Volunteers from around the country are joining the American Heart Association, in connection withThe Children's Heart Foundation, to celebrate American Heart Month by knitting and crocheting red hats for babies born in February at participating hospitals. Little Hats, Big HeartsTM, honors babies,moms, andheart healthylives in a very special way. Supporters are knitting and crocheting red hats to be given out to thousands of babies during American Heart Month in order to empower moms to live heart healthy lives and to help their children do the same.
I recently connected with Shauna Tuey, the Washington State coordinator for the Little Hats, Big Hearts program. She shared the following details and logistics with me.
Due Date
Hats are due no later thanJanuary 5th, 2018. You are welcome to make as many or as few hats as you would like. They often get a lot of preemies so they can always use more standard newborn sizes.
Drop Off Locations
You can drop off or mail hats to either the Seattle or Tacoma offices. At this time these are the only locations accepting hats.
- Seattle: 710 2ndAvenue, Suite 900, Seattle, WA 98104
- Tacoma: 1142 Broadway, Suite 120, Tacoma, WA 98402
Yarn Specifics
- Red
- Cotton or Acrylic
- Medium to Heavy Weight
- Machine Washable and Dryable
Suggested Patterns
You are welcome to use any pattern you'd like but they recommend keeping them simple. While they love bows and buttons they can come off and be dangerous for little ones. Here are some sample patterns and a sizing guide you can use. The most requested hat size is for standard newborn.
Crocheted Baby Hat:http://www.touchinglittlelives.org/barbhat.html
Knitted Baby Hat:http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bevs-baby-ribs-hat.html
Knitted Baby Hat 2:http://www.handsoccupied.com/red-hats/
Knitted Baby Bear Hat:http://www.fiberfluxblog.com/2011/10/free-pattern-just-in-time-for-chilly.html
Sizing Guide:http://www.woollywormhead.com/sizing/
The links provided above are for convenience only, and are not an endorsement of either the linked-to entity or any product or service.
Participating Hospitals
While they wish that all hospitals in Washington State were participating in this program, right now their confirmed list of hospitals are primarily in western Washington and the Puget Sound area. If you have connections with a specific hospital and would like to see the program started there, please reach out to Shauna Tuey (Shauna.Tuey@heart.org) directly with contact information and they will do their best to build that relationship. Last year's participating hospitals included CHI Franciscan Health, Swedish Medical Centers, Evergreen Health, UW Medicine and Sacred Heart hospital.
Other Ways to Help
They are expecting to receive over 2,000 hat donations this year from their amazing volunteers. They will need people who are available to help wash and package hats throughout December and January. If you'd like to help with that aspect of the program please coordinate with Shauna directly via email.
Any other questions regarding this program? Please reach out to Shauna at Shauna.Tuey@heart.org for assistance.