Happy Valentine's Day!

Oops!  Thursday snuck up on me - and here I am without a project for Stash Buster Thursday!  I usually start writing that post the weekend before, in this case I thought I had a lot of time - but as we all know time DOES fly, whether you are having a good time or not - and it's been one of those weeks!

Although I don't have a project for you today, I have lots of ideas for Busting that Stash of yarn - and material too - and they all have to do with Cancer.

Cancer has been uppermost in my mind for over 6 yrs now - it fades a bit now and again, but it doesn't take much of a break really because 4 of the specialists we do billing for are Oncologists and we read OR reports every day about cancer.  It is sometimes very hard to read about our patients - what they have, what they go through...

Have you ever thought of donating some of your hand-made items to Cancer Care Units at your local hospital?  You should....  Believe me - they need all the help you can give.

Chemo caps are the most common items that can be donated... both knit and crochet - but also sewn.  These are excellent stash buster projects, and they take very little material and time, but mean so very much to the recipients.

If you need some inspiration or even some patterns here are some useful links for Chemo Caps.

http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/patterns.htm

Children need these too - one of our patients who has ovarian cancer, just had surgery last week.  She is 10 yrs old!  She would love this:

http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/childpattk02.htm

You will notice that there are also patterns here for sewn chemo caps which in some climates might be more preferable over the yarn versions.

Cancer Care units also give out lap blankets to patients when they are having chemo.  They are small little afghans that just cover the knees and the legs - made however you want - but most are cheerful and bright - and warm...  Patients are encouraged to take them home with them and bring them back each time they have chemo.


Your local Pet shelters also accept small knit and crochet blankets mostly for the cat rooms, but occasionally you will find them in the dog rooms as well.

So get out your supplies - you have ideas, now you have places in mind to donate your stash projects to.

All it takes is a few moments of your time - a bit of your stash - and a phone call to find out where to drop your donations off.

Ask anyone who has been on the recipient end of this donation - and they will say "Thank You, from the bottom of My Heart!"

Happy Valentine's Day!