GIVE THE GIFT OF WARMTH

There's a maxim floating around the internet these days that goes something like this: "If you do not find joy in the snow, you will have less joy but the same amount of snow."

One of the take-aways from that wisdom is it message to those of us who don’t ski jump or go ice fishing. We live with the challenge of finding some way to find joy at a time of year we’re tempted to stay home, look out the window, and hope the “January freeze” is nature’s promise that we will soon find joy in warmer and warmer and warmer ……………  and, so on. Joy will arrive  --  if not real soon.

But for some of our neighbors, joy is a far reach. For many, snow and cold are simply seasonal barriers complicating their lives. Joy is just that mulch more difficult to find.

So Hats for the Homeless has always been about more than just bringing the gift of physical warmth. We’ve always carried the feeling of giving the warmth of our hearts.  This is the essence of reaching out to those who struggle to find their place in the community – simply to bring them hats both for their heads and their hearts. To let them know their community holds them in the warmth of love and regard.

And this is about our finding a joy in “the snow”. It is about the joy we feel in seeing hats go on heads and, more importantly, smiles appear on faces.

The 2021-22 Hats for the Homeless project has distributed over 4,200 hats this year. As before, we bring hats to shelters, group homes, hospital ERs, schools, churches, food shelves, drop-in centers, just to name the more common recipient sites. In addition to hats, scarves and mittens, we received 25 pairs of warm and wooly socks.

Thank you to all the generous knitters for your “gifts of warmth”. Keep the needles clicking. We still have a few more weeks of winter.

For patterns and more details, check out the blog:  www.hats4thehomeless.blogspot.com

Best wishes for the upcoming year, Barbara Melom

An update!

Checking in to let the knitters know we are still a very active group of charity knitters in Minneapolis. Winters are long and cold out here and your hats are welcomed. Please check out the blog for more details and free patterns for knitting warm and wooly hats. We collect hats year round.

Many thanks, Barbara Melom

barbmelom@gmail.com

February 2021

It’s been an amazing year for hat and scarf donations. THANK YOU KNITTERS.

Knitters from all across the country have shipped hats out to Minnesota where everyone needs a hat to make it through our bitter cold winters. We have received over 2700 hat donations; but didn’t keep track of mittens and scarves.

With schools being closed we had to get creative on how to distribute the hats to kids.  

It turned out that even with schools closed, families went to neighborhood schools to pick up lunches and homework assignments. The schools had also set up “warm tables” for distribution of winter clothing. We also connected with food shelves that have stayed open throughout the pandemic.

Now it’s February, another two months of winter and people are still knitting and sending us donations and we keep getting requests from agencies needing warm items to give their clients. Yes, we are still accepting donations.

A REMINDER WHEN KNITTING HATS

• 100% wool yarn knits into a warmer hat than acrylic yarn
• Before starting to decrease, try the hat on your own head and make sure it is long enough to come down and cover the ears, if not, knit a few more rows
• We need hats for kids, women, and men….kids heads are bigger than you think
• Men prefer darker solid colors, while women and kids like colorful hats

Scroll through the blog and check out some of our favorite patterns. Newest pattern is the MINNESOTA HAT.

Thank you for your generosity for folks who need a bit of warmth in their life.  The true measure of caring is sticking with a project….this is our 13^th year. Thank you knitters for showing that you care.

September 2020

We don't know from day to day what the news will be bringing us, but one thing for certain is that Minnesota winters are cold and everyone needs a hat.

This is our 14th year for collecting hats and distributing them to schools, shelters and social service agencies serving those in need. With covid19 and social distancing, knitting groups aren't getting together...we are at home knitting by ourselves.  I am asking you to spread the word to your friends...hats for kids, women and men.  More information about the project can be found in the blog.

One of our knitters has written up her favorite hat pattern for charity knitting including several sizes which we are including in the blog. Check out the Very Basic Knit Hat now in the Knitting Patterns tab.

