First Person
Knitter’s Notebook: The Hat Whisperer
“One whisper, added to a thousand others, becomes a roar of discontent.”
—Julie Garwood, The Secret
I have been knitting hats in hospital waiting rooms, and donating the finished ones, since my husband Rody was diagnosed with melanoma in June 2021.
I knit them through his seventeen immunotherapy infusions, and I continue to knit them, with the same anxious hope, through this second year of his quarterly follow-up checks.
Our hospital days have their own rhythm and routine.
For the first two hours while he is having a PET scan, I explore the vastness of the University of Iowa hospital. The Patient and Visitor Center is my first stop.
When I get off the elevator, I am greeted by Joyce Summerwells’s portrait, smiling at me. In the long ago when I was a printmaking graduate student, I worked in the hospital’s cytology lab.
While I was collecting specimens, something I try not to remember too often, Joyce was collecting much of the art that soothes me even during the most difficult times.
After giving my best to Joyce, I pass by the glass-walled offices of Volunteer Services.
That’s where one grey spring April day last year I spied three women sorting through piles of hand-knit and crochet baby hats, measuring them with a ruler, and tossing, what I assumed were the rejects, into a brown paper grocery sack.
Need I mention what happened next?
I walked in and right away we got to talking about the discarded hats; too narrow, too wide, too big, too small. Not to mention the bane of a not-soft-at-all, scratchy yarn.
“We need 100 a month,” they told me. “At least”
“Sizes?” I asked as if I was taking an order, which I was.
They showed me a perfect hat.
“Newborn;14 inches around and 6 inches high.” I guessed.
“Yes, with some stretch.”
“Of course.”
Back when I wrote a monthly column for Lion Brand Yarn Company newsletter, our local Preemie Project was in full swing (sadly, it is no longer) and I interviewed the founders.
I learned from them the basics of knitting baby hats: sizing, yarn, etc. I even wrote a pumpkin hat pattern with matching booties. I was confident my hats would not wind up in their discard pile.
With my knitting orders in place, I left to grab a coffee before meeting Rody.
I am happy to report that his scans were clear and his doctor’s visit uneventful, something I never take for granted. For a while, I could return to my other worries.
The Iowa legislature and our governor were moving us further and further away from being the open and accepting state I once believed we were. Recently two bills had passed that directly and negatively impacted the lives of our transgender kids.
The next day I bought the softest yarns in brilliant colors and patterns, leaving behind the traditions of blue and pink.
Baby hats are worn at the very moment when all should feel possible. I wanted to knit hats that would celebrate color and encourage diversity early.
Casting on the first hat, I found myself thinking more and more about the newly born, and those older, too, vulnerable and dependent on the adult world’s decisions.
Babies and kids who now were limited by the narrowness of our state’s vision. I trusted a stitch, then another, and when all those stitches made a hat, I whispered: You be you.
It was a very small step from hat knitter to hat whisperer. After all, isn’t that what we do when knit?
When we think of who we are knitting for: May they be warm. May they be healthy. May they live in peace. May they be who they want to be.
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You are an inspiration.
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This is wonderful. My mother was a neo natal Rn I worked with disabled students on careers and going to work. I believe everyone has a voice as Robbie Robertson sang in a song !! I knit hats and mittens for young ones in schools in broad arrays of color’s!!
Knitting is a salve for many things. It chronicles many things. It teaches much. Thank you for these words and your bravery to share them widely.
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Beautiful in every way. I will now start whispering rather than just thinking my hopes as I knit. Thank you, Michelle, for being you. May you and Rody continue being you for many many years.
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Loved your tender beautifully written story about hats and your knitting wishes knit in each stitch . Thank you❤️
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MDK has never made me cry before. What a beautiful piece! May you/we be who we are, may we be at peace. Thank you!
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this is beautiful. I love all of it but especially the hat whisperer sentiments at the hospital that also has the wave during football games.
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My sentiments exactly. Incredibly beautiful, poignant and inspiring. Thank you!
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Thank you for specific measurements for hats;I knit for several charities (all baby) and never was given specific measurements before. Your writing inspires others – keep going! Best wishes for you and your husband through this time (I’m a 13-year breast cancer survivor). Blessings on you and your family ❤️
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Same here. This was beautiful.
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I second that. This was a beautiful post and a hope filled reminder for us all.
Thank you.
