Warm Stuff for Homeless Veterans, Homeless Kids, and Cancer Patients

We have some exciting news to share! 128 knit and crocheted items that have been donated by you are going out to people in need today.

65 items are going to an organization here in Atlanta that will be using the items as Christmas presents for homeless children. My daughter and I will also be going to help wrap the presents for the children on December 18. Here is the website of the organization: http://www.childrn.org/crn_trial_4_009.htm

24 soft and comfy hats will be going to Cancer Treatment Centers of America to be given to chemo patients.

And finally, 39 warm hats will be sent to a homeless veterans center in South Dakota.

In other news, we are still in desperate need of funds... please help! I will be using the remainder of our funds to ship these items today, which means we will have no money for further shipments if we do not accumulate further funds. If we have no funds to ship with, I will take items around the Atlanta area, but I like to support people around the US, so I'm hoping to gain some funds with which to do this. Thanks in advance for all who will support this cause!

125 Hats For Halos Of Hope

A few days ago, I sent out 125 hats to Halos Of Hope, an organization that provides hand-knit/crocheted hats to chemo patients. I saw that they had a need for hats on Twitter, so I decided this would be a good opportunity for us to help some chemo patients with our items. Here are a couple pictures of my daughter and me with the hats I sent. Sierra helps me a bit with the charity so I thought I'd include her in the picture. Halos of Hope mentioned something about a press release, so I'm sending these pics to them as well. Many thanks and kudos to those who helped by sending in items!!

Giving, Giving, & Giving Some More

**Remember, clicking on our ads raises much needed funds for our wonderful cause, Knits For Needs... a super easy way for you to help! Thanks!!**

Thanks for coming to see a sneak-peek into the inner workings of Knits For Needs.. aka... me sitting in my hallway sifting through all of our donated items! :) A couple weeks ago I started going through everything and sorting it all into piles. What we have most of is women's and girls' hats, but we also had some blankets, a teddy bear, a bib, several pairs of booties, a shawl, several scarves, about 20 prayer squares, and two baby sweaters. Here are some pictures of the sorting process.

As you can see, it looks like a total mess, but there was a method to my madness, I assure you. In the picture to the right, you are looking at a huge pile of children's hats, some booties, and a couple blankets and two sweaters. In the other picture you can see the pile of adult hats, most of which are women's.

Look at this super-cute preemie hat, this tiny bear, and cute little bootie along with the other booties in the background! Adorable tiny baby items that will make some babies out there very happy.

So after sorting everything, I determine what is going to hospitals. I had been in touch with a lady at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and she told me they were in need of about 30 baby hats in different sizes. If the items are going to hospitals, they need to be washed because hospital patients are often very sensitive to allergens, plus you certainly would not want any germs on the items. So I very gently wash the items in the washer and dry them in the dryer on the lowest setting. All the items came out great. When I'm sure they are completely dry, I individually bag each item and tag them with a special note from Knits For Needs, which I have included a picture of, although it is a bit difficult to see. I had to take it without the flash because the flash kept reflecting off the bag :)
The box below is currently bound for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and should arrive by Monday. Included in this box are 2 baby blankets, about 30 hats, about 10 pair of booties, and 1 bib. I'm sure the recipients will love the items we've made for them and I can't wait to hear back from some of them!!

If the items are not going to a hospital or to chemo patients, I do not wash them since they really are clean anyway. (I just take extra special care with the hospital ones) These seen below should have arrived at The Covenant House in Atlanta by now, although I have not heard back from them yet. Included in this box were about 20 hats, 1 shawl, and about 8 scarves. The few men's hats I had went out in this box since most of the homeless youth they provide shelter for are
male.

Currently I am looking for women's and children's homeless shelters somewhere in the US where we can donate more hats. I have contacted several places, including shelters in New Orleans, Chicago, and New York, but have not heard back from anyone yet. I do not send out our items anywhere unless I have spoken to someone there who can assure me the items will make it into the hands of the intended recipients. We put much time, effort, and love into making these items so I make sure they get into the right hands!

Thanks for reading about the wonderful things Knits For Needs is doing! And, as always, thank you to all contributors and supporters. We would not exist without you, or if we did, it would just be me and I surely wouldn't have come up with 380 items by myself! Together, we ROCK!

Chemo Caps

We donate to all sorts of people in need, so send along all of your knit or crocheted items and they will go to someone who needs them. But if you prefer to make hats or other items for chemo patients, or anyone else in a hospital, please follow these guidelines:

For hospital patients:
- items must be very clean
- items must be individually bagged
- please do not use wool
- items must be from a smoke-free, pet-free home

Here's the good news: I will wash (carefully, I promise!) your items for you if you like. If I receive items that I think would be good for hospital patients and they haven't been washed and bagged, I always wash them and individually bag them. Even if you have smoke and/or pet dander in your house, still send your things and I will take care of them.

Patterns for chemo caps:
http://www.chemocaps.com/page3.htm
http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/cancercaps.html