Acampo woman finds a way to give back to the next generation
Hazel Sattler has been doing her part to make sure Lodi newborns are warm during their stay at Adventist Health Lodi Memorial Hospital. The 87-year-old local mother, grandmother and great grandmother spends her time knitting caps for the babies at the hospital.
It all started when Sattler’s friend Ella began doing caps for several hospitals in the area and asked her to help.
“I started helping her and I helped for two or three years before she passed away. I just kept doing them and it’s become a hobby now.”
Now, 10 years later, Sattler is doing the caps and enjoying every minute of it. She continues to do it because she likes to be able to help out and make a difference any way she can.
“They need baby caps for the newborns and it’s just something for me to do while I’m sitting here,” she said. “I don’t get out very much so people donate yarn to me and I just keep using the yarn to make baby caps. I enjoy it.”
Sometimes yarn is donated and collected at the hospital and usually when she has a delivery of caps dropped off the hospital has more yarn for her to use.
“As long as I get yarn from other people, I’ll just keep making baby caps,” she said.
Each month she sends at least 100 caps and during the holidays she does twice that amount.
“There is so many babies born during the holidays and what’s left over from Christmas they save until February and give them out to the February babies.”
Typically her caps come in a variety of colors including pink, blue, purple and yellow, and mothers are able to choose which one they like.
“I mix the colors. I make yellow and white or purple and white and I just kind of mix them up so they have different varieties of caps they can pick from,” Sattler said
During Christmas time, she knits red, white and green caps and on Thanksgiving brown, white and orange.
“I love babies. I just thank it’s beautiful to see them in the caps,” Sattler said of her feelings when seeing a newborn wearing one of her creations. One mother was so grateful for the cap that she sent Sattler a picture of her baby at two days old wearing the cap to say thank you.
Sattler has been crocheting all of her life but was introduced to knitting by her friend Ella. While knitting, she likes to watch TV or listen to music.
It takes 45 minutes to an hour for Sattler to complete one cap, depending on the type of cap it is. In addition to knitting and crocheting, Sattler also enjoys sewing in her spare time and makes night gowns for her great-grandchildren and quilts for her grandchildren. She plans to continue making caps for the babies as long as she can.