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What a wonderful article. Thank you. Unfortunately, those who need to read this probably won’t, and fear and hatred will continue to poison people’s minds.
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Lucky babies who get your hats! Thank you for writing what I feel. May many more of us feel more love and kindness toward each other’s needs.
Thank you so much for this, this week of all weeks. May your husband be well and your needles be speedy.
As a life-long Iowa resident, this really makes me proud that you are doing this and your reason for doing so. It’s sad to see our state going backwards. Thank you and may Rody continue to improve.
Thank you
Thank you for this profoundly inspiring article. And never fear
for Iowa: All will be well as long
as you and other Iowans like you
keep caring for one another with
loving generosity. Carol M., your
Minnesota neighbor
And vote! So many elections are, sadly, decided by those who stay home.
Love from MN, where our voting rate is the highest in the nation (80% in 2020).
Beautiful piece. Michelle, you are indeed an inspiration. Thank you for writing this piece, thank you for knitting for the babies, all the babies. I pray your husband remains healthy.
Such a lovely story. Thank you for sharing your whispers, I will remember them on the days I want to shout!
May our knitting soothe us in these troubled times. Wishing you and your family good health and peace.
The power of words is right up there with the power of yarn. Thank you for sharing both.
Thank you so much. I love your words, and I especially love your drawings. May you and Rody walk in beauty.
Thank you.
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Bravo Michelle! Keep on knitting all those good wishes into every little hat!
This was lovely to read and beautiful in it’s humane-ness. Thank you for being so kind and thoughtful.
Your words are so powerful and gave me a tear-filled start to my morning. I read a quote….maybe on MDK…..that shared “saying nothing is a response”. This has changed how I move through the world. Thank you for responding and being you. So beautifully written. Wishes for your husband’s continuing good health.
Such a beautiful message. Thank you for the inspiration.
Thank you for creating and encouraging beauty in our broken world. Can you point us to a good baby hat pattern with suggestions for best yarn to use? One question I have is yarn weight and whether it matters in terms of fingering vs DK vs worsted. Is washable yarn preferred over wool? My daughter is adopted and came into my life at almost a year old so we did not experience the infant hat stage together. Again, gratitude for you and all the good you are doing. ❤️
In my experience as a NICU nurse, I can tell you that yarn weight doesn’t matter nearly as much as stretch and softness. And while natural fibers are my go-to for personal knitting, hats in the hospital need to be washable. If you couldn’t imagine sleeping on a pillowcase knitted with the yarn, it wouldn’t be comfy for a (probably bald) baby to wear:)
Dear very Dear Michelle,
thank you for the story, the tears that came with it, and for kickstarting my knitting!
Love you!
Isabel
Thank you MDK for bringing us Michelle’s words. My first reaction is, I can do that! Michelle, from your near neighbor across the river and up a bit north, my retirement years from having given my all to a great university are lately colored by political voices saying old folks don’t need to vote. I love the full circle idea of these old hands knitting for infants I may never know but know they will be the voices who decide how goes my final moments.
Brought a tear to my eye, this is so lovely, so human in the best possible way! Thank you!
Michelle,
Loved reading your story this morning. I had no idea that some hats knit for newborn hospital nurseries were rejected, since babies do come in all different sizes, this is good to know.
Yes, it is sad that the government wants to determine humanity.
I hope your husband’s tests continue to bring good news. Catherine
Thank you for the pumpkin hat pattern!
Although I am currently knitting hats from my stash – pink & blue – I will switch to bright colors!
I was involved several years ago with red valentine hats – they were adorable
Ditto the above comments, Michelle. Thank you for the inspiring and heartfelt message, the beautiful illustrations, the nudge to do good in the world.
And may Rody continue to get great checkups.
As a fellow Iowan, and both my husband and I are cancer survivors, I truly relate to your words! I too have knit many items for charity, including baby hats, and it does feel good to help in any way we can. I truly hope the rejected hats don’t actually go in the trash since I know many other agencies would love to get them. Knitters make these items out of love and there is much love needed in this world.
Would you share the perfect directions to these perfect hats? A Hawkeye, class of 1968, I too am deeply saddened by the lack of kindness and acceptance of all persons. So, I would like to do a small part to help our future citizens.
Thank you for considering my request.
Mary
(PS . Live in Alabama and both our female governors walk the same tracks.)
