Emergency Crochet Project

I learned last weekend that one of my sisters has cancer. She started chemotherapy on Monday.
The prognosis is not good.

I have since experienced several stages of grief. Right now, I am bouncing equally between denial and bargaining. As I attempt to cope, I am bargaining that as long as I crochet soft, comfy stocking hats for my sister to wear as her hair falls out, there is hope. (I realize how futile that sounds, but I don't care. It helps me feel like I'm doing something.)

I went straight to the cancer hat experts... Janesville's Knitting Grandmas. Paulette Remillard tipped me off that they use Simply Soft brand yarn for cancer hats. It's an especially soft and silky yarn, and it happens to be my favorite brand. (And they do take donations, if you feel so inclined.) While the Knitting Grandmas focus solely on knitting, Paulette wouldn't let me go until she was sure I had a pattern for a crochet hat. I assured her that I have access to several.

As luck would have it, my 12-year-old son had asked me to make a hat for him just before the holidays. I had some balls of yarn in his shool colors, a pattern I'd found on the internet, and time between projects to give it a try. I found stockings caps so quick and easy to make that I couldn't wait to make another... and another.

I've since made a Broncos-colored hat for a friend's dad undergoing chemotherapy and a small collection of hats for a co-worker who recently had unexpected brain surgery. So, I have it down to a science. I can make one in about three hours.

But now, it's personal.

My friends, there's not enough yarn in the world to cure cancer, however, I'm going spend a lot of it trying.

My sister's name is Diane. Her husband just transferred from the Saturn plant in Spring Hill, TN to Kansas. The rest of the family is planning to move after the school year ends. We would all appreciate your prayers and good thoughts.