I have a dear friend who will be starting chemotherapy for breast cancer in a couple of weeks, and so naturally my thoughts quickly turned to knitted comforts. Fortunately, in a way, my experience with chemo is limited to one person in my family — also breast cancer, like my friend — but since it was high summer in Southern California during her worst weeks, she felt most comfortable without anything atal on her head, and so doesn’t have much advice about patterns or yarns. If anyone has suggestions, I would be most grateful!
I’ve been admiring Grumperina’s lovely Odessa for some time, in and of itself, and so that was the first thing that came to my mind. Grumperina used RYC Cashsoft DK, and I even happen to have some on hand, in a beautiful thundery grey, very "Scottish autumn," as per the request. But I’ve read in a couple of places that wool is not recommended for chemo caps, and so I hesitate — Cashsoft being a merino/microfiber/cashmere blend. There is also Shedir in Knitty’s Breast Cancer Awareness issue from a few years back, and I think that Rowan’s Calmer would be a wonderful cloud-soft choice. My friend thinks that perhaps something close-fitting, as these both are, would be uncomfortable, but I wonder if something loose wouldn’t stay on very well, once the hair isn’t there to help hold it on.
There is definitely a consensus on the internet about seamlessness — understandable in the circumstances. But what about the wool? and washability? Does the luxuriousness of Calmer and Cashsoft outweigh the dreariness of handwashing things when one is not up to it?
There are, by the way, lots of free knit and crochet patterns for chemo caps at Head Huggers (which also accepts donated caps for distributing to patients of all ages), and links to patterns here from Dallas/Fort Worth Fiber Fest — I’ve also found a fancier hat at KnitPicks (which might work in Calmer…) and a rather fetching toque here, too.
A Bluestocking Knits 
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