Seasonally Minded: Call 'em Caps, Hats, Bonnets, Berets, Sombreros Or Fedoras

Hold onto your hats, folks. This week I want to discuss *drumroll* CAPS. Not just caps, but baby caps! No, I’m not breeding. And no, I have no intention of breeding anytime soon. However, women worldwide are.

In the less developed (consequentially poorer and less well-educated) nations, millions (MILLIONS?!?!) of babies die a year due to lack of medical care and ignorance. The babies most at risk are those born underweight and/or premature. As a preemie, myself, I have a bit of a soft spot for these young’uns. In times past I have made baby blankets, hats, booties and outfits for various local organizations. However, I have never contributed on the scale the Save the Children organization is making a difference!

The Save the Children organization works in a two-prong format. The first goal is to help with emergency and disaster reliefs. The second, and more challenging, goal is to effect change in the world’s more conflict-ridden nations. Through long-term development that can be sustained in the communities, Save The Children is offering tangible results to global citizens.

Right now Save The Children has two pet projects in the works. The “Rewrite the Future” cause is an effort to educate as many of the 40 million children not normally able to receive an education. In the group’s words “Schools are vital in protecting children and supporting their emotional and social development by giving them comfort, security and opportunity. The routine of school develops a sense of normality and the environment is one in which children are allowed to be children.”

It almost brings tears to your eyes, yes?

The second project, my own personal interest, is “See Where the Good Goes.” In 2010 Save the Children and the Ad Council joined forces to deploy more formally trained medical personnel globally. Together they have formed “GoodGoes.org,” a website for supporters to learn more about how to help children survive the iffy early stages of adolescence.

And finally, I get to my point: Save the Children and Warm Up America! are motivating Americans to get to crafting to create caps for babies born worldwide. Not only have these charity groups have joined forces with schools, bloggers and other charities, but they are currently looking for political backing in order to spread the warmth and health. And you can help!

Naturally, the Save the Children has free baby-cap pattern available in knitting and crochet instructions, but the possibilities online are endless. The only restriction is that the circumference of the cap be around 12” so it fits just right on the babies. Knitting On the Net's website has dozens of clever hat ideas for the ambidextrous knitters, as do Knitting Pattern Central and Do-It-101. For my fellow crochet-i-teers AllCrafts.net, Antique Crochet Patterns, and Lion Brand Yarn offer dizzy, dazzy and daring options.

Even if you are not a knit-artisan or crochet-creator, there are ways you can help too! The most obvious is through donations. A more worthy cause is hard for me to imagine, and you can be sure my budget is going to be taking a hit. The second, and potentially more useful, way for you to help is to raise political awareness. No, you do not have to go canvas the malls with tiny “STC” buttons. All you have to do is print a “Letter to the President” already written by the Save the Children organization and mail it. The cost is less than $0.50 in postage. That’s worth not buying my next coffee to me!

My Beret-Bonnet Crochet Pattern

I caution my readers to have knowledge of crochet before beginning this pattern. I only used three stitches, and the pattern is decidedly simple. SC is a single crochet, HDC is a half-double crochet and a chain.

Materials:

· Medium-weight yarn (2 oz.)

· Crochet hook size C (2.75 mm)

· My Pattern ^_^

Round 1:

Chain 4, and link the 4^th and 1^st chain together. Do 10 HDC in the loop you have created. This should surround the circle. Join the 1^st and 10^th together with a SC and chain one.

Round 2:

Form 2 HDC in each stitch of your previous row (you are going around the circle ;)). Join the 1^st and 20^th stitches together as above and chain one.

Round 3:

Repeat! (40 stitches)

Round 4:

Crochet a pattern of one HDC in each of three stitches on your previous row followed by two HDC in the 4^th stitch. (50 stitches)

Round 5:

Repeat! (62 stitches)

Round 6:

Here’s where it gets a little trickier. Now you are going to reduce the number of stitches you have. Crochet a HDC in the first three stitches and join the 4^th and 5^th stitches together. Follow this pattern around. (back to 50 stitches)

Round 7:

Repeat! (back to 40 stitches)