Chemo Caps

There have been so many times in my life when I have been glad to be a knitter/crocheter (almost every day), but the time when I feel it is most helpful in my life is when I hear that someone I know or a person that someone else I know knows has received the dreaded news that they will have to face chemotherapy. It is at these times that I am so glad that I can sadly mumble condolences and then go off to pick up needles and yarn to try to do something small to help the situation. Over the years, I have found that knitting soft, cotton caps is a simple act that helps those suffering the agony of chemotherapy in a tiny way, but that it is at least something I can do in the face of news like this.

Here are two caps I made recently for a friend of my sister. The pink one is made of Cascade Sierra Quatro and the blue one is made of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.

I have found that both of these cotton/wool blends machine wash well in cold water on delicate cycle (even if their directions say otherwise), and I have even been known to throw the in the dryer on low for a little while with no ill effects (warning: you should try this first on a swatch if you want to be sure it won't affect the yarn negatively since different colors can react differently as can different washers and dryers). Unfortunately, though, Cascade Sierra and Sierra Quatro have both been discontinued, so it looks like I will have to find a new worsted weight cotton blend. Any recommendations? Please share in the comments section below.

The pink hat is a simple rolled brim cap, which was based on the pattern from this website: Head Huggers Patterns List. I modified it slightly by beginning the decreases at 5.5 inches and then adding a couple more plain rounds between the decrease rounds. (Check out my Ravelry project page under suzknittyspinner for details).  The blue hat is a great pattern from Grumperina  called Odessa. It is a great pattern that I found out about on a discussion board forum in the Ravelry group called Chemo Cap Pattern Library. I highly recommend checking out that group if you are interested in making chemo caps since they provide a lot of advice about materials to use and other considerations when making these caps. They also provide a lot of links to great patterns like Odessa. Here is a better photo so you can see how nice the spiral detail of the decreases looks on Odessa:

Odessa will probably become my new go-to cap since it turned out so well and was fun to knit. I have another free pattern, which I got years ago online and which I cannot find the link to anymore. It is a simple hat with a fancy rib pattern. However, I think Odessa has become my new favorite.

Does anyone else have a favorite go-to cap? Please share in the comments if you do.