On December 20, 2016, seven regular members of the "Karing Knitters" group, Peggy Fleming, Barbara Heimowitz, Harriet Skelly, Jan Barnes, Lina Terferi, Rita Weikal, and Debbie Schriber, took BART to San Francisco and donated 83 scarves and 138 hats to St. Anthony's.  This was our 5th year knitting scarves and hats for the homeless living in San Francisco.

 The "Karing Knitters" group began 6 years ago with three members from Danville and two members living in Castro Valley.  The group has grown and changed over the years and we now have two groups of knitters who meet twice monthly in Danville and in Castro Valley.  A huge thanks go to the eleven regular members, Phyllis Clark, Melanie Gutterson, Marcelle Roise, and Ann Cygielman and the knitters mentioned above plus some knitters from the Alamo Women's Club; Susan Klein, Kathy Berger, Annette Cohn, Sandi McKae, plus friends of friends in the knitting groups who donate occasionally or one time only: Ruth Yu, Judy Ginsburg, Maria Salcedo, Jean Yang.

Scarves for Shelter women

One of our knitters, Barbara, is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma. It is an organization of retired and active teachers. We contributed 30 scarves to bags made for women in a shelter in Hayward. They also got toiletries, tissues and other special gifts as part of their holiday donation. They were very grateful for our contributions.

Headbands for foster girls

Marcelle,

We can't thank you enough for making the beautiful knitted/crocheted headbands for the foster girls. I gave them their new headbands this evening and they absolutely love them. (Their faces are covered because of privacy issues). Thank you so much again for spending the time making them. 

Delivery to Youth Homes

Peggy delivered 10 adult size hats on November 28th  to Youth Homes , which is a nonprofit agency for abused and traumatized foster kids. Some of the kids live in foster homes and these hats will be given to those clients during the Christmas holiday season. Thank you karing knitters for your donations and for brightening these foster kids' holiday season.

Holiday Hat deliverys

Peggy was a busy gal delivering hats
for this holiday season:

She delivered 70 baby hats to Kaiser Maternity on Sunday,

Nov. 20th.  There were 11-Thanksgiving, 22-Christmas, 6-Chanukah, 16-girls, and 15-boys.The 6 nurses on duty were totally thrilled to receive the holiday hats and couldn't wait to distribute them.  Peggy was excited to see 3 of our hats on display at the nurses' counter which they'll use for Thanksgiving since they were all orange.  The nurses again reiterated how appreciative the new parents are to receive these keepsakes.

On Nov. 21st, she delivered 26 hats all loomed by Melanie,  for Youth Homes foster kids living in 4 group homes. They were thrilled to receive them and loved the color combinations. Pictured here are two staff members that liked the hats so well that they wanted to each keep one for themselves!!

 Thank you Karing Knitters for your 

continued donations!!

Peggy delivered 82 baby hats, (12 of which were Halloween themed) to Kaiser, Walnut Creek's Maternity Ward.  She was greeted with many thank you's, and lots of oohs and awes!  The nurses immediately started digging through the bag of donations so they could select just the perfect baby hat for the baby they helped deliver. As usual, the nurses and staff were very grateful for our donation..

Baby Hat Delivery for 9/11

Peggy delivered 30 baby hats to Kaiser Walnut Creek on 9/11 which included 3 military fatigue patterns.  As she was walking toward the Labor and Maternity Ward, a young man was following her and she asked if he was a new Dad.  He said, "almost", he and his wife had been at the hospital for 3 days!  I asked him if he'd like to choose a hat for his baby and suggested a military one since it was 9/11 but he opted instead for a light/dark blue hat.  Then I asked a couple (grandparents) who were waiting for their daughter to give birth if they'd like a hat.  Again, they opted for a blue and gold hat since their daughter went to Cal instead of the military one. Once I took the rest of the hats to the nursing station and told the nurses that I had 3 military hats, they were thrilled and said they'd give them to each of the 3 boys who were just born in the last two hours.  

Happy Birthday to US

It is September and time to pat ourselves on the back again.  To date we have made and donated:
2206 hats (chemo and baby)
508 scarves
and for chemo patients:
67 seat belt cushions
66 drainage bags.
Happy Birthday to Us!

Another Kaiser Delivery

Peggy delivered 52 baby hats to Kaiser Walnut Creek on 8/20/16. As usual, the nurses were very appreciative of our donations especially because they had run out of hats to give to the new infants.

Thank you, Karing Knitters for all of your cute contributions!!!

Another Donation for Epic Care

Barbara donated 12 scarf hats and 4 chemo carseat pillows to Epic Care in Dublin today. One staff member gave her a huge hug! She was so appreciative of all our donations. She even asked for our contact information, which Barbara provided and she also directed them to our blog. The other staff member modeled one of the summer hats. They said we're the only ones donating to them and their patients are very happy to find our donations when they come for treatment! We will donate knitted hats to them when the weather cools down, again.

Thanks to our group, we're really putting smiles on these recipients faces! 

More of our Knitters

We have about 10 knitters who regularly knit/loom baby hats for Kaiser Walnut Creek and San Leandro plus Birth Right in Livermore and Concord. Shown here are Susan and Mary Ann who just donated 50 hats for a total of 100 hats that were donated to Kaiser Walnut Creek on July 17, 2016.  Thank you Karing Knitters!

