Comfort On Their Minds

August 7

Comfort On Their MindsNational Guard Captain plans to take hand-knitted helmet liners to those serving overseasJANINE UNGVARSKY For The Times LeaderWhen you’re thousands of miles from home and cold or uncomfortable, it helps to hear someone say that the people back home care about you. It helps even more to be handed proof of that caring — a handmade reminder that someone is thinking of you. Chaplain Ryan Kraus, a Presbyterian minister and PA National Guard chaplain, is soliciting donations of 500 hand-knit wool helmet liners to be distributed to his troops when he deploys in December.
Times Leader Photo StoreHow You Can Help• The helmet liners are being made with Plymouth Galway Pebble Heather color #752. Knitters interested in getting some of this yarn can contact the Presbytery of Lackawanna at 570-348-0643 or Electric City Yarns at 570-677-3918. • Directions for making the helmet liners are available on the Presbytery website www.lackawannapresby.org and at www.electriccityarnco.com. • Donations are also being accepted to cover the cost of yarn and shipping and can be made by contacting the Presbytery.Chaplain (Captain) Ryan Kraus wants to bring that warmth and comfort to more than 500 members of the National Guard serving overseas. So, when Kraus deploys in December, he hopes to take 500 hand knit helmet liners with him.“So often, it’s the little things that make a difference to them,” said Kraus, a Presbyterian minister who has been part of the National Guard for 10 years. “A little comfort can go a long way when you’re doing something difficult or dangerous, when you’re cold or wet or uncomfortable. It’s a reminder that people are supporting what we do and that people are behind us.”Kraus, who has been activated before but will be going overseas for the first time, enlisted the help of avid knitter and fellow Presbyterian Linda Frangos to help with the project. He said his request was probably a little overwhelming at first.“It was kind of a big order, 500 helmet liners by December,” Kraus said. “I didn’t know how many knitters it would take, but I’m grateful Linda offered to do this.”Frangos admitted to being a little shocked by the enormity of the task when she first discussed it with Kraus.“Everyone knows I’m an addicted knitter,” said Frangos, who meets regularly with a group whose members make scarves and other items to donate to various causes.“One of the women in the knitting group has a son in the Marines, and we made helmet liners for his unit of about 20,” Frangos said. “When I heard Ryan was deploying, I asked him if he wanted some helmet liners, and how many he would need. He emailed me back and said sure, the battalion has 500 soldiers.”Frangos admits to being staggered by the enormity of the task, but only for a short time.“We’re used to making 20 at a time and his battalion will have 500, but he’s part of our Presbytery and we thought this would be a great way to show our support for Ryan and the troops if we could make enough that every member of his battalion could have one,” she said. “There’s a lot of knitters out there and I thought we could do it.”The first task, Frangos said, was to find the right yarn. The colors worn by Marines are different than those worn by the National Guard so they needed to find the right color and couldn’t use what they had used before. And the yarn had to be wool.“Wool is always warmer, even when it’s wet,” Frangos explained. “And unlike acrylic yarns, wool doesn’t melt when it’s exposed to fire. That’s important in a war fought with IED’s,” she added, referring to the improvised explosive devices that have caused numerous deaths and injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan.For help with the yarn, Frangos turned to the shop where she and her friends gather to knit each week, Electric City Yarns. Shop owner Ellen Muzi helped them track down the perfect yarn — Plymouth Galway Pebble Heather in color #752 — and procure a large enough supply to make 500 helmet liners. Frangos said it will take about 450 skeins of yarn to make that many.The project has been well received, starting with the very first liner Frangos made in the National Guard colors that she took to a Presbytery meeting.“Ryan tried it on at the meeting and I announced what we were doing, and I had people from six different churches come up to me right away to say, ‘As soon as you get the yarn, we’re ready to go,” she said.As of this week, about 70 helmet liners had been completed, leaving more than 400 to go. How long it takes to make one is dependent on the skill and experience of the knitter, but Frangos estimates it takes about 10 to 12 hours to complete a stockinette and rib stitch liner. The knitters from the Presbytery and Frangos’ knitting group are clicking away with their needles, but Frangos and Kraus are hoping the community at large will join in the effort to meet the goal.Knowing that so many people took the time to make them will make the liners that much more meaningful to the troops who get them, said Kraus.“It’s tough to go over there,” said Kraus, who will leave behind a wife and three children ages 9, 6 and 4 when he leaves for his year-long deployment. “Many of these men and women have deployed before to Iraq or Afghanistan or both, and it exacts a tough price on the soldiers and their families. It’s really affirming of the work we’re doing and the risks we’re facing to have someone give you something like this, and not just something that they bought but something they took the time to make special for you. Getting an unexpected gift like that is very encouraging.”For the knitters, it’s another in a list of projects they have undertaken for various people in need, from abused children to the homeless to the military.“It doesn’t have anything to do with politics,” she said. “Making the helmet liners is about taking care of the people who are taking care of you. In the grand scheme of things, a helmet liner isn’t a big deal. We may not know the head it’s going on, but they know someone took the time to make something for them has to be comforting.”Kraus said he knows it will help the troops he will minister to when they receive the liners.“It’s just nice to know we’re not forgotten, that we’re not alone, that we’re taking a piece of someone else with us, that someone cared enough to make us more comfortable,” Kraus said. “Knowing someone took the time and effort to make this — that’s a personal investment of time and skill that lets us know that people really are behind us.”


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