Pink Hats, Projects, and Bereavement Support
I’m taking a break from my felting projects right now while I wait for a yarn delivery (Lamb’s Pride Worsted - drool, drool). I haven’t made any baby hats in a while, so I’m making use of my newest knitting book, 450 Knitting Stitches, and trying to use up that huge Pastel Pink ball of Pound of Love.
So, above are the two hats I’ve made since I finished Sophie III. I really need to do a lot more hats b/c my goal was to deliver the hats to UCSF on Paul’s birthday, July 12th. I’ve still got about half the ball of pink yarn, so I need to crank on this project!
I couldn’t find a baby hat knitalong to inspire me, so I joined the Preemie Project instead. Same idea. This way, too, when I’ve delivered my stuff to the hospital, I can start sending them some hats, too. Who knows? Maybe I’ll start my own knitalong or project! Actually, if I did my own knitalong or UCSF-specific project, it would probably be for burial buntings or some kind of special keepsake for parents of babies who die in the ICN. I know that the box of things that we received after Paul died is so special to us. Hmmm. I feel an idea coming on…
I’m having fun with the hats — it’s nice to do something that can be done in just a few hours — but I’m jonesing for felting. Maybe that has something to do with the 30 emails a day I get from the felted bag knitalong! ;->
More hats to come. When I FINALLY finish the pink yarn, I’ll post a picture of all of them in one big batch. Should look impressive.
On a related note, Suzanne the social worker from the hospital called last week and asked if hubby & I would be interested in providing phone support for bereaved parents in other areas. Since UCSF serves the whole West Coast, not just the SF area, there are parents whose babies have died there who live far away, many of them in areas where they don’t have great support groups like SAND or HAND. Other people may live in the area and want someone to talk to but not feel comfortable in a larger, more public situation like a support group. I talked to hubby, and we both definitely wanted to do it. We could also provide support via email for people who don’t want to rack up long distance phone bills. Thinking about it this morning, I envisioned our eventually starting a Yahoo! group. This could be really cool. I keep reminding myself, “Don’t waste your pain.” This would definitely be a way to use what we’ve gone through (and continue to go through) to help others.
