“I can knit here till the end of days. I can knit forever now, it’s got somewhere to go,” said Dorothy Bernstein, president of From the Heart Stitchers. From the Heart Stitchers is a nonprofit organization that brings knitters, crocheters and sewers together to craft dozens of different products for dozens of different organizations. The group makes a wide variety of items, including seat belt cushions for women going through breast cancer treatment, fidget toys for memory care patients, and scent hearts for parents who have babies in intensive care. Heidi Robertson looks at her daughter’s stitches while sewing together bunny squares for a baby blanket at From the Heart Stitchers in western Henrico County on Saturday. Some volunteers only like to make squares, so others like Heidi transform them into items From the Heart is looking for. NICU parents wear the hearts next to their skin, and the items absorb their scents. The hearts can then be placed next to the infants, who are soothed by the scents. “It’s more than half of the benefits to the maker, to know that you’ve created something that can ease someone else,” said Lois Moore, 84, who started From the Heart Stitchers. The nonprofit was founded in 2001. The year prior, Moore had been bedbound after a surgery that left her unable to walk. Moore says she had seen a news report about fifth graders learning how to knit and she thought, if they could do it, so could she. “I’m sitting at home. I have nothing to do. I can help somebody,” Moore said. Kate Robertson, 13, crochets a binder cover for her schoolbook at From the Heart Stitchers at 1114 Westbriar Drive in western Henrico County on Saturday. Kate comes with her mother during summer break and when she is not in school. She learned how to knit when she was 5 and how to crochet soon after. Knitting quickly became a hobby of Moore’s, finding a fellow stitcher online while looking for someone to knit with. In 2001, the pair would meet every Friday at the Starbucks on River Road. “I’d get a group started here and then once they were good, I’d go to another one,” Moore said. Moore has always welcomed anyone to her knitting circle, and it did not take long for more women to join the group. Soon enough, the group had outgrown the capacity of the small store and moved to Moore’s home. “The people who are making these realize that they’re helping. It does so much good for their mental health and feelings to be able to help somebody,” Moore said. Sandy Decoursey selects donated yarn to turn into a baby blanket at From the Heart Stitchers on Saturday. Moore was born in Richmond, but she spent most of her childhood as a farm girl in Powhatan County. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. After rigorous rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, she won her battle against the disease by the end of the year. “It’s amazing how many of our volunteers are cancer survivors. It’s unbelievable,” Moore said. “When it hits you, you kind of know what to expect.” Many of the women in the group have some lived experience that aligns with the products they design and donate. One of those items are sleep caps, made from a softer material to be more comfortable for patients who have lost their hair. “You feel what other people have gone through, and it gives you insight on what they need, like sleep caps,” Moore said. “The nurses were always asking for cotton hats; cotton hats on my head were like sandpaper.” Rosa Castrechini talks to Susan Rickman about the yarn she selected to make hats for newborns at From the Heart Stitchers on Saturday. Castrechini made 1,651 items in 2024, her first full year with the organization. This year, she has already made 413 hats, including three she made that morning. With her skill level, each hat takes her about 45 minutes. “When I don’t have other things to do, I am crocheting,” Castrechini said. From the Heart Stitchers has also made blankets for children in Russian orphanages, hats for medics in Kuwait, and socks for hurricane victims in Haiti. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the group made face masks and pairs of hearts for family members who could not see each other. It also brought yarn to nursing homes to give residents an activity while in quarantine. “Lois knew this was going to help a lot of women in nursing homes,” Bernstein said. “You can’t even get together with people, but somebody leaves yarn at your door. Now you’ve got something to do.” Once while volunteering at VCU Health, Moore saw a woman leaving the center wearing one of the hats she had personally made. From across the parking lot, Moore says this was the first time she truly understood just how much the group was helping others. “I wanted to run and tell her ‘I made that!’ but I said, no, no, you can’t,” Moore said. “That lady is going to go home and everybody there is going to be smiling with her, making them happy.” Tricia Ennis attaches tags to hats while she chats with volunteers at From the