Ways to Give Back and Help Others- You can knit!

Next month in Atlanta, many people will participate in the Susan B. Komen 3 Day Walk, but not all of them will be walkers. Some are volunteers, others contribute money, while many will give of our time and talents.

For those living in the Atlanta Area, there is a wonderful event being hosted for knitters in support of Breast Cancer Awareness on Sunday Sept. 30th at The Whole Nine Yarns in Woodstock, Georgia.

In our own circle of friends and family, we have had people touched by breast cancer and other serious illnesses. Carol Price, who owns A Stitch in Time Machine Embroidery website, took a few minutes at the Indiana Conference to show me how to make a chemo cap utilizing the knitting directions available on her web site (it is a free download). I had never used double pointed needles in the round, so a quick "how to" was truly appreciated by me. With that, I went home and downloaded her directions found under "Projects" and made my first hat. I found it very easy to make even though I am a beginner knitter. Carol Price's site is linked above where the chemo cap directions can be found under "Knitting Projects". She encouraged me to try all kinds of yarns, and that's when I fell in love with Debbie Bliss cashmerino and all soft fuzzy yarns.

The first I made used baby yarn combined with fuzzy to build my confidence. From there, I ran over to the Whole Nine Yarns and purchased cashmerino. I made two more caps before hopping on a plane to visit family. My beautiful new daughter-in-law saw what I was making and was very excited to give it a try. Mind you, she has been knitting just a few months shy of me. So together, we ran over to a local knit store to purchase yarn and supplies. She did an amazing job on her very first cap and has made a few more since I last spoke with her.

If you are walking in this years event in Atlanta, which is the October 12th-14th, keep your eye out for Mr. R (the makeover guy on this blog posing with his best friend on the right, Richard Doughty). Over the past 8 years, he has served on the MOTOCREW watching after the safety for the thousands of walkers. The motorcycle crew give of their time and experience to ensure that all the walkers make it from point A to point B as safely as possible, while providing music and entertainment along the way. I can't count the number of times that we will be out with Mr. Cutie and we are stopped by ladies that say, "I know you ...aren't you the MOTO dancer?"