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Help keep Little Hats, Big Hearts going with a Well Wish!

December 17, 2015 1 Comment

Support the Little Hats, Big Hearts knitting program with a Well Wish! Click to learn how you can help this exceptional charity knitting program with more than knitting or crochet.

The yarn craft community loves knitting and crocheting for charity projects, particularly at this time of year. The charity knitting project that’s near and dear to me – Little Hats, Big Hearts – has come up with a new way to support the program, above and beyond making and donating hats.

A free pattern for the Declan Hat, available in preemie & infant sizes.

Free Declan Hat pattern

What’s Little Hats, Big Hearts?

As you might know by now, volunteer knitters and crocheters are making little red hats to be distributed to the babies born at hospitals in February, American Heart Month. The program is called Little Hats, Big Hearts. The goal of the program is to raise awareness about heart disease, the number one killer of Americans, and congenital heart defects, the most common birth defect in the country.

The program started in Chicago in 2013, and that first year the American Heart Association received about 300 hats. In 2014, they received 15,000 hats from knitters in all 50 states and in six countries. It’s grown exponentially, and now Little Hats, Big Hearts has spread from Chicago to hospitals in 35 states.

Send a Well Wish to keep LHBH going!

This year, the AHA is giving people the opportunity to make a financial donation and include a “well wish” that will accompany a hat distributed to a Chicago-area baby in February. It’s a great way to give back during the holiday season, and all the funds raised will support the American Heart Association (the largest funder of pediatric heart research in the country, outside the federal government). The well wish site launches TODAY, Thursday, December 17 at www.heart.org/LittleHatsBigHeartsChicago.

Little Hats, Big Hearts is such an important cause, but it involves more than simply making hats. The thousands of adorable little red hats don’t make it onto all those February newborns’ heads by magic. As awesome as it would be for there to be a Santa-style red hat deliverer, there are logistics involved. Think about it – you make a hat (or a dozen) & ship them off to the American Heart Association offices. Then what? Getting the hats organized, laundering them, distributing them to individuals, etc. Not to mention the outreach work it takes to get more yarn crafters on board to start making and keep donating hats each year.

The hat creation is so important and beautiful, but it’s not the whole story. To keep making Little Hats, Big Hearts a reality, consider donating a “well wish”. Not only will you get to include a special message that goes directly to one of the babies receiving a hat, but you’ll be helping keep this program alive.

Red Hats for Newborns Pattern at handsoccupied.com

Free Baby Hearts Hat Pattern

PS: At my knitting guild’s December meeting, this year’s crop of hats for LHBH were gathered and counted, and we collectively made 455 hats! It was so cool seeing them all laid out together – I even spotted hats made with the designs I’ve done for the campaign. All those hats were a sight to behold- and this picture only shows some of what was donated. There were boxes more under the table too!

Support the Little Hats, Big Hearts knitting program with a Well Wish! Click to learn how you can help this exceptional charity knitting program with more than knitting or crochet.

Filed Under: Knitting, Knitting & Crochet Tagged With: american heart association, baby hats, congenital heart defects, free hat pattern, little hats big hearts, red hats for babies

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad (she/her) is a craft book author & designer specializing in yarn crafts. Her work combines vintage and modern design elements, prioritizing color and graphic motifs. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Comments

  1. Sandra Nantelle Elliott

    December 30, 2015 at 10:15 am

    I am making these baby hats for the hospital in Grand Rapids Michigan. My niece was a registered nurse in the baby unit. She passed away a couple of years ago from Brain Cancer. Her name was Tammy Nantelle Anderson. We love and miss her so very much. That’s why I am going to send them to Grand Rapids. She loved her babies.
    Thank you
    Sandra Nantelle Elliott…Tammy’s aunt

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), and I’ve been helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010. I got my start here, as a blogger, and since then I’ve shared more than a few tutorials here and on YouTube as I’ve grown as a pattern designer. 🧶 

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Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts

handsoccupied

Knitting & yarn crafts designer 🧶
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Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop new patterns ⤵️

POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern fits with no ease vs. 4” of positive ease. There’s a bit more length to the cotton (brighter color) sample, but both are cropped and feature shoulder seams designed to sit an inch back onto the shoulder instead of on top, giving it a little swing. Length is easily adjustable for folks looking for less of a crop. 
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Pattern: Bevelled Tank by @handsoccupied for @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn summer 2024. Available for free from Hobbii at the 🔗 in my profile.
Yarn pictured: @kelbournewoolens Skipper and Camper. 
Dress form is adjusted to a 36” chest and ~5’3”ish in height. 
Human has a 40” chest and is 5’5”.
Both skirts are vintage.
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #handsoccupied #intarsia #handmade #knitting #colorwork
Let’s talk about fit and ease! . During the Beve Let’s talk about fit and ease!
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During the Bevelled Tank design process for @pompommag, I knit 2 samples using 2 different @KelbourneWoolens yarns. One was in Skipper (100% cotton, second photo) and the other was in Camper (100% 2 ply wool). The Skipper sample was knit for a 36” bust, which measures in at 40” with 4” of positive ease. And I knit the Camper Sample for my 40” bust with a 44” finished measurement. (BTW, I’m 5’5” for folks that find that measurement helpful in visualizing fit.)
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Based on the size chart for the Bevelled Tank, that means I knit one size 3 sample and one size 4. As designed, I conveniently fit a size 4 as intended with 4” of positive ease. When I wear the 3, there is no ease at all because the garment and my body are both 40” in size. Comparing the 2 garments, you can see how the fiber content (cotton vs. wool) and fit (no ease vs. 4” of positive ease) makes a difference in the look and feel of the finished garment. 
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These samples are a great way to compare what ease looks like on different bodies. While I can fit both a size 3 and 4, the garment with no ease feels more like pajamas or a bralette when I wear it. On the other hand, when I wear the one with 4” of positive ease, I feel comfortable enough to wear it to work, even as a crop top. Plus, it leaves me with enough room to layer it with a nice button down if I’m not feeling the cropped look one day. 
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I’m curious - how would you style this tank? Would you modify it with a few stockinette rows for added length? I’m so curious now that this pattern is finally out in the world. :) 
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #bevelledtank #handsoccupied #knitting #intarisa #handmade #kelbournewoolens #croppedsweater #summerknits
After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m ba After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m back with a brand new pattern in 9 sizes, and it’s FREE as part of @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn’s summer design collection! (Link is in my bio.)
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In my December newsletter, I announced that I was soliciting test knitters for a pattern that had originally been selected for the summer ’24 issue of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine. However, the magazine ceased publication after its spring ’24 issue, leaving in-progress designs unpublished. (It happens.) As a result, I’d begun the long process of editing, testing, and photographing the pattern for independent release through the Hands Occupied pattern shop and Ravelry.
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Before I was done with that process, Pom Pom Quarterly’s former editors reached out with an exciting proposal for the pattern. Post-magazine, they’ve begun to partner with yarn companies to produce high quality pattern collections. They wanted to include designs from the would-be current issue of Pom Pom Quarterly in a new collection for Hobbii yarn, including my Bevelled Tank. I worked with the same technical editors I would have for the magazine on this one, and as you can see from the photos, Pom Pom’s team did an amazing job of styling the garment to the beautiful standards they’re known for.
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You can learn more about the pattern on my blog and get the free pattern from Hobbii yarn - links to both in my profile. I’ll post sizing info in the comments for quick reference too. 🧶
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #knitting #intarsia #sponsored #colorworkknitting 
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Photos: @dianascarrunz 
Model: @angel.jade_
Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vi Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vintage knitting pattern from 1938 called the Fernlace Pullover. A pattern so nice, I knit it twice.
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Yellow version 💛: knit with Despondent Dyes’ Vintage Vixen Sport after attending a @squidneyknits vintage knitting retreat in 2019 & learning *so much*. Paired with a self-drafted circle skirt pattern. 
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Blue version 💙: knit with @eweeweyarns Ewe So Sporty in Sky Blue. Paired with the 1940s Boardwalk Duet sewing pattern from @decades_of_style 
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Head to my stories for 🔗🔗 to the handmade wardrobe blog posts I wrote about each take on the Fernlace Pullover, working with a vintage pattern, where to find vintage patterns (including the one I used), & some thoughts on sizing. 
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Image descriptions available in alt text. 
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#handsoccupied #handmadewardrobe #fernlacepullover #vintageknitting #vintageknittingpatterns #knitting_inspiration
Frogging is a word in the knitting world that mean Frogging is a word in the knitting world that means to rip out your knitting. It’s called frogging because frogs say “ribbit,” and when you’re tearing out your knitting, you will “rip it” out, and that sounds like ribbit. No really. 🐸 Did you know this fun fact? 
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P.S. I did like this design concept, but to make the pattern more knitter friendly as well as more wearable, I am making some tweaks to the construction. Excited to share when it’s ready! 🥰🧶
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Yarn: @blueskyfibers Woolstok North in Morning Frost & Highland Fleece 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #frogging #blueskyfibers #knittersofinstagram #blueskymakers #knittingvocabulary #bsfmakers #knitdesign
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