About The Knit Before Christmas
The Knit Before Christmas is the blog of the Seamen’s Church Institute’s volunteer knitting program, Christmas at Sea. This program has been going strong since the Spanish American War, but this knitting blog has only just begun. This site will be updated weekly with knitting tips, free patterns, program updates, pictures and upcoming events, including our monthly knitting group.
About Christmas at Sea
The volunteer knitting program of the Seamen’s Church Institute, Christmas at Sea, provides hand-made knitted and crocheted gifts, symbols of love and hospitality to mariners far from home on Christmas Day, and has been doing so since 1898. In 2006 Christmas at Sea received donations from over 3500 knitters and distributed more than 16,000 gift packages which included a handmade item as well as a variety of useful items including a sewing kit, stationery set, magnifying lens, pen, mirror and comb.
Christmas at Sea is always looking for volunteer knitters! If you would like to participate, or know someone who would, please contact Jeanette DeVita, Program Manager, Christmas at Sea. She will make sure that you receive our free knitting and crochet patterns and the yarn that you need to complete your handmade contributions. If you would like to make a donation, please click here. Christmas at Sea is based in New York City. If you are interested in visiting, please do. If you are interested in participating in our knitting group, please contact me for more information. If you would like to participate, but don’t know how to knit, we gladly offer knitting instruction to volunteer knitters. Don’t be afraid to ask! We also publish a bi-annual newsletter of the same name. Please contact us to receive it by mail, or download it here.
About the Seamen’s Church Institute
Founded in 1834 and affiliated with the Episcopal Church, the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York & New Jersey (SCI) is the largest, most comprehensive mariners’ agency in North America. Annually, its chaplains visit 3,400 vessels in the Port of New York and New Jersey and along 2,200 miles of America’s inland waterways. SCI’s maritime education facilities provide navigational training to nearly 1,600 mariners each year through simulator-based facilities located in Houston, TX and Paducah, KY. The Institute and its maritime attorneys are recognized as leading advocates for merchant mariners by the United States Government, including the Congress, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the United Nations, the International Maritime Organization, the International Labor organization and maritime trade associations.
