Linda Clarke is a kind soul that offers a glimmer of hope to many. She has dedicated much of her spare time to making crocheted and knitted hats and blankets for cancer patients and the elderly in senior living homes. Linda also makes knitted graduation caps for premature babies in East Tennessee Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICU).
Her passion and dedication began almost accidentally 10 years ago. The grandmother of nine living in Knoxville, Tennessee, began with a basket of red yarn her mother had left behind. A note left behind revealed an unknown secret and a future inspiration for Linda — her mother had been knitting hats for premature babies with heart conditions.
She took over her mother’s benevolent venture and has never stopped since.
“She was making it for the society for babies with heart issues, so I took the yarn, made the hats, and sent it to them,” Linda said. “I thought a part of her was with me while I was doing that.”
Colorful knitted hats and blankets for patients
For the past decade, Linda has made hundreds of blankets and hats for people in special care. And in the past year, she also started making graduation caps for babies “graduating” from the NICU. She can make a cap in about 20 minutes and usually uses several colors to make four or five different sizes of hats.
It’s worth noting that Linda has never asked for a single dime for her designs. Instead, she wants to do something good for others and hopes it comforts them.
“I want to do it out of the love of my heart; I just want to give back,” Clark said
However, her dedication to helping others didn’t begin after her mother’s death. Linda is a retired missionary and teacher. She says she learned to knit and crochet around 16 years ago while she and her husband were stationed in Chile as missionaries. After finishing and sending the batch her mother intended to do, she started searching for new places to send her comforting designs.
Today, Linda sends her hats and blankets to East Tennessee’s Children’s Hospital. Her target is about 50 to 75 hats per month, and she spends about 6 hours a day making various colored hats themed around holidays or seasons of the year. She hopes her hats make a difference to parents of premature babies or a memory for those who’ve lost their babies.
“Sometimes, the baby doesn’t make it, then the mother has a hat and a blanket as a memory of her baby, which is really what tugged at my heart to want to do it,” Clark said.
Comfort in troubling times
Over the years, her colorful and beautiful designs have been a welcome comfort for most parents with preemies. For instance, Linda’s dedication and kindness greatly benefited the Givens family. They welcomed their son, Gary Givens, into the world in late 2022.
Their pregnancy had few complications, but real estate agent, Katie Givens, gave birth six weeks too early. This is after her physician noticed the baby wasn’t moving as it should in her womb.
Gary was then transferred to East Tennessee’s Children’s Hospital. He was diagnosed with neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease(NOMID). This rare condition causes inflammation and tissue damage affecting the joints, skin, and nervous system. Gary’s father said there are only about 100 known NOMID cases worldwide and 50 in the USA.
Fortunately, Gary left the NICU in December 2022 wearing one of Linda Clark’s homemade graduation caps.
“We are so grateful that someone put the time, effort, and creativity into doing something for people they don’t know, and for us, it means a lot to us,” Katie Givens said. “Having our little graduation for Grady is something we’ll always remember.”
Be the change you want to see
Linda has made it her mission to bring a smile to people under special care. Her dedication makes a huge difference to patients, parents, and others, knowing they are not alone. The 70-year-old is a living example that, sometimes, little contributions can make an enormous difference in a stranger’s life.
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