Chemo Cap Ministry

About a month and a half ago, a ministry was started at our church to provide chemo caps to one of our local hospitals.  The lady heading up this ministry offered patterns and lessons for knitting, crocheting and/or sewing various chemo caps, and even offered materials, if necessary.

I decided to join, as I've gotten kind of fond of knitting hats, and have lots and lots of yarn in the garage just waiting for a worthy project.  Seemed like it was meant to be.  I'd purchased lots of yarn to use for a Prayer Shawl Ministry that hasn't gotten off the ground yet, so perhaps this would be a stepping stone.

This ministry was really tailored to offer something for everyone.  Can't knit?  Crochet.  Can't crochet?  Sew.  Can't do any of the 3?  Volunteer to make the cards added to each one.  That not your cup of tea either?  You can help out financially.  I think the turn out and support offered far exceeded anyone's expectations!  The organizer of this decided to have a goal date of March 22, and was hoping to have 50 caps done by this date.  Through members of our congregation, and other knitters in the community, I believe over 100 caps were completed. 

I'd really anticipated contributing heavily to the finished cap pile.  Unfortunately, the Easter Dress Project began at the same time, and I really focused my attentions there.  And ironically, although I pictured my
self knitting caps,  I only finished one (which isn't pictured here; I donated it to one of the ladies at MOPS, who wanted one for a family member.)  I took advantage of the offer of lessons from an experienced crocheter, and tried my hand at crocheting hats.

Here is a picture of the caps that I donated:

The baseball hat in back and the blue hat in front are crocheted.  The two ribbed caps are made from recycled wool sweaters, and the two on the right are "do rags", made from cotton fabric.  I have 2 other crocheted hats in progress, that I will hopefully finish in time for the March Project wrap up.

Here is a closer picture of the baseball hat.  I was browsing for patterns, and came across this.  I operate in a strange kind of way.  When I see something kind of challenging, I have to try it, just to see if I can do it.  This was one such project.  I did hit a snag, and had to pull out quite a bit, but figured out where I went wrong, and was able to fix it.  The bill is two crocheted pieces, worked over a piece of plastic canvas.  I'm very pleased with how this one came out, and hope to make a few more!

Here are the 2 do rags. They are reversible, and I used each of the two fabrics in both hats.  I have a stack of fabric waiting for me to do some more of these.  They were very quick projects, and seem as though they would be very comfortable in the summer weather.

Once my Easter goals are met, I hope to return to doing some more of these.  There is some talk about extending the ministry, to make it an ongoing project.  I hope they do!