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DEDHAM —
A local woman’s crochet hooks recently won her notoriety from soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
Shirley White has made more than 200 wool hats for soldiers since 2008, shipping them at her own cost.
Until recently, she was happy to do so without any recognition, but in January a package from Afghanistan arrived at her doorstep.
Inside was a plaque and an American flag soldiers flew in Afghanistan in her honor on New Years Day.
Enclosed was a letter from Dedham resident and Army National Guard colonel Andrew Lawlor.
“Thank you so very much for the many wool hats you knit for our soldiers,” Lawlor wrote. “It gets into the teens in Kabul at nights so your hats were most welcome. We gave the extras to an orphanage on the outskirts of the city. Again many thanks for your patriotism and concern.”
With every hat she sent to troops, White had enclosed a note. “Thank you for serving our country! I made this helmet cap for you to wear in the winter months and the heat of the summer to absorb the sweat. I hope you will be coming home soon. Take care.” On the reverse side of the note are the instructions, “wash by hand.”
“I’m really surprised,” White said of the plaque. “I just crochet every night, not realizing it would come to this point of being noticed and acknowledged. I was thrilled.”
White, who lives with her husband John in the Manor neighborhood of Dedham, speaks with a British accent despite living in the United States since 1955. The two had nine children, but now that White is retired, she yearned for something to do.
A daughter-in-law’s mother sent White the pattern for the hats, unable to do it herself, and White sent back a pair of hats. She liked making them so much that she continued.
Designed to be worn under a helmet, the hats are simple and made without bright colors. White had two on her kitchen table on Monday, Jan. 30, that she said she’d made in a single day.
She sends them to Afghanistan about 50 at a time, and enjoys doing it.
“It’s a good deed,” she said.
White has watched reports from Afghanistan and has yet to see anyone wearing her hats, but she hasn’t given up hope.
She just sent over 14 more on Monday.
Staff writer Dave Eisenstadter can be reached at 781-433-8336 or deisenstadter@wickedlocal.com.
A local woman’s crochet hooks recently won her notoriety from soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
Shirley White has made more than 200 wool hats for soldiers since 2008, shipping them at her own cost.
Until recently, she was happy to do so without any recognition, but in January a package from Afghanistan arrived at her doorstep.
Inside was a plaque and an American flag soldiers flew in Afghanistan in her honor on New Years Day.
Enclosed was a letter from Dedham resident and Army National Guard colonel Andrew Lawlor.
“Thank you so very much for the many wool hats you knit for our soldiers,” Lawlor wrote. “It gets into the teens in Kabul at nights so your hats were most welcome. We gave the extras to an orphanage on the outskirts of the city. Again many thanks for your patriotism and concern.”
With every hat she sent to troops, White had enclosed a note. “Thank you for serving our country! I made this helmet cap for you to wear in the winter months and the heat of the summer to absorb the sweat. I hope you will be coming home soon. Take care.” On the reverse side of the note are the instructions, “wash by hand.”
“I’m really surprised,” White said of the plaque. “I just crochet every night, not realizing it would come to this point of being noticed and acknowledged. I was thrilled.”
White, who lives with her husband John in the Manor neighborhood of Dedham, speaks with a British accent despite living in the United States since 1955. The two had nine children, but now that White is retired, she yearned for something to do.
A daughter-in-law’s mother sent White the pattern for the hats, unable to do it herself, and White sent back a pair of hats. She liked making them so much that she continued.
Designed to be worn under a helmet, the hats are simple and made without bright colors. White had two on her kitchen table on Monday, Jan. 30, that she said she’d made in a single day.
She sends them to Afghanistan about 50 at a time, and enjoys doing it.
“It’s a good deed,” she said.
White has watched reports from Afghanistan and has yet to see anyone wearing her hats, but she hasn’t given up hope.
She just sent over 14 more on Monday.
Staff writer Dave Eisenstadter can be reached at 781-433-8336 or deisenstadter@wickedlocal.com.
