Pretty yarn for cancer patients

A few places where I volunteer, I use my crafting skills (crochet and knitting) to make hats for NICU babies and cancer patients.

It’s a wonderful situation, they receive a hand knit item from a stranger who wants to help in some way, and as a process crafter, I get to do what I love… create items without hoarding the crocheted and knitted items. I must say lots of prayer are spoken while I create these special hats.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
Matthew 6:19-20
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

A lot of the passages I read in the Bible serve as ‘gentle reminders’ for myself. I dislike waste, and hoarding finished objects I’ll never use seems a bit wasteful (at least for me.)

Yesterday, I saw these yarns on the Just Yarn website. Aren’t they gorgeous? And while I thought about holding onto them for myself, I realized that I really didn’t have a project.

When I placed the order (a few moments ago) I did so because I realized that I could use the yarn to make lovely hats for cancer patients! I chose the above colors because I like to see bursts of color in whatever I wear, and I know there are cancer patients who share my passion for color too. I was fortunate enough to snag the last three skeins of Amor Intesio!

I’m still undecided on the type of hats I’ll make with the yarn. I’ll wait for the yarn to arrive, and then make a decision. Often once I have touched the yarn, I know exactly what it’ll become. I’ll either create my own design (which I do quite often) or I’ll choose one of the numerous hat patterns I have on file.

There’s a few ‘firsts’ going on here…

I’ve never ordered from Just Yarns and I’ve never used Malabrigo yarn.  I’ve heard great things about both. Many fiber artists rave about the softness of Malabrigo yarn, so naturally I’m looking forward to working with the fiber. The Malabrigo yarns I ordered is worsted weight, and it’s single ply. It’s also 100% wool, and comes from shearing merino sheep.

The name, Malabrigo, was a bit curious to me, since I remember it sort of meant ‘bad shelter’. Say what? That’s kind of a strange name to give to a yarn company, wouldn’t you say? After some quick research this is the reasoning the company gave for choosing that name.

From the Malabrigo site…

The name comes in part from the village of Mal Abrigo in Uruguay. There are several towns of that name in South America (in other countries) but that was the one we had in mind. It is called that because it is extremely windy and back when people rode horses and needed to take shelter for the night, it was known for being a terrible place to stop.

The founders also said that they were inspired by a place so cold that everyone camped out in their homes knitting warm, wooly sweaters together. I like that image! Creating with our hands, is something my daughter and I do when the weather is too cold to venture outside. 

Most of the places where I donate crochet or knitted items require that you use synthetic or non-animal fibers, but there are a few places where items made with animal fiber is appreciated.

Photo Source:

Just Yarn

The Encyclopedia of New Zealand