number 2 for my sister's co-worker. We are wishing her best hopes and health as she goes through her chemo treatments.

New Mission ~

As I mentioned, while getting the yarn during the "Yarn Emergency" I picked up come beautiful yarn that was complementary to the "Emergency" yarn. The intent, I thought, was to use up the "Emergency" yarn with the complementary yarn in another hat.... good thinking, eh? This yarn is beautiful, 100% alpaca and deep purple. It will be another chemo cap for my sister's co-worker. I've heard this is a good pattern for comfortable chemo cap.
These pictures do not show how rich the colors are, so I'm showing two versions ~ one pic to show the lace, and one for the color. This pattern is on Ravelry, called the Windy City hat and has been great fun to knit.

AACK! Yarn Emergency!

I didn't realize that Pagewood Farms yarn is a small scale hand dyer operation and difficult to find... as I am not going to have enough to finish Anna's hat... Friend Lisa tried 8 local yarn shops and I tried one.....so now I am on the hunt for matching yarn... The pattern is turning out well, the lace was easy and will block well too (I think). I will try our local yarn store, too, Cultured Purls.
P.S. Can you believe this snow?

Knitting and not knitting ~

I would like to be knitting on the chemo cap. However, I am not knitting on that.... I am knitting on the Dashed Square #4. Now that I've found some matching yarn for the chemo cap, I will begin knitting that again very shortly, as it needs to be done quickly so my sister can deliver it to Anna.

Pictured here (behind my cable coffee cup) is what I'm knitting, and the two luscious purple yarns (in front of my chicken) are what I am not knitting. (I will be knitting them soon... I promise!)

A new mission ~

I love a new knitting mission. I love the chance to knit for someone that needs my knitting. I love knitting each stitch knowing that the care and love in each row will seep into the person wearing it. My sister asked me to knit a chemo hat for her co-worker, Anna. She even gave me some Pagewood Farms yarn that she had been knitting into a scarf, but it was speaking to her that it didn't want to be a scarf... so she asked if I would knit the Pagewood Farms yarn into a hat for Anna. Of course I will......

Pagewood Farms is a beautiful yarn, part silk and part camel, I never did see the tag, but the yarn is oh~so~soft! I'm using a pattern from friend Lisa, and she says this is a good chemo cap pattern.