This is a blog that is ongoing and will be updated with subsequent discussions, decisions, resources, patterns, etc as we move forward!  Check back periodically!

Feb 23, 2023

The handwork circle (both in-person and v-handwork settings) have been busy this year initiating two new projects.  The first, a collaborative fiber project I will blog about separately.  The second opportunity is to make caps for cancer patients that have received chemotherapy and lost hair.  

The subgroup of cap-makers from our handwork circle include: Martha Branden, Gail Cable, Katya Hoke, Susette Shiver, Ceil Jensen, Paddy Lynch, Mary Kelley, Kathleen Lewis, Tori Masaki, Victoria Robertson, and Sara (with tunis, we need her last name!!)

This year the NC Mountain State Fair (third largest in NC) occurs September 8-17, 2023.  A new category for competition is the "Caps for Cancer" in which all the caps will be donated to Messina Cancer Center in WNC.  

The information that we have at present is detailed in this pdf document.  Our group plans to enter in the Club Showcase Class including in the crochet, knitting, and constructed categories.

Yesterday, Thursday Feb 23, at our zoom v-handwork get-together, we discussed for the first time this project.  We all agreed that knitting colors for different cancers was "too much information".  Privacy might be preferred by the patients when out in public! 

Secondly, some of us prefer knitting or crocheting while others prefer constructing interpreted by us as sewing hats.  We will not use wool or chenille as suggested (see above pdf document link). The caps should be silk, soft baby acrylic possibly or cotton, tencel, or bamboo. 

We all like fleece hats, and Ceil has several that she wears that would be excellent to sew (with the serged seams to the outside so that the inside is perfectly smooth and soft) with perhaps a ribbon on the brim or other types of decorations added. The hat can be worn in various ways and looks almost like a beret but with a band that can be pulled down as far as you like. 

Silk caps or caps with a turban-like design with added embellishments were proposed as well as reversible, and other types. 

We closed agreeing that we all could try and identify hat styles, patterns, and resources to consult that might be useful.  Before launching into making multiples, we will make prototypes to test and discuss. And, we will strive to make hats of the recommended sizes with the dimensions listed in the above link. 

The deadline for delivery to the fair is August 25th, so the hats will be collected to one place and then delivered to the county fair on that date.  The fair organizers promise that all the hats will be displayed during the fair and then donated to Messina Cancer Center.  

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Hats for consideration prior to choosing ones for prototypes

Here are some hats for consideration:

1.  2.  

3.  4.   5.   6.   7.   

Resource:

Knots of Love website with patterns-all about cancer caps

Ravelry, Chemo Caps