We received this request from a loyal reader, Maureen:
“I’m a devoted reader of your blog and hope you can help me since although I knit, I don’t have a blog site. Would you please be kind enough to ask your readers for some suggestions…my good friend was just diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer and I would like to knit for her. Any ideas for a soft but warm yarn for hats for sleeping and going outside for medical appointments (we live in New England)? I also want to make a warm and easy to care for prayer shawl (I’m not a big lover of Lion Brand Homespun even though it meets the criteria). Knitters are always so generous with their time…I know it’s the busiest time of the year, but I need to cast on A.S.A.P.”
I know our knowledgeable readers can come up with some great ideas. One idea for a Chemo Cap is the Shedir Hat designed by The Girl From Auntie (aka Jenna Wilson) for Breast Cancer Awareness Month (scroll past the Booby Scarf!) — it is a free pattern from Knitty.com. It is made with one skein of Rowan Calmer and many knitters have made this one.
The Pi Topper is another free pattern designed by Corey Laflamme specifically for chemo patients because of her own personal journey.
There are a ton of prayer shawl patterns with a few linked to my Wrapped in Care posts. There are many lovely and easy care yarns other than Lion Brand Homespun.
I found a really cute cashmere scarf (free pattern) that would be a great warm up and incredibly soft called the Ruffle Fluff Scarf by Amy Swenson. It could be made of other soft yarn as well.
Let’s give Maureen some ideas — STAT! She has some knitting to do!
I made the Odessa Hat by Grumperina for a friend with aggressive breast cancer. She says it is her favorite hat – the one she grabs first when she goes out.
Comment by Joyce Riedesel — December 22, 2008 @ 12:07 am
i HIGHLY second the shedir in rowan calmer. i made one for my best friend’s mom who was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. she LOVES it and apparently wears it all the time. i also made a shawl for her based on the comfort shawl. you can see it here (rav link) http://www.ravelry.com/projects/coriknits/summer-lace-shawlette-2.
Comment by cori — December 22, 2008 @ 12:09 am
When my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, I knit her several basic hats in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, as well as a few in Lorna’s Laces Shepards Worsted Superwash (I think that’s what it’s called). She lives in a very cold location, and loved them for her day to day living, as well as sleeping, which wasn’t something I considered. Their skin is extremely sensitive, so anything that would be suitable for a baby is suitable for a person undergoing treatment.
The best hats for chemo patients are the simplest ones, IMO. Nothing with YOs or anything too fancy. Make sure they are snug fitting, which is nice for sleeping, according to my aunt. This might sound obvious, but use colors that you know they like and will lift their spirits and be attractive on them, as their skin will sallow a bit during treatment.
I also knit my aunt an argosy scarf for Christmas out of Noro Silk Garden. Scarves are also nice for the warmth, plus it affords extra coverage. She wore it to chemo to cover up a bit during treatment. She received lots of compliments on it, which she liked.
Good luck and God bless your friend. She has a tough road ahead of her and I wish her well.
Comment by Erin P — December 22, 2008 @ 12:17 am
Here’s a website I found with several patterns for chemo hats, I made about 2 dozen of the “No Hair Day” hats in wild fun fur colors for a project a couple of years ago. That’s probably not the cap she wants to make (although I did make one for a friend and she loved it, she said it was soft, warm and fun).
http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/patterns.htm
Comment by Katie — December 22, 2008 @ 1:57 am
I love the feel of Rowan Calmer…very soft to the skin. I also think Rowan Cashsoft would be nice. It comes in a number of weights. Both are soft with a look of loft without any fuzzies to be irritating. Best Wishes!
Comment by Jane — December 22, 2008 @ 9:32 am
I’ve found Berroco Chinchilla to be fabulous for wearing-to-bed chemo caps. And the yarn is so fuzzy you don’t need anything but plain knitting.
