Tenney Hat

When my 4 year old grandson was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his kidney in January of this year our whole family was in shock.  You see, my 18 year old grandson was diagnosed with a brain tumor only 6 months before that was also malignant.  We had just watched him go through all kinds of treatment from successful surgery to radiation and chemo.  He has had a lot of set backs with his recovery stemming from the surgery itself and the effects of some of the chemo drugs.  We were now facing watching another child go through cancer treatment and all that comes with it.  They are cousins so 2 of my daughters, Sylvia's sisters, are dealing with sick children while caring for the rest of their family.  With chemo taking most of his hair, the 4 year old needed some hats to wear when out in the sun this summer.  I found this "bucket" hat pattern on line and this is my 3rd, and best, attempt to fill the void for a comfortable, soft, and cool hat for a little boy.  Knit hats work fine for the Minnesota winters but summer can get rather warm here in the midwest.  His dad liked my choice of fabric for this one, the other two were more "little boy" looks.  I used the sleeve of an old t-shirt that I didn't wear anymore for the lining as the knit fabic would be soft against his skin.  I used a larger seam allowance for the top seam as I wanted it to be a little bit shorter for this one.  Doing what you can to make some difference when times are tough is comforting.  I can't fix all that is going on but a can make a small difference for a sweet little boy.  It has been fun to bring him a new hat when he is in the hospital along with an endless supply of stickers.