| With
careful stitches and watchful eyes, they knit
or crochet a little piece of love.
Auxiliary members and volunteers craft tiny hats
that grace the heads of newborns at Southeast
Missouri Hospital.
In 2002 alone, 38 volunteers made 1,830 baby
hats. For them, it is a labor of love.
"It's fun to think of the little babies
wearing them home," says Rosemary McAllister,
who sets a personal goal of knitting 25 baby hats
each month.
Each hat is just a little bit different in color
and personality.
At Christmas, many of the hats are a festive red
and white. On Memorial Day and July 4th, the hats
are accented with red, white and blue. Tiny versions
are made for the smallest newborns. |
|
Dorothy Randol both knits and crotchets
the hats. "I love it," she says. "I
think I've done 200 of them."
For her, the baby hats have taken on special meaning.
"They've really been a lifesaver for me,"
she says. The baby hats have helped her stay busy
since the death of her husband.
She started crocheting the hats and then developed
her own knitting pattern. Her hats often have
a distinctive stripe. "I knit whenever I
can," she says.
Most volunteers spend at least two or three hours
on each hat.
Carmen Cox, BSN, RN, CLC, assistant nurse manager
at Southeast's Obstetrics and Gynecology Center,
says the hats are a huge success with families
who appreciate the caring that goes into a hand-made
gift.
"The babies wear their hats after their
first bath," she explains. "Our families
have commented how sweet and cute they look. Each
hat is as unique as the baby that wears it."
Cox adds, "Hats off to our special ladies
in the Auxiliary that spend their time knitting
and crocheting these beautiful creations."
Recently, some volunteers began fashioning tiny
mittens for babies in the Special Care Nursery.
Others create tiny booties for parents who have
lost babies.
Volunteers who create the baby hats include:
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- Ilena Aslin
- Mary Lee Bishop
- Gladys Brown
- Norma Carter
- Shirley Collins
- Pat Crossno
- Mary O. Damitz
- Ruth Dillingham
- Evelyn Dollinger
- Delores Gerhardt
- Alice Kasten
- Betty Kerr
- Gwen Lampitt
- Lela Layton
- Virginia Loveless
- Rosemary McAllister
- Audrey McIntire
- Pansy Moss
- Marybelle Mueller
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- Edna Murphy
- Betty Ann Neely
- Ann Nielson
- Teresa Pierce
- Gene Pind
- Marilyn Prill
- Dorothy Randol
- Anna Mae Rigdon
- Jewell Robinson
- Norma Sander
- Eunice Seabaugh
- Lillian Stahly
- Wilma Stephan
- Thelma Tucker
- Margaret Tunnell
- Alta Turner
- JoAnn Vogel
- Billie Ward
- Audrey Wooldridge
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