Hat distribution will begin in October and continue as long as we are receiving hats.  We will be doing things a bit differently this year...I will be coordinating drop off sites with school social workers and also taking donations to area food shelves.

My mailing address:  5314 Penn Ave. So. 

                                  Minneapolis, MN 55419

Thanks for giving "The Gift of Warmth"

Barbara Melom

barbmelom@gmail.com

April 2020

Knitters all across America have set aside their knitting needles and are now sitting at their sewing machines making masks to be donated to nursing homes, shelters and hospitals. We’re living out the saying: “Just because you’re the only person in the room, doesn’t mean you’re alone.”  We call each other to compare notes or share information about web sites where new mask patterns are shown. We share complaints about shoulders and backs getting stiff before we reach our self-imposed productivity goals. We share bad jokes intended to keep us “in stitches”.    …… and we share the good feeling of being part of an army of people rising to the shared challenge of getting through this life-changing trauma as a community bonded by caring and doing.

And The People Stayed Home

And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.      Kitty O'Meara

https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/irish-american-teachers-poem-covid19-outbreak

Your House Just Burned Down

MERRY CHRISTMAS

On Christmas Day, a raging fire took the homes of 250 people living in the Francis Drake Hotel in Minneapolis. Erupting in the middle of the night, the fire tore through this historic building serving as rental housing for low income people and temporary homeless shelter for Hennepin County families. That first night, city busses provided safe sources of warmth – the first step to refuge while the Red Cross, the Minneapolis Foundation, churches and other organizations mobilized to provide care for these newly displaced neighbors.

And the city turned out in force. Downtown near the still-burning Drake became an open air rescue site where we brought whatever might be useful to someone who had just lost everything. That part of downtown became a beautiful traffic snarl as people from every neighborhood brought everything from diapers and blankets to coats, shoes and toothbrushes.

And it was a wonderful feeling to bring some Hats for the Homeless to this site of tragedy.

We brought the colors of 

warmth, care and neighborly 

support to people who had just 

lost their precarious place in 

life one more time. We will 

continue to work with service 

providers to bring the gift of 

warmth as these disaster 

victims work toward stability.

Hats 4 the Homeless began distributing hats and scarves in early November to schools and social service agencies serving those in need.  Luckily we still had hats on hand to deliver to folks who had just lost their home in the fire.   

Thank you KNITTERS!  We do make a difference.

Attention Knitters!

Hats for the Homeless is looking for HATS FOR KIDS!
We have plenty for babies, women and men so far, but we have a hole in the “hats for school-age kids” category so far this year. These hats are driven around to local schools by dedicated volunteers and given to school social workers for the kids. You knit a hat, we get it to the kids who need them. Win-win!

How can I help?

Knit a warm hat between 19”-21” around in any colors, pattern, or style you like! Wool is best for warmth and be sure to make it long enough to cover the ears. Kids’ heads are deceptively large so if in doubt, knit it a little bigger and a little longer.

What pattern should I use?

Any pattern is great, but here are two simple (free) patterns to get you started!

Barley Hat from TinCanKnits

http://tincanknits.com/pattern-SC-barley.html

Citrus Hat from Laura Treadway

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/citrus-hat

Where should I take my hats?

You can drop your hats off at any of our generous yarn store sponsors:

StevenBe Studios

Harriet & Alice

Ingebretsen’s

Needle & Skein

Is there a deadline?

We are accepting hats through January but we all know it’s getting colder NOW. So the sooner, the better. We’ve got volunteers mobilized and ready to go to get your hats out there.

THANK YOU FOR GIVING THE GIFT OF WARMTH TO KIDS!

Hats for the Homeless began in 2009 when one friend asked another friend “do you think we could get 50 hand-knit hats to give to the homeless shelter this year?” and the friends put the call out to knitters. Instead of 50 hats, 300 hats came in that December! Ten years and thousands of hats later, the dedicated volunteers are still going strong delivering hand-knit hats to homeless shelters, women’s shelters and schools. 

