cancer knit along

[chloe2804]

Hi, I have always been a novice knitter and recently restarted again after about 20 years. I started because I had colon cancer and after my surgery my home health nurse started talking about the socks she was knitting and I got the "Need to Knit." (I was very fortunate, my cancer had not spread and I needed no chemo or radiation. HOORAY!!!!!)



I know that a lot of people are knitting pink which is wonderful. But many of us are colon, ovarian, lung, prostate, etc cancer patients. Each cancer has one or sometimes 2 colors associated with it (Please see http://www.womanmatters.com/cancer_awareness_colors.htm or
http://www.chemoangels.com/colors.htm) for colors.

Although this is not the ususal knit along I would like to start a knit along for cancer patients. We could chose a cancer color that has meaning for us and knit chemo caps, scarves, socks, sweaters or whatever a cancer patient would find helpful. We could donate them to a local cancer center or organization. We could start after the holidays.

Well, what do ya'll think?

Does anyone know of any patterns for easy chemo caps?



Cancer Free Carol

[knitqueen]

First of all, congratulations on being a survivor! That's awesome

I made a trip to the cancer center here recently, not because I necessarily had cancer but because my family doctor and my surgeon did not know what was wrong so I was sent there 'to cover all the bases' so to speak. Turned out to not be cancerous, thank God, but in the experience I began to think, what could I do to help. It could easily be any one of us at any time. I want to look into local ways that I can help out and use my love of knitting at the same time.

Thanks for the inspiration!

[Jazzmatazz]

What a great idea! I didn't know there were different colors for different cancer awareness campaigns.

I'm going to make my friend Carolyn some socks. She is about to start chemo and radiation for breast cancer and is feeling down right now. I need to finish the socks I'm already working on, so this probably won't happen till after Christmas.

[DotMom61]

A fabulous idea, Carol!

My 11yo son is right now wrapping up his cancer treatments. I had just brought up this idea w/ our local group here in Illinois and was going to post something similar after the holidays for our specific Cancer Center. We have lots of kids that could use some goodies -- parents & siblings, too, for that matter!

Anyway, it's nice to see like-minded folks out here. Perhaps we can get something going together after Christmas!

BTW ... the color for Childhood Cancer is Gold.

[KellyK]

Im there with ya, Jul!! Although, I will be making chemo caps with Knitpicks Shine in Apricot. Is that close enough to gold??

[DotMom61]

Oooo ... those would be pretty, and SOOO soft!!

There's also a little baby boy (who is about 4 mos old now), and he has a twin sister. I'm sure we could all knit up some adorable little things for them!! I've had my eye on some bootie patterns I really want to try out.

Oh, and then there's a 19yo that we've befriended, and I think he'd probably get a lot of mileage out of a pair of felted clogs ... and then there's another 17yo girl who would probably enjoy a cute hat ... and a boy my DS's age who would probably wear a cool scarf or something, and he has an older brother who just donated bone marrow for him ... and a little 2-1/2yo girl with the most beautiful brown eyes, and she would look simply darling in a little cardigan or some mittens ... oh and then there are the nurses who are on their feet running from one place to another all day long, and they never complain. I wish I could make something for each and every one of them.

[chloe2804]

I am a nurse, we do complain sometimes but also really appreciate the things people do for our patients. These all sound like wonderful things to do for the people who need them.

Hey, did you look at the colors for the cancers? Some of them are outrageous! Colon cancer is brown, bladder cancer is yellow. Who ever decided that your cancer color must match the excrement coming from the affected organ is a little whacked. Fortuantely another site says colon cancer is Dark Blue. I will doing my knitting in blue.

Thanks for all the support.

[amy]

Chloe, congratulations on being a survivor!!

This is a great idea for a KAL.

That's funny about the colors. I agree, a bit graphic! ...So does that mean that pink is supposed to be nipple-colored or something?

I've heard that an excellent yarn for chemo caps is Cascade Fixation (a stretchy, elastic-cotton blend). It stays on bald heads very well, and is very soft and comfy, and not too hot for summer.

[carollovesyarn]

I've heard that an excellent yarn for chemo caps is Cascade Fixation (a stretchy, elastic-cotton blend).

Thank you for posting the links to the colors - I was just thinking of this very thing the other day. I only knew that gynecological cancers were purple (but I guess 'lavender' by the list).

A less expensive alternative to Cascade Fixation is Elann's Sock It To Me - same stuff, different label and price. The stock is a little low right now, but it seems to restock twice a year or so in every color and shade of the rainbow. Ok, darn near every color. Fun stuff.

I think a knit a-long is a great idea!

Carol

[KellyK]

...So does that mean that pink is supposed to be nipple-colored or something?

(Amy said nipple)