Cure caps

I've been following cherylbwaters wonderful tribute to her sister on her blog. Since I recently lost my daughter to ovarian cancer, I decided I wanted to honor both my daughter, Lynn, and Cheryl's sister, Kathy, by knitting cure caps in honor of them. When I had my own chemo it was during the coldest MI winter in ages and I needed to keep warm. But now I live on the coast of GA. Keeping cool and also protected is what is needed here. A nurse friend said she knit a cap similar to the KP's Easy Peasy cap when she was dealing with breast cancer and found that she could then put a wide-brimmed hat over it. If there are others who are interested in knitting along with me, I'd love to have some company. Surely all of us have local community needs for cure caps. I think the soft KP's Comfy or organic cotton will work very well here in the hot south.

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Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on July 23, 2010 at 2:56pm

Oh, Martha, I should have looked at few more recent emails before I sent my message to you. I'm glad you added this discussion here. I think it perfect that we choose a local charity so we can each donate for someone in our area.

KP's Comfy and organic cotton are perfect choices. For those that might need more warm, merino wool would be great.

Let's join together to start a new trend to hear about "cure caps" not "chemo caps"

Thanks, Martha!

Permalink Reply by Martha on July 23, 2010 at 6:23pm

Absolutely! And kids need them too so smaller ones with bright colors might be nice. If they aren't going to be worn under straw hats like they do here in the south, maybe some with flowers or beads or just something that doesn't scream, "I don t have any hair!" Bet kids would love some with yarn braids attached! Can you tell I'm a pediatric nurse?

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on July 23, 2010 at 9:58pm

Definitely! We have a close friend who was a pediatric oncology nurse. She did about 6 weeks here in Houston. It was so much fun to get to know someone so enthusiastic about her passion for this area of healthcare.

Permalink Reply by Granny8 on July 24, 2010 at 11:14am

Hello everyone, it has been a long time for me on here. I love this discssion on cure caps. I would like to know how I can find out about doing this in my area. Could anyone help me with this???

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on July 24, 2010 at 11:35am

Hi, Karen! Glad to see you around. You might check with your local hospitals, especially if one specializes in cancer treatments. They should be able to tell you what local charities accept cure caps. They will probably be known to them as chemo caps, but we would like to see that name changed.

Permalink Reply by Granny8 on July 24, 2010 at 1:39pm

Hello thanks I will stop by there first thing Monday. I will be right next to the hospital for my allergy shots.
Is there a certain kind of yarn that I need to use and a pattern?
So how have u been? I have been pretty busy thos summer, vacations etc. Going to the Amish country in Aug. with a friend of mine. I have been knitting afghans as gifts and wash cloths for my friend for her group called Daughters of the Cinfederate Union here in Va. My oldest grand-daughter is off to college next month so she gets a blanket. I really miss her, I cried when I was at her graduation. I'm determined to learn how to knit socks, something I really want to learn how to do, but know one around here that I knit with does them.
Keep in touch dear.
Karen

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on July 24, 2010 at 2:24pm

Karen, I hate to say it but sometimes each organization has different rules. It's best to try to use yarn that can be machined wash. So I usually recommend a superwash wool or a cotton. Acrylics can be used but they are often scratchy. Really almost any hat pattern will work. You typically want something that comes down a wee bit as opposed to something that covers just the top part of the head. Skull caps are great if you make them on the long side. I will try to go through my list of patterns sometime today to make suggestions for patterns.

Permalink Reply by Granny8 on July 25, 2010 at 8:22am

When I go to the hospital tomorrow, I will check on the rules, never thought of that. I loved the patterns you posted, you are so good at this. I guess I just need to remember soft yarns only. I can understand that. I wish I knew of this earlier, we were down in N.C. Kill Devil Hills, and I found a very nice knitting shop with all kinds of very, very soft yarn. We may go back down there in Oct. and I will certainly purchase then.
Karen

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on July 25, 2010 at 1:54pm

Well, I know that when I did preemie hats for Save the Children, they preferred acrylic because the hats won't be worn long. Also you don't know what kind of washing these hats will go through when you are sending them off to parts unknown to us.

And then some of the charities knitting helmet liners for the soldiers insist on wools only, such as merino. they cannot have anything scratchy under their helmets and can't use anything flammable.

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on July 24, 2010 at 2:27pm

What is your favorite hat pattern or patterns that you think would make a cure cap? Remember that because these hats are close to probably very sensitive skin, you should consider yarns that aren't scratchy. I'll list some yarns and patterns later that I think are appropriate. ♥c

Permalink Reply by Martha on July 24, 2010 at 4:34pm

I'm going to use the Knit Picks Easy Peasy hat. It's a free download in the patterns and even has a video to leach it. Here's the URL for the hat pattern donated to the MN Gilda's Club by designer Nickey Epstein- http://www.needleworkunlimited.com/images/GildasHat Pattern.pdf" Sorry, Cheryl, I didn't get that entered as a link, but you can cut and paste it into a search engine. It's a slouch hat. As a former 'hairless wonder' from chemo, I can only strongly urge the use of soft yarn with no bumpy areas on the inside. My scalp was SO tender and as the hair starts to grow back in (or as it starts to come out) it does not lay flat and causes all sorts of new awareness of ones scalp! Heads are smaller without hair, too. So no metallic or 'artsy' yarns. Something pretty as you really don't feel pretty at all.

Permalink Reply by Martha on July 24, 2010 at 4:35pm

Oh, I see that URL magically did appear as a link! guess I did follow your directions, Cheryl1