Thank you for your continued support!

Reminder

Monday, November 11 is Charity Knitting Day at StevenBe's
11:00 am until 6:00 pm.

Charity Knitting Event

Circle the date, Monday, November 11th on your calendar and join us for a day of charity knitting at Steven Be's located at 3448 Chicago Avenue So. in Minneapolis, MN. Doors open at 11:00--- invite a friend, bring your knitting, your finished projects, a healthy snack to share and spend the day with kindred spirits as we knit "gifts of warmth" to be donated to those in need living in our community. We begin delivering our donations in late November and as more donations arrive, we continue throughout the winter.

This is our 11th year and I would like to thank all the knitters who donate to this project. Boxes of scarves and hats have started arriving....our farthest away knitter mails us hats and scarves from Hawaii.

Scroll through some of the older blogs for patterns and tips. Please note that my email address has changed: barbmelom@gmail.com

Many thanks,

Barb

Charity Knitting

Join us on Wednesday July 24, 2019 at StevenBe for a day of charity knitting. Doors open at 11:00 am. Location of StevenBes is 3500 and Chicago Ave South, Minneapolis, MN. Bring a healthy snack to share. There will be some yarn for sale. If you have a favorite hat patten please bring it as we would like to see.

Updates for 2018

Minnesota winters made the news all around the country in January with our -30 temperatures and it looks like February will be another brutal month.  Sometimes you even need more than one hat to keep your head and ears warm.

 Thanks to all the knitters who have donated hats, scarves, and gloves to be given to those in need.  You do make a difference…2300+ folks have warm scarves and hats to wear this winter. Another group of women donated 100 pairs of mittens made from recycled sweaters with polar fleece linings…super warm!

Every fall a group of us gather at our local neighborhood yarn shop to count, sort, and bag up our donations.  We deliver them to schools, shelters, and social service agencies serving those in need.  This year, 2019, knit items are still arriving and volunteers are out delivering the donations.

To read more about Hats for the Homeless, scroll back through some of our older entries;  find some of our favorite patterns, suggested yarns to use, and  where to send the hats.  Most important thing to keep in mind…knit hats that are long enough to cover the ears and have a cuff to turn up….9 to 12 inches long.

A big warm thank you….many of you have already started knitting for the 2019 season.

Fall Updates

GIVE THE GIFT OF WARMTH

KNIT A HAT FOR A HOMELESS PERSON

KIDS, WOMEN, MEN

A big warm thank you to knitters and stitchers all across the country who have been sending warm and wooly hats and scarves out our way. Once cold weather sets in, everyone living in Minnesota needs a hat. As folks inquire about where these items come from, they are really touched when told that the hats and scarves were made just for them. It is very heart-warming to watch the folks look over the items and choose one they really like.  

CLICK ON KNITTING PATTERNS TAB FOR SOME OF OUR FAVORITES!

A FEW REMINDERS:

• we need adult large and extra large hats

• preferable washable wool or nice soft acrylic/wool blends

• men prefer dark solid colors...long enough to cover their ears and fold up the cuff

• women and kids like more colorful hats

• when in doubt, knit the hat an inch or two longer to give ears extra protection

• if you are a loose knitter, drop down a needle size to knit a tight stitch

UPCOMING EVENTS TO CONNECT WITH KNITTERS:

• 3rd Saturday of every month, we meet at Butter Bakery on the corner of 37th and Nicollet in South Minneapolis from 11:00 to 1:00. Good food and reasonable prices.

• October 26th---an all day “Knit for Charity” event at Steven Be’s on the corner of 35th and Chicago in South Minneapolis starting at 11:00 and ending at 6:00. Bring a snack to share and your knitting supplies. Beverages provided.

• November 9th, 10th, and 11th---Vogue Knitting Live will be here at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Look for our table and drop off any hats you have to donate.

