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Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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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 is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and 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, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
A new YouTube tutorial is live today covering how A new YouTube tutorial is live today covering how to knit the Little Butterfly Stitch (aka Bowknot Stitch). It adds so much cute character to simple stockinette. Only a little funky to knit, and it packs a huge visual punch! 🦋 
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Find the video & written stitch pattern on the blog and YouTube, links are in bio. 
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#kpambassadorsfeb21 #sponsored
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Yarn: @kelbournewoolens Germantown in Baby Blue via @knit_picks. Needles: Prism Interchangeables, also from Knit Picks. 
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Pictured: a light blue swatch of Little Butterfly Stitch knitting on a pink background. A skein of yarn and a few stitches of knitting are nearby.
“You’re telling me words can be pronounced in “You’re telling me words can be pronounced in different ways and mean the same things?!” 👀 Posting this here, just to make it clear: when anyone says skayne, skeen, or skyne, it can be safely assumed we’re talking about a bundle o’ yarn,  a SKEIN. It’s not necessary to shame someone for using a word that is known to have MULTIPLE common pronunciations. 🧶
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Can you plz comment sharing how you say SKEIN and where you learned it? The OED happens to say SKAYNE, but it’s not a personal attack if someone says SKEEN and you say SKYNE or even Saskatoon. I’m legitimately curious. We don’t all knit or crochet the same way, and craft evolves a bit like language - it is passed on. There is so much value in having conversations about & embracing these variations! ✌🏻
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Pictured: A blond woman holds a skein of mustard yellow yarn up to her head like a phone, looking shocked. She’s wearing glasses & a knit sweater. 
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#handsoccupied #heidigustad #skein #yarn #yarncraft #knit #crochet #yarnaddict #knitincolor #soldotnacrop #language #englishisweird #oed #oxfordenglishdictionary
Sometimes my weekend projects involve hair rather Sometimes my weekend projects involve hair rather than yarn. Here’s the latest mediocre-but-improving result of my slow quest to learn to set vintage inspired curls. 💇🏼‍♀️ I’m hoping to be able to wash my hair less using a regular vintage set, but we’ll see if it ends up being practical. 😆 Hair frustrates me so much more than crafts! 
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Do you also style your hair using vintage methods? If you have any tips for vintage hair styling or good resources to share, please do!
I suppose this is one way to decide what yarn colo I suppose this is one way to decide what yarn color suits your pooch. 😆 Navy really might be Woodrow‘s color - what do you think? 
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Pictured: A medium sized, brown, senior dog asleep on a green bed. For some reason a donut ball of navy wool yarn sits on his head.
The first stitch tutorial of the new year is live The first stitch tutorial of the new year is live on YouTube! Diamond Brocade is a great knit+purl only stitch for beginners or anyone wanting a classic look for their knitting project. Find the video with a written stitch pattern on the blog or head directly to the video on YouTube. Both are linked in bio. ✌🏻 
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