Kaiser Delivery

On Sunday, June 26, Peggy delivered 40 baby hats to      Kaiser Walnut Creek maternity ward.  Of the 40 hats, 12 were designated for the Fourth of July. As Peggy was arriving at the Kaiser parking lot, she noticed a couple with a brand-new baby and ask them if the baby had just been born. The proud parents said that the little girl was born yesterday. I told them that our group knits  hats for the maternity ward and I was on my way to make a donation.  I asked them if they would like to select a hat for their new baby. They were both thrilled that we would do such a nice thing for the new babies. They selected a cute light pink baby hat with fun fur around the rim and we're very grateful for the donation. I asked the father if he was a San Francisco Giants fan and he said absolutely. So I let him also select a Giant's  themed hat which he did and again was very thankful for it.

   Once I finally reached the maternity ward, the nurses were so happy and grateful to receive the hats and said they'd save the 4th of July hats until next Monday. A very fun time for me! 

Barbara donated hats and port pillows to Children's Hospital in Oakland. Here are the kind words from the Child Life Specialist:

Thank you so much for your donation of 12 knitted hats and 15 port pillows. I received them  yesterday and I was delighted to be able to have such special, handmade items to be able to give away to our patients. I know our patients will value and appreciate them a great deal. Thank you for sharing your generosity and creativity with us.

Peggy made the contact and Barbara delivered 7 knitted hats, 2 cotton scarf/hats and 20 drainage bags to Diablo Valley Oncology in San Ramon. It's in a building up the hill and adjacent to the San Ramon Regional Medical Center. It is one of Diablo Oncology's  four locations and the nurses can share our donations amongst these locations.  This is the 10th place where we've donated in the past 6 years!

Baby Hats to Kaiser

Peggy dropped off 60 baby hats to the Kaiser Maternity Department on June 8, 2016.  The nurses were delighted to see more hats for "their" babies and told me how appreciative they were to receive them  One nurse immediately grabbed a baby hat for a baby girl who had just been delivered.

WE are on the road again

Peggy took a week long trip to Upstate New York and happened upon this knitting shop in Esperance, New York.  Although the shop was closed because it was Memorial Day, Peggy liked what she saw in the window.

Happy Nurses at Epic Care

Happy Nurses at Epic Care 

Barbara delivered 16 drainage bags, 11 port cushions for seat belts and 3 knitted hats to the Epic Care Center in Dublin. This was her 2nd delivery to the cancer treatment center. The nurses had smiles on their faces as they accepted her donation. They showed me a special shelf they devote to these donations. Cancer patients are directed to  take what they need. They also showed Barbara how these bags could be used for chemo pumps that many patients also need. 

A Very Busy Week

 On March 15, 2016, Peggy and Jean delivered 20 drainage bags, 20 port pillow protectors, 15 chemo hats and  and 65 baby hats (9 for St. Patrick's Day and 5 for Easter) to Kaiser, Walnut Creek.  All of the nurses were elated, in fact, the oncology nurses said that we should patent the port pillow protectors.  They had never heard of them before and told us how useful they would be.  They also loved the colorful drainage bags and had no knitted chemo hats left so our donation was greatly needed.  They couldn't believe that we would donate all of these items.  
 The maternity nurses were just as thrilled with our donations and said they LOVE it when we drop off hats to them.  One of the nurses immediately gave a Mom who was getting ready to return home, a shamrock hat knitted by Jan but exchanged it for a larger hat  since the baby's head was big.
This was a very positive donation day for Jean and I and we extend out thanks to all of you who contributed to this delivery.

Barbara decided to donate 12 chemo port cushions and 7 chemo hats to Epic Care in Dublin. It is a lovely radiation/chemotherapy center, off Dublin Blvd, in Dublin.

 The person in charge of the chemo section was ecstatic when I brought in my donations! With her permission, she introduced me to a patient who was having chemo and who was in a bit of pain because her port had just been implanted. The ladies eyes lit up and was so happy to get this pillow! She said it would help relieve the pain she does experience when the seat belt hits that spot. She agreed to a picture which is attached! A very gratifying experience for both of us!

A Wonderful Thank You

We received a very heartfelt thank you e-card from Kathy, the chemo patient we donated items to.  She delivered them to the Diablo Oncology Center.  Her doctor was so impressed and elated.  She had never heard of a port pillow and selected a few for her  patients.  She and the nurses were very pleased that we donated chemo hats since they had run out of them, plus the drainage bags were much appreciated.  Kathy wrote, "thank you all for your kindness.  You all are very special people in the world and I was fortunate to have met you".

Today, Kathy, a Breast Cancer patient, visited the Karing Knitters and was so thrilled to receive 10 chemo hats, 15 drainage bags and port pillows that she will bring to the Diablo Valley Oncology Center in Pleasant Hill.  She chose a chemo hat that she liked for herself made by Melanie and a port pillow made by Peggy.  She loved all of the fun and colorful fabrics we used.  Barbara, Peggy, and Jean made the drainage bags and port pillows and the chemo hats were knitted and loomed by Jan, Melanie, Peggy, and Barbara.

Thank you Karing Knitters for your contributions to cancer patients!

Happy Valentines and More

We delivered 80 hats on February 11, 2016 to some very happy Kaiser maternity nurses. When I told them there were 80 hats in the bag and there were 25 Valentine themed ones they were thrilled. They loved the heart motif on some of the hats and they also like the fact that we included some preemie hats. All the nurses were very thankful and appreciative of our donation. Thank you new members,  Sandy and Annette for your contributions to this month's  hat delivery.

We Are So Proud...

A member of our group, Barbara made 5 seat belt cushions for chemo patients. They are designed to connect to the seat belt to cushion the area where someone has an implanted port. 

Also - recently received:

I met with Diane today for coffee.  She gave me this hat letting me know that a group of you ladies make them for cancer patients.  How wonderful!  Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.  The hat fits great.  I really appreciate the caring you have put into this gesture.  

I’m halfway thru my chemo and forging on...

Kathy