When Argentina Grader’s friend underwent chemotherapy and lost her hair, she knitted her a hat. And not just any hat, but a colorful one with a decorative pin and what Argentina describes as “a lot of fluff.” It was a small but meaningful act of kindness.
“I just wanted her to look and feel beautiful,” she says. “As a woman, when your appearance changes, it’s very difficult because you take pride in yourself and how you look.”
Fifteen years and some 400 knitted hats later, Argentina’s small gesture has not only expanded, but continues to grow.
Credit: Argentina Grader
Credit: Argentina Grader
There are currently 50 completed hats at her work station that she’ll give to those battling cancer. She has enlisted the help of a friend and, as the head of the Jewish Women of the Landings Knitting Group, Argentina hopes to recruit more knitters to make and donate hats.
“It’s how I give back to my community, and hopefully more people will help,” she says.
As for this current batch, a friend will take some to California, giving them to cancer patients Argentina doesn’t know, but most will go to the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer and Research Pavilion in Savannah, Georgia where she says the nurses and staff are always very appreciative. They display the hats on a “hat tree” and patients can select one for themselves.
Argentina has seen firsthand how much this gesture can mean to someone battling cancer. One day, when she was dropping off hats at the Cancer and Research Pavilion, she spotted a patient wearing one of her creations. She was delighted.
“Oh, you have one of my hats!” she exclaimed. The woman walked up to Argentina with tears in her eyes and hugged her. “It was such a beautiful moment that I’ve never forgotten because she was so grateful.”
Argentina, who turned 88 in November and stays active doing water aerobics, playing Bocce and kayaking, recalls learning to knit from a group of ladies when she and her family relocated from South America to Rochester, New York. She was only 10 years old.
“I’d make scarves that had holes in them, and after I washed them, I’d hang them up and they’d touch the floor,” she says with a laugh.
Argentina’s skills improved over the years, and she even knit her infant daughter a bathing suit.
“It was so difficult that I knew if I could knit that bathing suit, I could knit anything.” And she has. She has created dresses and sweaters for her children, their children, her three great-grandchildren and more.
“If people want something special, I’ll make it for them,” Argentina says. “But I don’t charge.”
And here’s why: “God has been good to me,” she says, then adds, “There by the grace of God go I.”
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