Profound, inspiring…you ate a jewel, as is every infant. Thank you for nudging me to practice resistance, stitch by stitch. And the reminder to skip the pink or blue !
Oh, and LOVE the illustrations!!!
Thank you for writing this.
Knitters are hopeful people since we pick up these needles and make something for the future. These are dark days .
Knitting brings hope.
Just beautiful!
Just A lovely story Michelle! Thank you. I wonder why this Country feels the need to allow A few people to interfere with something that is none of their business. Good news about your husband!
Thank you! What a lovely place to be this morning. I often knit prayers into the scarves and shawls I knit. Knitters are some of the most wonderful!
“You be you” – such a profound and beautiful statement. Thank-you…
100% agree
Thank you. For yet another reason, this is a place I want to be.
Thank you Michelle. And thank you MDK.
Loved your tender beautifully written story about hats and your knitting wishes knit in each stitch . Thank you❤️
This was so sweet and moving, I had to read it to my partner right away. Thank you and best wishes to your family.
You are an inspiration. I belong to a prayer shawl knitting group and we too knit prayers into our creations. Special prayers will be said for your husband to remain in good health.
Michelle, you are a treasure. As a former Iowa resident, my husband and I have spent many hours at the University of Iowa hospital. I hope Rody continues to improve on his journey.
At several points in my life, I’ve also been a volunteer coordinator/manager, so I understand your post from a variety of perspectives. I also agree with your assessment of the Iowa decision-makers. Maybe we need to ‘whisper’ a few hats for them! I wonder if they hear whispers…..
What a beautiful story to read on this stormy, grey day! Thank you for whispering my way!
I have my latest community knitting baby hat on the needles right now and this has given me the idea to see if I can incorporate the phrase “you be you” maybe using Morse code…..sorry babbling here but this has really inspired me.
I love that. Thank you.
Beautiful thoughts and darling illustrations!! Thank you Michelle <3
Thank you for this beautifully written and illustrated note. It is a hopeful start to my day.
What a lovely story. Thank you for sharing.
I enjoyed this hopeful and lovely read very much. Thank you for putting good out into the world with your stitches, drawings and thoughts! I made your pumpkins hat pattern many years ago for my niece and nephew.
Thank you. I am a retired nurse and we (nurses) appreciated and enjoyed hats for the littles and extra littles. In the NICU a hand knitted hat in the world of tubes and machines helped keep a child warm so they could be held every day, no matter how small, by someone who loved them
Beautiful essay. Thank you.
This is beautiful and an inspiration! Warm wishes for continued well being for you and your husband!
A beautifully written call to action this morning…thank you, Michelle!
Thank you for offering so much goodness to the world.
Such a beautiful soul you are. We need more of you. Thank you for sharing your kind heart with others.
Gulp.
Such an inspiring story!
Love this. Thank you for doing what you do – your whispered love is heard.
I hardly recognize the politics of the state I spent my first 21 years in. It is easy to believe that everyone who lives there must feel like how the laws are going. Thank you for reminding me there are still inclusive caring Iowans trying in their own way to be the change.
I’m heading for Iowa this weekend, for a baby shower. “You be you” is the best wish I can imagine for the new little one. Thanks.
You be you. I will think about this all day Thank you. ❤️
Thank you for your story, and for inspiring us all to live our colorful lives.
Thank you for all you give to the world. I just shared your creativity with a friend in Cedar Rapids this past weekend and was so pleased to find your writing and art work this morning that I’ve sent on to her.
May your husband continue to heal and may you continue to inspire all of us.
A knitter from Minnesota, Carolyn
Celebrating the clear scans and your beautiful message; may both continue.
As a PFLAG member, I truly appreciate your recognition and writing about what is happening to our transgender kids. No one should have to live a life that does not fit their core being. Articles like yours are what draw me to MDK.
Michelle, you are one very kind, insightful and inspirational soul! And many thanks for the heads up on perfect sizing for newborns.
What a fabulous article. Yes we need to knit “ you be you”
Blessings to you, Michelle!! Love the story of the baby hats and the illustrations. glad to hear that your husband’s scans were clear. You continue to be The Hat Whisperer as you send love to those little ones when you knit.
Thank you for this piece about a hospital as a temple of health and hope, reflection and appreciation – in any order. Also a place of high tech as well as low tech inspiration: two needles!
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing this.