Comment by Ruth — December 22, 2008 @ 9:47 am
I have used Plymouth Yarn’s Encore for several prayer shawls. It comes in a chunky, worsted, DK, sock weight so there are lots of choices in weight and many colors. It is a 75% acrylic and 25% wool so it is soft and machine washable and you can use just about any kind of pattern with it. What a good friend you are!
Comment by Susan — December 22, 2008 @ 10:57 am
I know you have to feel the yarns–I like one in the Karabella line. Just make it snug–when my sister lost her hair, we discovered that a hat that fit my 9yo son really snugly was about the right size for her, so I had to alter many of the patterns I wanted to use.
Comment by Lisle — December 22, 2008 @ 11:13 am
Malabrigo is amazing, comes in excellent colors, and feels like butter against the skin. I highly recommend this!
I have recently used Rowan’s Wool Cotton and found it very pleasing to work with. It blocks beautifully and isn’t so warm that it’s overheats.
Comment by Clestial — December 22, 2008 @ 11:22 am
This may sound silly but if she has any left over yarn she could make a little bunny from Lion Brand’s web site to take with her to chemo (I went through chemo and I always brought little things to make me feel better) I have also bought little stuff animals for other people to bring to their chemo
Comment by Debbie — December 22, 2008 @ 11:49 am
I second the Shedir. It’s a beautiful pattern and great for outside wear. I also made #18 Lace-edged women’s hat from the headhuggers website for an inside hat. My friend actually preferred silk scarfs for inside since even the cotton hats were too warm for her to wear inside all day. Choose a very soft yarn no matter what you knit.
Comment by swtrknttr — December 22, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
There are lots of free shawl patterns on Ravelry or the Drops website. The Shetland triangle is a really quick knit if Maureen has the book Wrap Style and Moonlight Sonata, a free pattern from Elann, is very pretty and would sit well on the shoulders. Knit in something like Rowan Cashsoft or Cashcotton it would be lovely and comforting (and machine washable). Shedir and Odessa are great hats, and Odessa is a pretty quick knit and looks lovely without the beads, too. Brooklyn Tweed has published some good hat patterns, too. I recently knitted Habitat pretty quickly. The Woolly Wormhead has lots of berets and more interesting shaped hat patterns, if Maureen’s friend wants something a little different. Calmer is a great hat yarn- soft and stretchy.
Maureen, I will be thinking of your friend. She is lucky to have a friend like you.
Comment by Victoria — December 22, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Seconding the Malabrigo rec. Also I just used some Ella Rae bamboo silk that was *so* soft.
Comment by carlene — December 22, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
Being in a cold climate in the winter, your friend will love many of the hats people have suggested. But having been through this experience I will say that I sometimes surprised myself with what “worked” for me. I preferred silk scarves to hats (or wigs) because they were soft & more flattering to my face than any hats I had.
A beautiful scarf (for her neck) is a nice idea because it will wrap her in your love.
One non-knitting gift that is nice for a chemo patient is a dvd of a funny movie you think they’ll like.
Comment by Pam — December 22, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
I recommend a stockinette hat with the knit side on the inside (so it’s smoother) if you’re looking for something quick. Otherwise, Shedir is a wonderful pattern.
Comment by Nicole — December 22, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
An alpaca (warm and soft) hat with a cashmere liner (even softer and smoother) would be just the ticket. Or there are some really lovely smooth wool blends that would be nice, like Rowan’s Cashsoft. They even make a chunky, so it would knit up quickly.
Comment by the Lady — December 22, 2008 @ 4:52 pm
Cashmere or DB Cashmerino aran would be wonderful.. unless, of course, she’s allergic to wool! I was hairless in summer so often went without a cap… but one for sleeping IS nice because it turns out your scalp is very sensitive to drafts/breezes. I made a “loopy” one that was a pseudo wig.. In psychedelic colors… but your friend’s friend might not be goofy like me.
Instead of a very delicate shawl, a snuggly throw would be nice, too. I lost some of the ability to regulate my body temperature and appreciated soft, warm lap blankets.
