It’s that time of year again! February is American Heart Month. And during Heart Month, the American Heart Association supports an initiative called Little Hats Big Hearts. LHBH connects babies born during the month of February with handmade red hats to raise awareness about congenital heart defects. In addition to the hats, babies are given info packets to help new parents understand more about their new babies’ hearts. Simple, straightforward, sweet.
a Baby Hearts Hat knit for Little Hats Big Hearts
Inspired by my own family’s connection to congenital heart defects, I was excited to discover LHBH early on in its existence. To help support the cause, I’ve released a couple of patterns designed for preemies and newborns to encourage more folks to donate hats. You can find the Baby Hearts Hat pattern here, and the Declan Hat Pattern here.
The LHBH program has, at last check, reached all but 7 states in the U.S. If you’re interested in donating hats, you can visit heart.org/littlehatsbighearts to search for the nearest state’s donation information.
Before I go, I wanted to share a quick word of thanks to the Skokie Public Library’s knitting group! They love charity knitting projects and discovered LHBH on this site. Being a resident of nearby Chicago, I’ve been lucky enough to visit their group a few times, and they’re a lovely crew! This past year, they made a whopping 127 hats to donate, and many of them made hats using the free patterns on Hands Occupied. The hats featured in this post’s photos were all knitted by the women in Skokie and will be paired with babies next February. Thank you for being awesome, ladies!
MariposaKnits
February 14, 2017 at 6:24 amI had never heard of LHBH before. Great cause, and thanks for spreading the awareness.
Nan
February 20, 2017 at 12:07 pmThank you for sharing. I have always wanted to participate and I am glad I found your link. May I ask what yarn did you use to make the hats?
Heidi
February 21, 2017 at 9:05 amGreat question! For the Baby Hearts Hat design, I used DK weight light worsted yarn, specifically Patons Classic Wool DK Superwash Yarn. For the Declan Hat, I used Berroco Folio.
Vera Staruch
July 19, 2017 at 6:21 pmTotally by accident came across this project. Absolutely beautiful idea and is very close to my heart since I have been diagnosed with cong. heart failure. So this is rather truly special project.
thank you for the chart information and so many different types of designs for the hats. However, my issue is that it is very hard to find really soft wool (acrylic) and that the color is bright red and not this dark one. Can you suggest a website or store location that might have some super soft wool. Would appreciate any suggestion. Thanks. Vera
Heidi
July 20, 2017 at 12:09 pmHi Vera! Of course! I was at JoAnn’s just yesterday, and there are some Caron & Red Heart yarn lines with “soft” in the name that look promising. The colors are bright and even a bit shiny. I’m very sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I wish you the best! -Heidi
Joan
December 5, 2017 at 6:09 pmMy suggestion for babies would be Mary Maxim Ultra Mellowspun yarn. Their red is perfect; the yarn itself is wonderfully soft and nice to work with.
Betty A Monty
January 2, 2018 at 12:26 pmI am using the Mary Maxim Ultra Mellowspun, and find it soft and easy to work with.
Annie Ruth
November 15, 2017 at 12:01 pmI need yo know here to send the hats I live in Louisina
Heidi
November 16, 2017 at 11:42 amYou can visit heart.org/littlehatsbighearts and look up all donation locations by state. For Louisiana, it looks like there are currently 2 options depending on where you are, so you should go check it out. :)
Jodi
December 30, 2017 at 1:01 pmYou are so kind hearted to bring this info to us. Your work is beautiful. Can I ask what your wrist tattoo says? Thanks for helping us beginners along Jodi
Heidi
January 1, 2018 at 5:45 pmYeah – it says “I simply can’t to anything which I don’t feel deeply.” :)
wendy
January 4, 2018 at 2:25 pmHi Heidi,
I just wanted to thank you for the Declan pattern. You inspired me to make little hats for donation . I am using up my Red Heart
in true red color and then made few hats in other bright colors. I am proud of my little achievements and just wanted to
tell you. I am cranking them out as I am retired and needed something new to challenge myself. I am knitting my hats while
while keeping up with my old movies .
Just to let you know, I am learning the Brioche pattern from your video. Another achievement for me.!