As a lifelong knitter and NICU nurse, I can attest to the physical and spiritual healing that takes place when our babies are stable enough to wear the hats so lovingly made. As you wrote, soft, colorful yarn with lots of stretch is critical.
The first time they see their baby in a knitted hat, it is magical. It’s something “normal” (not hospital/medical), and they begin to imagine a future beyond the NICU. This is no small thing! It’s a precious harbinger of hope that will be cherished. Thank you.
Beautiful.
You touched my heart deeply, reminding me that I can just be me and also let others just be them. So simple and sometimes so difficult. We all need more kindness and softness in the world, and knitting can be a small but important part of that. Yes your illustrations are fantastic! Thank you so much for this thoughtful and inspiring post.
What she said!!
Absolutely inspirational. You are a gift.
As they were saying in Florida this week, “It will take women to solve this.”
Though men have pretended women have little to no power — in fact, we are society’s gate keepers. We are raising future citizens of the United States of America, or wherever we live. As we raise our children, we set the norms and mores of the future.
It makes me smile today to see that my son, who dissed some of my ideas when he was young, now is solidly in the mainstream – hard working and kind and thoughtful. I did not insist on his being like me, but did point out that there was a reason that most people followed the norms. I believe that he is in the mainstream, not because I ‘made’ him do it, but because he is following my example that he has seen work over the decades.
Wonderful story. I’ll be looking for more soft yarn in bright colors. Preemie hats are perfect on the go projects. I often crochet them. Bless you and your husband.
Thank you from someone who is going through similar issues with her husband (who is not curable but maybe the cancer can be slowed). It is hard, but doing things to help others does help.
Such a lovely read. Thank you – both for the hats, and for infusing them with loving and supportive thought. My best wishes for your husband’s continued clear scans.
I love your story…I too knit hats..for new borns.Premmie babes…teenagers and anyone else who needs them.Helped.by friends in a knit and natter group we supply as best we can a local and a not so local hospital where my son and his wife work…also blankets for the elderly. Like you…I think who may receive them and pray that all will be well.
Thank you!
I love what you a re e doing I am currently under cancer treatment and this would be a perfect labor of love. Thank you and You be you.
Lovely…
Link to a pattern and sizes, perhaps? For those sweet heads?
This is beautiful. So glad your husband’s scans were clear.
Beautiful! I’ll start whispering into my knits, too.
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I am so glad to know I am not the only one who thinks our state may be headed in the wrong direction. I also knit hats, booties and sweaters and blankets for our hospital here in Cedar Rapids. I find it very rewarding and hopefully helps some poorer couples. I appreciate your article
Yes.
Michelle, thank you for your beautiful words and even more beautiful intentions. I’m a parent of a transgender child and one of the many joys of the journey of them being them is how welcoming and loving the vast majority have been including where it may not be expected. I am sure the haters are in the minority but no less dangerous for that especially when their voices are magnified. I am sure those hats and their whispers will do very fine work.
This may be my favorite article ever on this site. This is beautifully written, conveys a great message and inspires a lot of people, including me, to knit for this great cause. I love the illustrations too! I hope your husband continues to do well.
Absolutely beautiful and inspiring!
How lovely it was the read this, to see your beautiful illustrations, and ponder on knitting. I think I might be a square whisperer. The squares I make are for the homeless, for refugees, for children in the care system and for people in disasters. Each one is made on purpose and will have extra meaning now. I wish you all the best.
The second time MDK has brought tears to my eyes. Once in a story from Paris, and now in a story about your husband, your lovely grandkids, and your generous fingers and those tiny babies who are reaping the benefits.
Thank you! I, too, live in Iowa and am beyond disappointed in our governor and legislature. We will keep fighting the good fight. Thanks for your efforts in showing love and kindness to all babies.
Tears sprung to my eyes. How beautiful your thoughts. I too will move from knitter to whisperer – as you say, it is such a small step from our silent wishes for the recipient as we knit. I hope the news for your husband continues to be positive and for all the little ones that they can healthily be themselves however that may be.
Thank you for this beautiful piece.
I loved this!
I can make e as many as you want
You be you. Yes. Thank you. Let’s keep working for the change we need for all our kids!
