Patricia Clay-Jolley, president of Newborns in Need, meets weekly with other knitters to make blankets and clothes for babies at Parkland. Photo by Benjamin Hager
The buzz of conversation is steady, much like the hum of the electric yarn baller near the register. It’s Wednesday night at Holley’s Yarn Shoppe, and knitters of all skill levels have flocked to the store at Forest and Inwood for the weekly open knitting session. In the far corner, a quiet bunch stitches baby hats, shoes and receiving blankets for Newborns in Need, a nonprofit that helps sick or disadvantaged infants. Among these compassionate knitters is Patricia Clay-Jolley, who founded the Dallas chapter 11 years ago. The group delivers about 2,000 items each month to Parkland hospital, where the need is the greatest, and that supply lasts just a couple of weeks. “It’s for the working poor of Dallas — people who have absolutely nothing for their babies,” Clay-Jolley says. Members meet monthly at Webb Chapel Church of Christ to box up the items and drop them at the hospital. Longtime knitter and Newborns in Need member Dotty Darrin recalls an instance of gratitude from a woman who recognized them. “She said, ‘You have no idea how much that meant to the parents to have someone that cares.’ ”
To learn more about Newborns in Need, visit newbornsinneed.org. To get involved, stop by the weekly Knitting Night at 7 p.m. Wednesdays at Holley’s Yarn Shoppe, 5211 Forest, Suite 115.
