Hats from the heart

Beverly Browne wasn’t in Idaho very long when she realized people were friendly and caring.

“My heart felt this would be the place to introduce my love of knitting baby hats,” says Browne.

Browne wanted to share her knowledge and love of knitting by donating hats to area infants. It wasn’t long before she called the first meeting of the Panhandle Mad Hatters.

More than 28 members strong, the Mad Hatters’ sole purpose is to gather once a month to share ideas and laughter while they knit or crochet.

Browne says their goal is pretty simple.

“We want to make sure every baby at Kootenai Medical Center begins life with a hand-knitted or crocheted hat,” says Browne. “That’s about 150 hats per month.”

Browne’s drive to knit baby hats started in 2004 after she responded to an article in a Folsom, Calif., newspaper, where she was living at the time. The article urged those interested in knitting baby hats to contact the Folsom Hospital.

This group was part of a larger group called the KiddieKaps that was founded in California by Leal Thompson. The KiddieKaps – more than 450 knitters who have donated more than 50,000 hats to California hospitals – served as Browne’s inspiration.

Browne admits that learning to knit was difficult for her at first, but she wanted so badly to knit hats for the babies that she stuck with it.

“I hope the baby that received my first hat doesn’t hear the words that went into knitting it,” Browne says. “I know if I can learn how to knit, anyone can.”

After Browne relocated to Post Falls last spring, she began recruiting Mad Hatters.

Browne met Willa Mae Griffith at a Coeur d’Alene Elks Lodge dinner and quickly recruited her to join the group. Griffith is now the prize knitter and contributes 25 to 40 hats each month. It takes Griffith about three hours to knit one hat, if there are no interruptions.

“I learned to knit from a fellow worker in 1969, and I have been knitting ever since,” Griffith says. “When you get older, you want to contribute, and this is a way that I can do just that.”

Griffith’s daughter, Sharon, takes a lot of pride into making 40 pompoms for the hats each month. “I do not knit but I learned to crochet from my grandma. It is something I enjoyed doing.”

Clara Leeds, who lives down the street from Browne, was excited to join the Mad Hatters.

Leeds used to knit mittens, hats, and socks with her mother. “I had four brothers and sisters and plenty of opportunity to practice,” says Leeds.

Browne credits Lori Schneider, director of Women and Children Services at Kootenai Medical Center, for making it all possible.

“We were welcomed and warmly greeted by Lori and the KMC nurses,” says Browne. “They treat us like we are all old friends.”

Schneider says the Mad Hatters are different than other groups because they knit out of pure generosity.

“The Mad Hatters motives are so pure – they receive such joy from providing these hats to the babies,” Schneider says. “Kootenai Medical Center parents appreciate and enjoy their generosity.”

All the Mad Hatters seem to agree with Browne that “once your heart sees an infant with one of your hats on their head, it brings a rush of love to your heart that is not describable in words.”

Browne has been known to get choked up when she sees a baby wearing a donated hat.

The Mad Hatters are always on the hunt for yarn, and will stop by a donor’s house to pick up any kind of yarn donation – no matter how small.

“Did you know that a ball of yarn that fits in your hand could keep a newborn baby’s head warm and cozy?” says Browne with a big smile.