Would love free patterns
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What a beautiful piece. I love the idea of whispering a wish into a hand knit. A piece of us we’re sharing, along with a special whisper. Wishing Rody continued health
So beautiful. May all beings be happy. May all beings be healthy. May all beings be safe. May all beings know peace. Thank you for your kindness and grace. May this country find both
Beautifully written and illustrated.
This piece is a treasure. Thanks, Michelle.
So beautiful, thank you
Your drawings are the perfect Tonic. Love love love em
Thank you for knitting with beautiful intention and sharing this story. The whisper needs to become a shout. I hope your state and the country can find their way to a diverse and accepting place.
Magnificent!
May God Bless You Michelle. I do something similar with crochet. Making creatures that are at risk. So many animals and species on Earth need all the help they can.
Thank you for your big open heart and the inspiration. Best wishes to you and Rudy ❤️
Thank you for your big open heart and the inspiration. Best wishes to you and Rody ❤️
Beautiful, I took knit hats for newborns, I’m a midwife,each baby I deliver I gift a hat
Thank you for your words.
Nice article. I take my work to the infusion center to entertain myself. The nurses asked me all of the time, what are you knitting now?, which is very comforting because it shows that they are also interested in making you feel better and that they pay attention to their patients.
A beautiful story. Wish you and your husband well.
God Bless.
Mimi
Thank you for this
Thanks very much for sharing this story. Your whispered affirmation “You be you” is so powerful and needed for kids of all ages.
I too have knit or crocheted my way through my husband’s cancer. I’m never without a ball of yarn, knitting needles and crochet hooks in my bag. People often ask what are you making? Honestly nothing, knitting is a meditation.
I love that you mention your beliefs in this article.
Yes, we are here to celebrate the craft of knitting. We are also people who knit for other people and live lives affected by other people’s decision making.
If you’re ever in Enid Oklahoma stop at cosy corner knits. It’s real fun
I crochet hats for children for Operation Christmas Child (Samaritan’s Purse). Completing between 400 – 500 a year. The hats are distributed throughout the world to those in need representing the love of Jesus. I started knitting and crocheting when my mother (who was an avid crocheter passed) in remembrance of her. Much of the yarn I use is donated or purchased at thrift stores. The Lord is faithful to supply. God bless you for the work you do
Brought up tears, for many reasons. Such a compassionate and tender post. I don’t know how it popped into my phone today, but I’m glad it did. Thank you.
Several friends’ babies have had to spend time in the U of I’s NICU – all coming home healthy, thankfully. Never underestimate the love those handknit hats represent for the babies and parents. And as a native Iowan, thank you for your words. Our family moved up to the Twin Cities a month ago and it broke my heart a bit to leave the state where my husband and I grew up, met and raised our two oldest sons. But Iowa is not a place where you can build a career in DEI for now, so it was time to move for opportunity. Hoping our beautiful state starts choosing better leaders soon.
I love you, hat whisperer. What heart!
Loved your comments and all the connections involved in your husband’s care. I’ve never thought of the receivers of the knitting in the way you have, but will do now.
Very best wishes ❤️
Thank you for your insights on knitting hats.
I also like to knit and crochet hats. Just made a country blue color hat
I’m no expert but I’ve been knitting since I was 10 yrs. And I made my first project for 4-H . A sweater for my 5yr. old sister. May your knitting projects be fun and colorful. Best of happiness to better health to your husband.
“May they be warm. May they be healthy. May they live in peace. May they be who they want to be.” I will keep this in front of me while knitting baby and graduation gifts. I love the idea of this wish being infused in every item.
I too knit hats for those in need. I will pray your beautiful wishes as I continue knitting. Freedom to be who they are and to be accepted and loved.
How positive! Thanks for the silent blessing and anointing, sending them off with your kindness and good wishes as your last gift.
Your story, Michelle, warmed my heart. Thank you for sharing such a good experience with knitting worthwhile gifts– also a hobby that I enjoy whenever time allows.
I’ve been a charity knitter for more years than I care to remember, but I’ve never thought about the recipients of my offerings whilst knitting, just gotten on the needles, cast off and send to the charities, you have prompted me to think about each little person who’ll be wearing my hat, each elderly lady or gent, or cancer patient who’ll be warmed and comforted by my blankets, thank you so much for your words of wisdom.
What an amazing post – thank you for creating and sharing with this community!
Thank you.
