Knitted comforts for women warriors
(Photo by LOREN BENOIT/Hagadone News Network) Kelley Hobart, left, of Alpaca Direct, and Barbara McLean place a knitted shawl and a personal note into a bag for a Wounded Warrior woman.
(Photo by LOREN BENOIT/Hagadone News Network) Each volunteer knitter added a personal note of encouragement to go along with a shawl and scarf for a Wounded Warrior.
By DEVIN WEEKS
Hagadone News Network
Wounded female warriors returning to the United States from the battlefield are being welcomed back with love sent from North Idaho.
That love is in the form of cozy, colorful shawls and scarves that will go to a rehabilitation center in Florida to wrap female service members in comfort as they heal and prepare to re-enter society.
"We're giving them a 'hug' and saying 'thank you' as they come home," Kelley Hobart said Friday.
Hobart and members of Alpaca Direct's open knitting group and North Idaho Fiber Friends spent countless hours through the holidays completing about 40 of these love-infused pieces for the women warriors.
"They have children. They have families," said Barbara McLean of Rathdrum, a former Air Force nurse who is sending the knitted items to the women through the Wounded Warriors Project.
"It's really important they get the very best of care so they can look over the end of their nose to take care of their children," McLean said.
"They think about wounded warriors as guys all the time," McLean said, but wounded warriors as women has been going on for quite some time.
Hobart, who owns Alpaca Direct in Hayden with husband Jim, meets with the other knitters at the shop about twice a week to knit for different causes.
"It's like a family," she said.
The scarves and shawls for the warriors are being accompanied by handwritten notes from the knitters to add a personal touch of kindness.
"It's fantastic to be able to help out. Wounded Warriors is near and dear to my heart," Hobart said. "We're so thrilled to be able to help them."
McLean said for all soldiers, wars aren't over until that wounded warrior receives the care that he or she needs.
Something small like a comforting scarf or shawl can be a big help on that warrior's path to healing.
"We are Americans, and we help Americans," McLean said. "There are so many countries out there that put out a call, and who answers? Americans. And sometimes now, it's Americans asking for help."