January 20 Update:
Thank you to everyone who knitted and donated baby hats and chemo caps at Knit Out. We are very grateful.
This year we received 152 baby hats this year, a virtual rainbow of colors. The statistics by color: red hats (48), blue hats (22), green hats (22), yellow hats (19), brown hats (15), white hats (8), gray hats (8), orange hats (6), and purple hats (4). There are striped hats, solid hats, crocheted hats, knitted hats, gathered hats, lacy hats, fair isle hats, and, well, every imaginable hat. Here are some photos to illustrate.
Brookside Knits donates about 40 baby hats each month to the maternity ward at Pottstown Hospital.
Chemo caps are donated to the hospital as we receive them. We try to find community groups in the Pottstown area to receive other donations.
January 10, 2019
Brookside Knits will once again collect charity donations at the upcoming Knit Out.
Over the past twelve months, we have donated some 40 baby hats a month to the Pottstown Hospital’s maternity ward. That comes to nearly 500 a year, and a good part of those hats are your donations brought to the Knit out.
We enjoy knitting and donating special hats for holidays. If you were a bird on our shoulder, you would find colors change monthly. In addition to the classic baby pinks, blues, and yellows, you would find lots of green for spring and even more green for football season.
Red is plentiful for baseball season as well as Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Orange pumpkins are possibly the most popular fall hats, and blues join in for patriotic holidays.
Donated baby hats should be soft and washable. They should not have pompoms or buttons that might harm a baby. They should be sized for preemies (4″ across) or newborns (5″ across).
We also collect chemo caps and Knitted Knockers to be donated to the cancer center.
You will find a basket (or two) for your donations as you enter the lobby. Drop them off as you’re waiting to check in. Thank you for caring!
Where can I find the pattern for the Pumpkin caps?
So cute.
Thank you for contacting us at Brookside Knits, Cecilia. The pumpkin hat you see in the photo seems to be a generic hat like the one in this article on our site: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#craft=crochet%7Cknitting&availability=free&photo=yes&query=pumpkin%20baby%20hats&sort=recently-popular&view=captioned_thumbs&page=1
It uses worsted orange yarn and about a size 7 needle. Just after the decreases begin, there is a change to green or brown yarn. At the last knit/decrease row, add an i-cord.
If you need more of a pattern, try one of these free knitting or crochet patterns on Ravelry.com.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#craft=crochet%7Cknitting&availability=free&photo=yes&query=pumpkin%20baby%20hats&sort=recently-popular&view=captioned_thumbs&page=1
For a selection of only knit hats in worsted yarn, look here:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#craft=knitting&availability=free&photo=yes&weight=worsted&query=pumpkin%20baby%20hats&sort=recently-popular&view=captioned_thumbs
If you were planning to donate a hat at the Knit Out, you want to be sure to knit in a newborn size (10″ around) or a preemie size (8″ or less around).
If you haven’t joined Ravelry, you can easily set up an account. Many patterns are free but for others there is a charge. I hope this answers your questionl
Sandi Gill
Charity Hat Coordinator