What a beautiful story. My mother taught me to knit when I was five (over 70 years ago). I’ve been knitting pretty much ever since. Knitting is soul therapy. It’s comforting and makes me feel connected to the generations of women who’ve knitted for loved ones through wars and those in need.
This is a great article. She understands what a knitter is
Love, love, love your article. I too knit, but for rescue cats and dogs. Keep those thoughts coming! Betty
May there be many more hat whisperer to keep these tiny babies warm.
This is lovely – and very inspiring! I too knit hats to donate to a local community group that helps those in need. Whenever I knit, I also think of the potential wearer, even though I don’t usually know who that will be!
Once I finish this prayer shawl for a friend in need, I will start again on the hats for this fall, and also think of you with each one.
Bless you.
Thank you. I love knitting as well. I make a lot of different things I end up giving them away to people some in need some just because they were kind. I will keep your family in prayer. I know everything will work out in divine order. Have a blessed and beautiful day
A lovely article. I hope you have many years to “hat whisper”.
this is a wonderful thing you are doing. A few years ago I worked as a volunteer in the children’s ward , I would rock the babies , even got to feed them, I absolutely loved it. Well I saw first hand the need for hats and blankets. So keep up the good work, you have inspired me to break out my needles and yarn , thank you. Phyllis Freitas.
Thank you for your baby hat thoughts and dedication “may you be who you want to be”. The grand baby I knit for is now a transgender adult trying to find her path in this world. If only a knitted could protect her.
PS. Can you share your right sized newborn hat pattern?
I also knit hats for Johns Hopkins patients in Baltimore and for my local Human Services Program to put in Christmas Stockings. Gave away 300 last year. I was left with little balls of yarn. This year I’m knitting the ribbed brim and the crown in the same color. The space in between I use helical knitting for stripes which uses up small balls of yarn I had left over.
I love this. I make mittens for a winter warm up program— I wonder if they are acceptable? Lots to think about, which is was distinguishes a great essay. Many thanks
Many years ago a group of knitters in Jackson, MI knit 500 hats and donated them to a local elementary school. The school handed them out to children.
That was beautiful!
Love you for your love and kindness to those people are turning their backs on. I crochet and knit also. I love being able to use different colors in my work.
Thank you for sharing your experience and great kindness
Thank you for being there to support possibilities ❤️
Just beautiful. Cozy, warm and bright.
I love your story, such a wonderful reminder of all that is good! Knitting, babies and hope!
Wonderful. Lovely, positive and kind. Thank you for this nice start to my day!
Bless you. This is lovely.
And may we all continue whispering until our roar forces our legislators back to kindness, inclusion, and sanity.
Thank you for the wonderful story. As a labor-delivery nurse, I would bathe those little ones and wish them love and kindness throughout their lives. We had a sweet lady named Ruby who knitted hats for all our babies until she was 100 years old. Her hats were perfect, but her booties were huge. I gave her some yarn at times and knitted some baby hats too.
I love hearing your story. Knitting can certainly help us in the dark hours.
One of my goals now is to take the leftover yarn from adult projects and make them into baby hats. I have done it with every weight of yarn and have enjoyed mixing colors. It also feels like a way to contribute to my other goal of sustainability since I use up my extra yarn rather than piling it up in my stash.
And there are so many fun baby hat patterns.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Is there a link for a pattern for these hats? I would love to make some, but I am not confident to make them without guidance.
Thank you for passing your love and good wishes along with your hats. The world needs it so very much.
Is there a link for a pattern for these hats? [Never mind, I followed your link to the regular preemie hats] I would love to make some, but I am not confident to make them without guidance.
Thank you for passing your love and good wishes along with your hats. The world needs it so very much.
A beautiful piece, Michelle. You give me hope for the madness of my home state. Stay strong, and keep speaking up for tolerance, love, and reason, <3
Please share the name of the pattern. I sometimes have time and need something for my hands to do. Thanks.
Thank you for this. After working a newborn nursery and NICU most of my nursing life I appreciated your idea of encouraging diversity. In this world it is so nice to start children off with freedom to be them. They will look back at that baby hat and know it started them on the right track
I love this. Thank you.
This is beautiful. Such simple yet powerful wishes. Thank you.
For thos who asked about her patter for a baby hat – I searched found Michelle’s pattern links on Ravelry and they go to free patterns on Lion Brand Website.
