#HatNotHate

Hello again and happy June! It is crazy to think that we are almost halfway through 2020 – what an unexpected year so far. Since it is the beginning of a new month, I thought I would give myself a new challenge: creating blue hats for Hat Not Hate. For those of you who don’t know what Hat Not Hate is, it is a campaign in association with Lion Brand Yarn (my favorite yarn brand) with a goal of bringing awareness to and ending bullying. Knitters and crocheters around the world are encouraged to make and wear blue hats – blue being the anti-bullying color – to stand up against bullying. The donated hats will be given to school-aged children across the nation at schools who will be participating in National Bullying Prevention Month this October.

Hat Not Hate began in 2018, with the goal of collecting 5,000 hats to give to children in the New York area. If I remember correctly (2018 was a while ago y’all), that goal was met and even surpassed. In 2019 the goal was raised to collect 25,000 hats and the final number of donated hats was so close to reaching the goal – more than 23,000 hats were collected and distributed throughout the country. Now in 2020 the bar has been raised even higher – 100,000 hats. As we all have been experiencing with recent events that have been taking place in our nation and world, every individual person’s efforts make a difference for the big picture. No, I am not able to make 1,000 hats and knock out a huge chunk of the desired number, but I can still make a difference with even just one hat. So, with all of that being said, I would like to challenge myself to make twenty hats by July 15th. I will keep you all updated here and on Instagram – let’s give it a shot!

If you want more information on Hat Not Hate, feel free to comment below, message me on IG, or visit www.hatnothate.org.

-Stacy