This is all the knitting news for now. Questions, my email address is: bjm@visi.com

Many thanks, 

Barbara

Day of Charity Knitting

Knit for Charity is Wednesday, July 11th at StevenBe's on 35th and Chicago. It is an all day event starting at 11:00 am. Pack your needles and join us for the day. Bring a snack to share, beverages are provided. Bring along any hats you have finished.

In 2017 we collected and delivered around 2700 hats/scarves and mittens. We definitely need hats for elementary age children. The list of schools needing hats continues to grow every year. Children's heads are the same size as an adult head. If the hat is too small for your head, chances are it will be too small for a child's head.

3448 Chicago Avenue South Minneapolis, MN

April Blizzard

Mother Nature has taken a detour this year. Here we are, April 15th, with 15 inches of new snow and temperatures in the 20’s. Giving a hat or a scarf to a homeless person is definitely a gift of kindness.

Review of 2017
People who google find “Hats for the Homeless” and many knitters from at least 12 states have sent “gifts of warmth” out our way for the 2017 collection. We have received more than 2700 hats and about 200 scarves; and even a dozen pair of mittens.

This wraps up our 9th year for this community project which has continued to grow every year. One big change is the number of schools contacting us for hats for kids. A reminder: a kid’s head is the same size as an adult head and kids love color.

Scroll back to the December 6th, 2017 post for "tips" on knitting super warm hats for our climate and hats that fit. We need hats for adults as well as children.

Upcoming Event
There is a “charity knitting” event set up for Wednesday, July 11th at the Steven Be yarn store located at 3448 Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis. This all day event brings knitters together from all over the Twin City area.

So we thank you and remind you, that beginning in September 2018, we will be looking for your donations of warm and wooly hats and scarves.

Thank you for making this outreach possible. 

​

Hats for the Homeless 2017

Thank you for your beautiful contributions of hats and scarves to help those in need in Minneapolis this winter! Once again, we are floored by the generosity of knitters. We have a couple of reminders, FAQs, and a bit of a new direction this year, so read on for some great tips on knitting warm hats!

Spotlight on Kids

We have been taking hats to local elementary schools over the years to share with kids in need. The teachers, social workers, and school administrators have been so grateful for the bags of hats from you all. The great news about knitting hats for kids is that bright colors and patterns are welcome...a knitter’s dream! So use up your wool scraps, combine colors for patterns, and whip up some fun hats for the kids. We’ll get them out there.

Heads Are Bigger Than You Think

When in doubt, knit your hats larger. For kids, for women, and for men. With Minnesota winters being so cold, we need these hats to be functional garments that cover the ears and foreheads--not just fashionable accessories that sit atop heads. So knit that extra inch or two in length at the beginning of the hat, knowing that you’re helping someone keep the wind out this year. It can always be folded up at the brim! 

Here is a general rule of thumb for head sizes:

Babies - 17-18” circumference, 7” length

Little kids - 19” circumference, 8” length

Big kids - 20” circumference, 8.5” length

Women and teens - 21-23” circumference, 10-11” length

Men - 23-24” circumference, 11.5” length

Plain is Still the Name of the Game for the Guys

Our male homeless friends at various local shelters have repeated the same thing to us over and over each year: they really prefer hats that are dark colors, simple, and without patterns. No pompoms needed, either. Large, plain gray and black ribbed hats are ideal for these guys. Stockinette hats work great too. Folks living on the fringe in unstable housing situations may not like to stick out with a brightly colored or patterned hat. Let’s help keep them warm without making them feel uncomfortable.

Scarves and Mittens and Cowls, OH MY!

Many of you have asked if other items are needed beyond just hats, and the answer is a resounding YES! Try to make sure that your scarves can be wrapped around a couple of times and tied; mittens and cowls are great too. 

What Pattern Should I Use?