Michelle it has been a long time since I have read a post from you. Must have been on Lion site long ago – lol!! I knit my way through both parents end of life months. Always had to be easy project that could be dropped the minute the patient or medicl staff needed my attention. Lion’s knit diagonal baby blanket became my go to project – knit many of those – still do!!
Beautiful. Brought stinging tears to my eyes — because your thoughts and wishes for kid is how it should be.
Beautiful. Brought stinging tears to my eyes — because your thoughts and wishes for those newborn humans – You be You – is how it should be.
I love everything about you…
Thank you!
Very touching and very true. Thank you for writing and for knitting. You are a caring g person and we need more people like you
I had a premie in 2002 and knitted a lot of those hats for our NICU, and also got a lot of helpers to work out their desires by joining as there was so little “to do”. I love it!
LOVE this. Thank you!!
I am truly touched by all your support, kind comments about my essay and illustrations, and well wishes and prayers for Rody. He was moved by them too. Thank you. Continue the good work you do. If you need help with hat sizing, check out Ann Norling’s or Anne Budd’s hat recipes. Preemies of the Carolinas has a chart of the preemie hat sizing on their site for additional information.
Love this … so heartwarming
Love to you, your heart and fingers. From a fellow “give-it-knitter.”
What a wonderful article. It left a lump in my throat and a light in my heart. Thank you for being you, Michelle, and best wishes for your husband.
Lovely story to read, thanks for sharing.
Lovely. Such an echo of my own feelings and those of many others. Thank you.
What yarns are you using for non-strichy hats?
I love knitting and crochet
What a lovely essay! Thank you!
I am new to your page. I read your story twice, so inspiring. I am saddened by your State’s two new bills that so cruelly impact the lives of transgender kids. I am blessed to live in NewZealand. I have a beautiful transgender granddaughter, 21, undergrad at university. She lives a life free from government intervention. She attended a Youth Hub for the first few years (from age 16) and her doctor at university is helpful too. If we still lived in the US, especially in the far right States, I would be organising to bring my family home. I have signed up for your weekly missive. I hope you and Rody continue to get good news at each check in x
Love love love this! ♥️♥️♥️
Love the tone of the entry.
Corrected name.
I love this site
Good story. I have made some hats for the hospital and I hope they were used. I will look for some soft yarn.
As the mother of a baby who was a preemie and is now my transgender son, Michelle, these words are a gift. Thank you.
What a beautiful story. I appreciate that rather than writing about only hats, you included comments about your local legislature. I appreciate that you encourage diversity. And I love your ending meditation and generous thinking.
Thank you, very much for writing about knitting. I would like to volunteer to. Please contact me on donnapollock325@yahoo.com
So I’m horrible with technology, so I’m trying this again. I love your story or your yeah your story, I am in 52 and I’ve always done arts and crafts. When winter about 10 years ago I was in a rehab facility and I crochet I can’t follow, I can’t follow design to save my life, but I can do hats and scars and stuff like that. And I was really involved with a local church that winter and we were doing a meditation group one day and I just was crocheting like crazy and I couldn’t stop and I didn’t have anything to crochet or to crochet forward. I just but I needed to keep my hands moving and you know I just needed that and , I came up with morning hats and scarves for the homeless and so there were some other girls that I crocheted with or they needed and so I told him I had this idea and you know on Sundays we all take the bus and go to this little church together and it was just a way to get out of the house and have some coffee from the you know our favorite coffee shop and there is also a music store there so we always get to go look in the Music store and maybe get a CD that week And so that whole winter needed crocheted hats and scarves for the homeless and every week on Sunday, we take all of our all of our finished products to the church and they would take them to the centers that they were organized with. And I remember finishing hats and scars and thinking now you’re gonna keep somebody really warm and talking to those those items and wishing them luck on their journey . So I’m a kindred soul thing. Thank you for sharing that I needed to hear that today. Sincerely, Terra Johnson.
Really loved her story, I spent many days when my husband was in hospital, yes I too did a lot of knitting. Later I spent even more time when he was in a nursing home, knitting and reading ,must of my knitting was left for others in the hospital and later at the nursing home. I don’t do much knitting anymore, not since my husband passed.
I would love to help. I crochet every day. My name is Elena, my address is 207 century Blvd Laredo, Texas 78046.
This is the way we should be thinking.
Such a beautiful and moving story, Michelle. We need a world full of hat whispers! I’m whispering my best wishes for your husband’s good health.