To donate yarn, join the knitting project or learn more about “The Project of Love in Memory of Stan,” go to
www.projectoflove.com.
Betty Golden set a goal of knitting and donating 63 children’s caps — one for every year of marriage. Rounded up, of course.
It all started in early 2009 shortly after her husband Stan Golden collapsed and died. They were four months shy of their 63rd anniversary.
Consumed with grief, Betty Golden, now 86, turned to knitting for comfort. It was a way to ease her nervous energy. Called “The Project of Love in Memory of Stan,” knitting and giving away hats also gave her something positive to focus on.
When Golden showed up at her synagogue to display some of her hats, members wanted to join the knitting project. Others donated yarn. A Michael’s crafts store in Smyrna donated space for knitters to gather on a weekly basis. Her endeavor spun into something much larger than she ever expected. After The Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured her knitting project at the 700 cap mark about two years ago, the knitting picked up the pace even more.
Golden, with the help of a handful of helpers, has now delivered 3,000 hats with dozens more on their way.
Golden and other knitters make soft, non-allergenic hats for children undergoing chemotherapy as well as thick, warm ones for children living in homeless shelters and safe havens for victims of domestic abuse.
On a recent afternoon, Golden’s one-bedroom apartment is organized, yet overflowing with hats. Her bedroom was filled with plastic bags holding hats — a turquoise beret, a green striped winter hat with pompom, a pretty pink hat. During the day, she is a busy CEO of her knitting operation, constantly on the phone or computer, lining up knitting meet ups, scheduling times to deliver hats, recruiting more knitters. (A few months ago, she recruited her 98-year-old sister Mikki Harris. She’s already knitted about 25 hats.)
With the help of her son Martin, Golden now has a web site www.projectoflove.com.
She mostly knits at night, enjoying the activity while watching a Braves game or pre-recorded episode of Young and the Restless.
Golden never has enough yarn, and she only uses soft, 100 percent acrylic for children undergoing cancer treatment at local hospitals. She started branching out making and and selling scarves. Money earned from the scarves goes to buy more yarn and supplies.
Last year, she knit so much she began suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. Determined to continue knitting, she switched to a loom which is easier on her hands and wrists. In recent months, she returned to knitting needles.
Sara Frooman of Sandy Springs joined the knitting project after reading about it in The AJC. Frooman makes finger puppets for all hats going to children’s hospitals.
“I wanted to get involved because it is such a sweet project,” said Frooman. “Betty is determined and inspiring and a terrific organizer. And the depth of her heart is remarkable.”
Ginny Nickles, executive director of the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children, said Golden regularly delivers hats to the shelter during the colder months of the year. She said the shelter gives some out immediately and saves some of the hats to give to the children as Christmas gifts.
“The children love the hats. They are ecstatic to receive any little touch of kindness like that,” said Nickles. “And it’s a constant reminder that someone out there thought of them.”
For her 86th birthday in June, Betty Golden’s son Martin and daughter Sandra teamed up with Golden’s knitters and surprised her with a birthday party at Michael’s. They gave her 86 gifts, each one for her Project of Love. The gifts included bright blue yarn, knitting loom sets and 30 teddy bears with hand-knitted hats and matching scarves.
It was a special birthday, and it made her reminisce about how she and her husband enjoyed marking birthdays in fun ways.
“He never knew when we would strike,”she said. “One year it was midnight and he was already in bed asleep. A circle of friends showed in up pajamas and we partied…Another time a friend had a van and we decorated it. We went from Lansing to Detroit. Surprise tickets for a play, dinner in the van and birthday cake at a rest stop on the way home.”
Golden looks up at a framed photograph of the two of them, and grabs a ball of magenta yarn and softly smiles.
“I think I found a place for myself where my husband would be proud,” she said.