You can use any pattern you like! Just keep the size and recipients in mind:

• bigger is better, but tight gauge for warmth is best
• kids and teens like patterns and colors
• women like both patterned and plain hats
• men are all about the plain ones

Here are some of our favorite hat patterns:

Barley Hat from Tin Can Knits

Grand Marais Hat from Katie Chameleon

Saint Anthony Cable Hat

Countrywool Rolled Brim Hat

A Very Plain Hat

What Material Should I Use?

Whenever possible, please use wool. There is nothing like wool for keeping the cold out and regulating temperature (it wicks sweat away, and actually keeps skin cool and dry too). Superwash is great if you have it, but handwash-only wool is fine too.

Where Can I Drop Off My Hats?

We are lucky to have many local yarn stores as collaborators! Please drop your hats off at any of these locations:

StevenBe 3448 Chicago Avenue South, Minneapolis

Harriet and Alice 3922 West 50th Street, Edina

Linden Yarn 5814 Excelsior Boulevard, St. Louis Park

Ingebretsen's 1601 Lake Street, Minneapolis

Thank you for donating your time, skills and resources to this project. We are grateful for your gifts of love!

Day of Charity Knitting at SteveBe

Friday, November 10
11:00 am - 6:00 pm

We're just like you. We're teachers, business executives, parents, retirees, students...you name it. But the one thing we all have in common is our dedication to those in need. Join us at StevenBe for this day where we combine our Passion, our Neighbors, and our Community in the ultimate acts of charity.

Barb Melom and Joan Gilbertson head up this charity knitting day bringing groups and individuals from all over the city to support Hats for the Homeless.

We will have a selection of needles and yarns available for a minimal fee to cast on your hat or scarf, as well as patterns that can serve as a jumping off point for your charitable project.

We look forward to seeing you for this amazing day, whether you drop off a hat or knit all day. See you at StevenBe on November 10th.

Click Here to register at StevenBe that you plan to attend (there is no fee). Scroll through the classes to "Day of Charity Knitting" and click on this class and add your name.

Events and Updates

Knitters arrived on Labor Day with yarn and needles in hand to work on hats and scarves to be handed out this winter...it’s not that far away.  Knitters have been dropping off donations all summer so we are off to a good start. Eleven years ago when this project started, our mission was to knit dark colored watch caps for men, but as the project evolved and more and more hats were being knit, our mission has expanded to include hats for women and school age children. Remember kids heads are larger than you think...use a pattern for an adult size head. We do not need hats for infants or newborns; other knitters in our community knit for this cause.

Boxes of hand knit hats come in from all over the country!

WHO ARE THE CHARITY KNITTERS?

 I would like to introduce you to some of the knitters in Minneapolis:

Georgia is working on her 68th hat for this year.

Joan and Dyan are teaching teens to knit when they are not busy knitting hats.

Mary loves knitting hats for kids, but is taking a break from hats and working on cowls for teens.

Gail likes adding a bit of pizazz to her hats.

Barb is always on the lookout for new patterns and manages the blog when she is not knitting a hat

Kathy likes knitting big hats and then felting them.

Karen likes the waffle hat pattern.

Michele has an eye for color and is always combining scraps of yarn and coming up with colorful creations.

Jeni knits warm and wooly hats by combining mohair and worsted weight yarn.

Ingrid puts her Scandinavian knitting skills to work on her favorite hat pattern..the Grand Marais Hat.

Raquel is knitting her first hat.
Yvonne is our fastest knitter and designer of the Minnesota Hat. Everything she knits is donated to a good cause.

Barb organizes the events, knits hats and delivers them to the schools and shelters.

Our next big all day knitting event is 

Friday, November 10th

at Steven Be’s

3448 Chicago Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN

This is also a drop off site for finished items.

WATCH FOR DETAILS

Knitters also get together at Butter Bakery over on 37th and Nicollet, the 3rd Saturday of every month  from 11:00 to 1:00.

We like to start delivering hats in November and continue through the winter as hats/scarves continue to arrive.