Crotchet for the kids

Bags of hats, scarves and headbands were carried in the hands of Nancy Parker into the Creston News Advertiser office, all made by her. As she arranged the hats on the table for a picture, she quickly realized she might have brought too many. By the time the table was completely covered, only half of the bags were empty.

Each crocheted hat and scarf is artfully designed and rich in color, with some having special features like a hole for a pony tail or a flower adorned on the side. Each of these carefully-made hats will be given away for kids who need them.

A love for crochet which spanned over 50 years and an abundance of yarn has led Parker to a year-long project.

“I figure, as long as I got yarn, I’ll keep making them,” she said.

Parker crocheted all of her work for the Kiwanis Keep a Kid Warm Coat Giveaway, and will donate hats and scarves to be given away with the coats to kids who need them. The giveaway will take place at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 22, at the First United Methodist Church.

On Oct. 8, Parker had reported she had made 151 hats and 27 scarves and “an assortment” of headbands. Last year, she had made 120 hats for the fundraiser.

For a mountain of hats, you need a mountain of yarn. Parker had started out making hats, but soon realized it would be too expensive to continue purchasing material herself at the pace she was working.

As a member of the crochet club at Gibson Memorial Library, she talked about her project with her peers. Soon after, she started receiving gifts.

“Word got around,” she said. “I started getting donations from a lot of women around, probably 19 or 20 people... So I just kind of went from there.”

Through this process, Parker learned how to crotchet with “any kind of yarn you’ve ever heard of.” A few hats have tags marking the material, advising those with allergies and alerting with hand-wash directions.

Parker had been introduced to crotchet by members of a local craft club. She described how she would enter fabric shops and want to create something with yarn, which led her to learn how to crotchet. Now, 50 years later, Parker is still crocheting.

“It’ll give kids something to have, and give me something to do,” she said. “It’s therapy for me I suppose you could say, just because I enjoy it.”

Whatever hats aren’t given away during the fundraiser will be given to the Creston High School, where teachers can provide students with hats if they arrive without protection from the cold.

After the year-long effort to crotchet hats, Parker says she’s “ready to turn them all in.” She hopes, one day, to see a kid wearing a hat she had made. With 151 hats this year, she can at least double her chances.