web1_WBW02xx17Tunefly_2.jpg

Music app Tunefly, created by Wyoming Valley duo, to go on national tour

Wyoming Valley West Middle School launches shoe-drive

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; Nobody would blame Linda Nuss if she spent her time lamenting how she can&#8217;t walk or even stand.</p><p>But rather than dwell on the hardness of her wheelchair, 73-year-old Nuss concentrates on the softness of the snuggly little hats she crochets each day.</p><p>&#8220;These are my babies,&#8221; she said earlier this week as she sorted through a box of tiny caps she crafted from pink and yellow and green and blue yarn.</p><p>They&#8217;re <em>for</em> babies, too.</p><p>During the past three months, Nuss has crocheted 198 little hats to donate to the newborns at Geisinger Health Care System. She usually gets an early start, often by 4 or 5 a.m., takes a break for breakfast and keeps right on crocheting until lunch.</p><p>&#8220;She works so diligently,&#8221; said Miranda Jones, who is her roommate at Timber Ridge Health Care Center, where Nuss has lived for six years, after complications from hip surgery left her unable to walk.</p><p>&#8220;When I realized she was doing this, I was extra proud,&#8221; Timber Ridge activities director Patrice Bagnall said. &#8220;Linda could just sit there and say &#8216;pity me,&#8217; but she focuses on positive things and ways she can help others.&#8221;</p><p>Nuss, who used to live in Berwick, learned to crochet when she was in her 20s and used the skill to make sweaters and afghans.</p><p>&#8220;I made my mother a sweater once,&#8221; Nuss recalled. &#8220;She didn&#8217;t like it but the next week she asked me to make five more, for her friends.&#8221;</p><p>Looking back at her life, Nuss said she served 11 years in the Army, was a homemaker, raised three children, and became a nurse when she needed &#8220;a good steady job.&#8221;</p><p>Nowadays she&#8217;s a crocheter extraordinaire, spending much of her 14 waking hours each day crafting little hats, ever since a friend read an article about the neonatal unit at Geisinger having a use for them.</p><p>&#8220;Walmart has the best yarn, and if they don&#8217;t have the color you want, they&#8217;ll order it for you,&#8221; said Nuss, who enjoys the group shopping trips Timber Ridge arranges for residents.</p><p>As she opened a new, 14-ounce skein of pink yarn on a recent Monday, she estimated it would give her enough material for 10 little hats.</p><p>Sometimes she listens to the music of Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, &#8220;and, of course, Elvis,&#8221; on headphones as she crochets, and sometimes she snacks on Pepsi, sourdough pretzels and peanut M&amp;Ms to keep her energy up. It can take 60 to 90 minutes to make each hat, Nuss said.</p><p>If her hands feel tired or sore, she added, &#8220;Vaseline Intensive Care lotion makes them feel better.&#8221;</p><p>She tends a window sill filled with plants in her room, too, and likes to read from the Bible as a lector during Masses at Timber Ridge.</p><p>The hat project keeps her busy, but she&#8217;s not too busy to extend her generosity beyond the babies at the hospital.</p><p>She recently presented a baby-size hat to a cleaning lady who had a new grandchild, and she made an adult-size hat for the kitchen manager. Not to be forgotten, a tiny plush bear who sits on her bed has a blue hat of his own. Now all he needs is a name.</p><p>&#8220;I think I&#8217;ll call him &#8216;Lucky,&#8217; &#8221; Nuss said. &#8220;He&#8217;s lucky to have a hat.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker1-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0></caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Stuffed animals decorate Linda Nuss&#8217; bed, and if you look closely you&#8217;ll see a tiny white bear is wearing a blue hat that she made. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker2-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Stuffed animals decorate Linda Nuss&#8217; bed, and if you look closely you&#8217;ll see a tiny white bear is wearing a blue hat that she made. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker3-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The crochet wheel is a useful tool for making the hats. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker3-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>The crochet wheel is a useful tool for making the hats. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker4-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A little white bear sports an example of Linda Nuss&#8217; handiwork. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker4-2.jpg</photo3><caption3>A little white bear sports an example of Linda Nuss&#8217; handiwork. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker6-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">It takes about an hour to 90 minutes for Linda Nuss to crochet each hat. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_TTL020817hatmaker6-2.jpg</photo4><caption4>It takes about an hour to 90 minutes for Linda Nuss to crochet each hat. </caption4><photoCredit4>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Timber Ridge resident gifts the tiny creations to newborns</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>According to Geisinger Health Care System the following names are the top baby names of 2016</p><p><strong>Female:</strong></p><p>Olivia</p><p>Emma</p><p>Adalynn</p><p>Madison</p><p>Charlotte</p><p>Harper</p><p>Grace</p><p>Sophia</p><p>Lillian</p><p>Amelia</p><p><strong>Male:</strong></p><p>Jackson</p><p>Grayson</p><p>Liam</p><p>Noah</p><p>Jacob</p><p>Mason</p><p>Wyatt</p><p>Oliver</p><p>Carter</p><p>William</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘My babies’: Wilkes-Barre Twp. woman, 73, crochets hats for newborns