Every day I look at our Halos of Hope journey and I think 'what next'?  Our board and close supporters say 'well…imagine [insert idea]'.  And I often reply, I can imagine pretty big things.

In the spring we imagined we could help the Valerie Fund get 200 regular hats and 200 medieval hats for Camp Happy Times.  We send them 300 regular hats and 325 crowns, jesters, princesses, dragons, unicorns, chain mail hoods - the list goes on.  Imagine - 625 hats in a few short months. The kids, we're told, were thrilled.  And yes, photos are coming!

The Northern Illinois Chapter of the CGOA imagined they could do a chapter challenge tied to the Crochet Chain Link conference in Minnesota and get several hundred hats for Halos of Hope.  I don't think anyone ever imagined they would get over 1700 hats donated by one chapter alone - thank you again, New York!  Or that the total donated would exceed 2000.  But it did.  

We imagined that it would be nice to double our donations at Stitches Midwest this year.  But once we exceeded 200 (our original goal), and the closer we got to 300, I never imagined that we'd have crocheters sitting in the concessions area trying to make one more hat to get us there, or that we'd have virtual cheerleaders across the Internet putting out the final rally call. We ended the show over 300, thanks to the Interknit Machine Knit Club from Geneva, IL who were making hats to demonstrate their craft.  This is the second year that these knitters have embraced Halos during the Stitches Market, and we thank you.  309 total donated hats - imagine how comforting this is to the cancer centers who need them.

We imagined it might be interesting to ask some hat designers to provide us with a completed sample of their hat, that we could put on our show table, and point knitters and crocheters to that sample as a new idea for a cancer cap.  After all, one of our mantras is that just because you've lost your hair, doesn't mean you've lost your sense of style.   We wanted to show new, creative ideas that could be used!  We lost count of how many times we wrote down the Bow Tie Cloche from Bellsisters Design, and the caps designed by Yvonne Tate that were a popular crochet choice for the Chemo Cap challenge.  Or how often we were asked when the tunisian-in-the-round pattern designed by Lily Chin would be be available.  Or where could they get the Chemo Caps and Wraps book because they loved the Spiral Cap designed by Tatyana Mirer or the cover ensemble designed by Edie Eckman.  Or how many times I walked someone halfway down the aisle to point out where they could get either the Marion Foale book because they loved the Crystal Hat, or wanted the Ali Cap kit, both available in the Stitches Market.  Imagine what we might be able to do at East, if we could get more samples??

A year ago, when we did our first Stitches, we imagined that by doing all four shows in 2011, we would achieve our goal to increase our presence in the fiber community, and that Halos of Hope would be nationally recognized.  Not only has that happened, but I can now walk through a crowded expo hall with a Halos logo on a t-shirt, and be stopped by someone who will ask "Halos of Hope, right?"  Thank you a thousand times over to my son, Steve, for taking a vision and giving us the recognizable image that you did.  And continued thanks to XRX, Inc., Red Heart Yarns, and Creatively Dyed Yarns for believing in our vision and helping us to craft a bigger future, and also now to Cascade Yarns and Oasis Yarns, who understand what we are trying to do.  And thank you to all of the amazing knit and crochet professionals who listen to our story and offer to help in their way.

We imagined that those who volunteered in the Halos booth at this year's Midwest show would come away from the experience with a bit of a different perspective.  'Tis true that some of them know about Halos, or sit in the weekly knit/crochet circle with me and hear stories.  But to see them embrace our story, to encourage others to participate, and after two, three or four hours realize how much of a difference one hat makes, or to see the donations come in and know they were a part of the history that will bring comfort to someone in need.  To actually be there, when someone going through cancer says, I can't find a hat that is comfortable, and watch that person walk away with a hat on-the-spot that will work.  To hear the stories from show participants and attendees that are survivors, caregivers, medical professionals, who relate how much the caps make a difference.  Yes, I imagine they did come away with a different perspective, and now, I imagine, we have far more ambassadors getting ready for the future, than even I realize.

Again, thank you to the entire Stitches Midwest community for the outpouring of support this weekend!  Year two was more than we imagined!  We can't wait to see what year 3 will mean, and Stitches East, we're coming your way in October!

I'd like to imagine that one day we won't need any of this.  That, one day, no man, woman, child, or especially a mother or father of a child, will hear the words 'you have cancer.'  

Like I said, I can imagine pretty big things.

 

Saturday Market with Lany Hughes, a regular cap contributor