Comment by PainterWoman — December 22, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Sometimes chemo patients have a reaction to wool or alpaca on their scalp — even the softest wool or alpaca. So sometimes patients need acrylic, rayon or polyester. Plymouth Oh My! yarn is a synthetic that is very soft. Berocco chinchilla has already been suggested – that one is quite soft and consists of rayon. I knit Shedir for a friend with Knitpick’s Shine Sport (a cotton blend). I also knit Odessa for her (without the beads) from Rowan Cashsoft.
Pi Topper has already been suggested. I knit one of those for my friend from Rowan Calmer.
The Lace Edged hat from Headhuggers seems to be popular with some chemo patients. It can be found here:
http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/kpatt18.htm
I agree with the previous poster that a hat that is quite snug for sleeping in is a good idea.
When I gave my friend the various hats I knit for her I also gave her a collection of small tagboard tags – Each tag and laundry instructions listed on it for one hat with a snippet of the yarn from that particular hat attached so she could keep track of care instructions more easily. Some hats were machine wash, some were hand wash only.
Comment by Sue — December 22, 2008 @ 7:31 pm
I think I’ll try an Odessa hat out of some Cashsoft I have in my stash for a friend undergoing treatment for lung cancer. I could make some matching fingerless gloves.
Comment by surly — December 22, 2008 @ 9:20 pm
I used Rowan Calmer for a chemo cap and it was greatly appreciated – it’s my understanding that chemo caps are best with no wool (harder to knit but not itchy) – I think I used that lace edged pattern from headhuggers too.
Comment by soxanne — December 22, 2008 @ 9:46 pm
The most practical chemo cap I’ve knit is not a cap, but a turban. The pattern is available for free on Elann.com as the Esprit Chemo Turban. I’m not sure what yarn would be the best for it. Anything will work apparently (based on the 40 projects I just looked at on Ravelry), and you don’t need to worry about fit because it stretches and you wrap it to fit.
Personally, I’d recommend a cotton yarn for comfort’s sake. I found when I knit chemo hats for a family member that cotton was her preference. She also preferred something that provided some bulk around her face, similar to her former hairstyle, and the turban does that.
Knit in a stretchy yarn, and wrapped backwards to put the fold above the face, the turban might work for sleeping. It seem that the big problem with wearing a hat while she slept was keeping it on when she turned over. I made her another plain cap with a drawstring in the brim that she could adjust to make it fit perfectly, and that stayed on rather well in bed.
Comment by Luni — December 23, 2008 @ 10:53 am
my daughter knit my sister-in-law a fair isle hat out of debbie bliss alpaca silk when she was going through chemo. very soft and very warm. she wore it all the time. she also often wore a silk scarf under her hats, if they felt itchy to her.
Comment by dana — December 23, 2008 @ 4:11 pm
I can speak from personal experience — I’m a chemo patient right now myself. My favorite hats are those that suggest a “hint” that there might be hair-under-there — so I prefer slouchy hats over the tight-fitting hats (like Shedir and Odessa). My absolute favorites are “Felicity” by Wanett Clyde and the “Star Crossed Slouchy Beret” by Natalie Larson. Both of these hat patterns are available FREE on Ravelry. They look great (even getting a stamp-of-fashion-approval from my college daughter) and are very quick to knit up. I normally have a problem wearing wool hats, but I made the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret from Malabrigo and find it to be divine. I used Alpaca with a Twist Highlander for Felicity, and it is incredibly comfortable — very warm and not itchy (also a dream to work with). If you’re making a sleeping cap, please make certain there are no seams, ridges, or bumpy design features. It’s really hard to sleep or lay down comfortably with seams pressing into your head. 🙂 Another piece of advice — when you’re going through chemo and losing your hair (and, in the case of your friend, perhaps your breasts as well), it’s a challenge to feel feminine and pretty. Lovely yarn in colors that match the fashion/style sense of your friend can be a real boost. (Big earrings help, too!)
All of your efforts at love and care will be so appreciated by your friend.
Good healing to her!
Comment by Kym — December 23, 2008 @ 5:59 pm