SciFi Chris here.  3RC folks do alot of charity work, like Project Linus, premie hats, lapblankets/hats/scarves for vets, and raising money for Rwanda Knits and the vets.  Here's another charity project that 3RC member Judy has been working on.

 

Judy made many purple baby hats (they are purple, even if they look blue in the photo).  The hats are given to the parents of newborns to spread awareness of Shaken Baby Syndrome. The “Period of Purple” is the time period when babies tend to cry and cry, won’t be comforted, and it seems to go on forever.  Often folks call this ‘colic’ and it can be a miserable time, for parent and baby both.  Period of Purple organization offers strategies to parents on how to cope with the frustrations of a crying baby. 

Why purple?  It stands for  P – peak of crying, U – unexpected, R – resists soothing, P – pain like face, L – long lasting, E – evening. 

The website about Period of Purple, which includes coping strategies, can be found here: http://www.purplecrying.info/

The website about making and donating purple hats to help raise awareness about Shaken Baby Syndrome can be found here:  http://clickforbabies.org/index.php

The closest hospital to Pittsburgh that is participating in distributing the hats is in West Virginia.  This is where Judy sends her hats.  She is mailing off her hats at the end of September.  If you are interested in making some purple baby hats and donating them, she will include any hats folks get to her before the end of September.  Just bring them to a 3RC meeting (Saturdays, 2 -5, at the Panera’s near Magee hospital) and give them to Judy.

Hats should be washable, made of soft feeling yarn, and at least 50% purple.  The guidelines for the hats and some patterns can be found here:   http://clickforbabies.org/stitchers-club/