Chemo Hat

http://mathomhouse.typepad.com/photos/chemo_caps/pink_ribbon_bbcdotcodotuk.html
http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/cancercaps.html
http://charityguide.net/volunteer/fewhours/chemotherapy-hats.htm
http://www.chemocaps.com/page3.htm

ktdeluxe said:

I have a dear friend who will be starting chemo after breast cancer surgery. I would like to knit her at least a couple of hats, maybe one for sleeping and another pretty one to wear outside during the day. Does anyone here have any experience with the ideals that should be followed and any suggested patterns?

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I would make the suggestion that you use the cotton yarn, acrylics can be irritating to the scalp that is already tender. Pattern wise, I think the sky is the limit.

I make chemo caps out of fun fur. Some colors look a bit like hair. I do them in the round, so there is no seam. Fun fur is very soft and light weight, so can be worn indoors
All site seem to have patterns for chemo caps, some knit and some crochet
Chags

Thank you all for your help! I see several that will knit up really well and I appreciate your tips (I can see why seamless would help and cotton, not wool). I'll try to post my results!

Don't discount wool too quickly! Lightweight wools can be very cool and "wick" moisture away from the body. Alpaca is wonderful against bare skin as is angora. My mother was a cancer patient....she loved this silly, pink angora cap...this was way before "pink" became the official color of
Breast Cancer.

Do avoid acrylics at all costs though. Not only are they "scratchy"...they don't breathe.

I was diagnose in July 08. So I know what it is to lose my hair. My sister made me hats. I manage to keep my gray hair, go figure. I got most of my hair back but it is still thin. I keep wandering why I was cold part of the time till I figure out it was becuse I had thin hair. My bed room is cold so I still need a hat. I take having a cold head to the alterative. Tell her to keep her chin up and thank god for treatments.

I knit a 2x2 rib watchcap style hat with Petite Voodoo (50/50 merino silk fingering) for my great Aunt Carole. She really liked it -- she wore it all the time, even after her hair came back. Came in handy for CO winter, too.

My dear niece Pam, had a radical mastectomy before the age of 40. She lost all her beautiful curly hair during intensive chemo treatments. She had a lot of pretty turbans to wear around the house and yard. She had a nice wig for special occasions. One morning she wanted to wear her wig to an event, she searched and searched, couldn't find it, so wore one of the prettiest turbans. When her daughter Amanda came home from school, there was the wig, in Amanda's backpack. She had borrowed it, for Show and Tell...."this is my Mother's hair!"
The rest of the story: niece Pam is today totally Cancer free, and is looking forward to a new baby Granddaughter!
And, her curly hair is back, just as pretty as ever!
God is good!

There are a lot of neat chemo hat patterns out there. go to Lion Brand Yarn and search chemo hats and there are lots of good ones -- knit or crochet. AND, yes the cotton or non-synthetic yarn is what you want to use. ALso the comment about no seam is a good idea; however, you can do a seam without a rib in it.

Hello,
I also have a friend that went through chemo after breast surgery. The hat that I knitted was very soft I used a cotten blend yarn from Lion Brand, CottonEase. The pattern in free at the Lion Brand Web Site. #L0531. There is also another Pattern I need to check where I got that one. Hope this will help, and well wishes and prayers to your friend.

Hello, I found the web site for the other pattern. It is also very soft and knits up very quickly, Iused a different yarn for this one.
But the CottonEase would also work, it is so soft.Here is the web site for the other pattern.

http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/kpatt20.htm

Happy knitting.

Oh wow! Talk about a wealth of information shared here! I'm so glad I clicked on this thread as I've been thinking of making some of these chemo hats to donate this year and the info shared here has been wonderful. Thanks everyone.

I will keep your friend in my prayers.

Carol L.

http://bluebettyblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/give-hoot-beanie.html

I just knit this hat for a friend of mine who is going through chemo. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn. She has requested that I make her one in every color I can find now. This is a very simple hat and a quick knit. I used glass beads instead of buttons for the eyes. I was surprised at how stylish it ended up looking.

I made several knitted hats on a loom for a local cancer center one Christmas but mixed the yarn with an eyelash fuzzy yarn for "character". Turned out chemo heads are very-very sensitive and the patients could not wear them because they were scratchy. Just an FYI for your yarn choice, choice something soft and smooth. wonderful thought and gift though. Post photos!

toloy1475

http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/kpatt20.htm

This could be done with circular and double pointed needles, thus no seam!!

Go to:

www.getwellgang.ca.
or
e-Mail: [email protected]

Thank you. There is another I posted a few days ago that is also circular needles.

For the cancer center chemo hats I knit, I usually use Caron Simply Soft yarn.

I belong to a group whose members knit or crochet hats for Chemo patients. Go to www.knotsoflove.com. Their website has several hat patterns and instructions on the best yarns to use. A wonderful organization....Good luck