Heart Stitchers on Saturday. Bernstein, of Henrico County, has been with From the Heart Stitchers since 2012. She retired two years ago and has been the president of the group since the beginning of the year. Bernstein is the unofficial “critter connoisseur,” specializing in crocheted animals, dolls and other toys. “It makes you feel so good to know you’ve helped out, and they don’t need to know,” Bernstein said. “I wouldn’t want them to know.” Two of Bernstein’s projects nearly bring her to tears to remember. Once, she had been asked to make crocheted dolls for memory care patients. “This one man, who had been very agitated, got a doll, and he’d just walk around and say, ‘This is my son; would you like to meet my son?’” Bernstein said. Bernstein was later told that the man’s living son had been there with him that day, watching his father with tears in his eyes. The man proudly paraded the doll around, making sure everyone got the chance to meet him. He passed away not long after. “There was also a little girl who had all these tubes in her nose and, in the picture, she had a pillowcase I had made,” Bernstein said. In 2003, the group had grown to 30 members. From the Heart Stitchers had been donating to VCU Health’s Stony Point campus as well as the Massey Cancer Center where Moore had been volunteering. While doing drop-offs for donations, Moore says the nonprofit’s name was born. “I told them the only name I have is mine and I don’t want that on there because other people have helped,” Moore said. “She told me, ‘well, you’re really doing these from the heart, aren’t you?’” Deb Abresch crochets at From the Heart Stitchers on Saturday. By 2005, Moore says her two-car garage was filled to the brim with yarn and knitters. It was time for a new space. After some searching, the group eventually landed at its current location at 1114 Westbriar Drive in western Henrico. In 2025, From the Heart Stitchers has more than 2,000 volunteers across Virginia. The group has also recently received donations from knitting circles in Texas, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Most of the members are older women, but the age range is from 6 to 99. “We’re people who have no clue who they are, their background, anything; we’re just people who see there’s a need,” Moore said. Besides the Westbriar Drive location, knitting circles meet at the Tuckahoe Area Library and the Chesterfield County Central Library. Anyone is welcome to stop by the shop off Patterson Avenue to pick up supplies, tell the group what project is in the works and then bring it back when it’s done. “I believe in this mission so much, I had to be involved,” Bernstein said. “We hope getting the word out won’t just bring us more recipients, but also more nanas.” The shop is open Tuesdays through Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; the group also accepts monetary donations to purchase yarn and other supplies. “This is keeping my brain going,” Bernstein said. “I know someday I’m going to look back on this and I’m going to be able to say, ‘I did that.’” Bingo is a fun option for the whole family because it can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages. We love this colorful set of nine free bingo cards from Cassie Smallwood . Use green M&M's or chocolate coins as place markers to double the fun. All you’ll need is some printer paper and black ink for these adorable and free St. Patrick’s Day coloring pages from Prudent Penny Pincher . With 20 options to choose from, your child is sure to find something that sparks their creativity. Build those vocabulary skills with this set of free printable St. Patrick’s Day word searches from Saturday Gift. If your child loves a game of I Spy, they’ll also love this St. Patrick’s Day-themed printable from Over the Big Moon. The printable is packed with rainbows, pots of gold, horseshoes, leprechauns and more that your child can tally up to practice counting while they play. Mashup Math makes learning fun with these festive St. Patrick’s Day math puzzles . There are three difficulty levels, ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. It doesn’t get much cuter than these leprechaun masks from The Crafting Chicks. The printable pattern is free to download. How do you turn a piece of paper into hours of fun? Try this colorful printable fortune teller from Kix. These printable St. Patrick’s Day paper dolls from Tip Junkie come with plenty of outfits and accessories and are sure to keep your kids entertained. If you want a more advanced coloring page for older kids, this intricate shamrock printable from Balancing Home contains a beautiful geometric pattern. Printabulls offers a packet of 15 free St. Patrick’s Day word scrambles . They come in varying levels of difficulty for beginner and advanced readers. How popular is green on St. Patrick’s Day? How much Guinness is consumed? Learn more about the Irish-inspired holiday with these facts and stats.
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