Hello knitters,
As of today, we have 12,898 gifts in house for mariners! That’s a huge number, but it is 3,602 items short of our goal. If you’ve got the time and yarn to knit one or two more items, we can certainly use them.
All items being received now are immediately packed into gift bags and boxed up If you are in lower Manhattan please stop by and visit the Christmas room!
Happy Stitching!
Jeanette
Written for The Knit Before Christmas by Whipstick Knitter, Catalina
The Whipstick Knitters are members of a larger Internet group called The Gunroom which is devoted to discussing the novels of Patrick O’Brian, the era in which they take place, and, as we say, "everything else."
The formation of our litttle group grew out of a lively discussion of knitting in the novels. Casting about for a name which would be both nautical and knitty, the whipstaff of a ship which is a vertical steering stick attached to the tiller a deck below was changed to Whipstick to make us sound handy with our needles. Our motto, "Which it will be ready when it is ready!" is borrowed from Jack Aubrey’s grumpy but devoted manservant, Killick, and is intended to put pressure on no one.
Columbus Day (in honor of another mariner) was chosen as the date to upend our seabags for muster and shake out our finished projects, mailing them to one member located in New York who then made the delivery accompanied by another (non-knitting) Gunroom member seen holding a copy of O’Brian’s HMS Surprise, the third novel in the series in the photo. We had decided on a goal of 21 knitted items, as there are 21 books in the Aubrey/Maturin canon, including an unfinished one. Having met our goal earlier this year, we did a further volley, as it were, or a second read-through with two to spare, submitting 44 items in all.
We currently number 13 Whipsticks from all different states and maintain an internet sub-list for our knitting activities which includes knitting for other charities and our own projects. Most of us have never met one another, only one knitter having actually come face to face with two others but on separate occasions and one of those with a sister in the group. In spite of that, and in the best tradition of Jack Aubrey’s delight in a pun, we are a close-knit group!
The log of our progress (and more photos!) may be more closely followed at the Whipstick Knitters’ Blog.
If you or your knitting group would like to write a guest entry, please do! 
This Sunday, SCI Chaplain Deacon Jacques Girard visited St. John’s Episcopal Church in Cornwall, New York. Knitters from the parish brought their Christmas at Sea knitted contributions to be blessed before sending them to SCI.
A special thank you to St. John’s and Chaplain Girard for sharing these photos.
Why not hold a similar event at your parish?
Have a happy halloween knitters! And don’t forget about our sock contest! Any knitters submitting socks before November 15 are eligible to win a skein of Socks that Rock.
I am thrilled that Christmas at Sea has been chosen as a service projects for In the Loop, a knitting and crocheting group based in lower Manhattan. They "welcome all craftsters with a passion for giving."
Here’s a blurb from their blog:
We’ll focus our time, energy and creativity on projects with a purpose, knitting and crocheting garments and gifts to benefit those in need. Free patterns will be posted here each season.
Get out of the office, join our lunchtime and evening socials, and enjoy giving to great causes!
Their first Brown Bag Social will be Friday, October 19 from 12-2pm in the Winter Garden, the World Financial Center’s public atrium. I’ll be attending. If you’re in the area and would like to join me, please leave a message in the comments and let me know. More details are available on In the Loop.
I hope to see you there.
I think 2007 is the year of the sock in the knitting universe. So far, Christmas-at-Sea has collected nearly 300 pairs of socks, more socks than ever before. But seeing as its the year of the sock, I think we can double that number by December 1, and I would like to challenge all of the CAS volunteer knitters to help me meet this goal. I certainly can’t knit them all myself!
As an incentive, any Christmas at Sea sock knitters who contribute socks by November 15 will be entered into a drawing to win this beautiful skein of Socks that Rock, generously donated by Blue Moon Fiber Arts.
This post is inspired by Socktoberfest! a month-long celebration of sock knitting hosted by Lolly Knitting Around. Lolly posted this sock knitting questionaire on her blog. I’d love to see your answers, feel free to leave them in the comments or send them by email.
Good luck and happy knitting!
When did you start making socks?
2002
Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
I "taught myself," meaning that I read a lot of tutorials and instructions thoughtfully prepared by other knitters.
What was your first pair? How have they “held up” over time?
My first pair was a basic sock with a ribbed cuff made from Trekking. They were a gift to someone I rarely see anymore. I have no idea how they’ve held up.
What would you have done differently?
I did a sloppy job with the toe. It was too pointy! I wish I would have ripped it back an inch and re-grafted it.
What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
Socks that Rock, Opal, Regia, Koigu, Tofutsies,
Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
Magic Loop! I love knitting socks this way. I used to use 5 DPNs but I often broke them. This year I’ve knit all of my socks on a circular needle and I have been much more prolific.
Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
Heel flap.
How many pairs have you made?
More than 10, fewer than 20.
If you visit the website for St. Paul’s Chapel (www.saintpaulschapel.org) and scroll down the page to a feature entitled "I Am A Child of God" you will hear the personal story of one of our favorite sock knitters, Lina Lowry. It is a brief video I think you will enjoy, and she mentions her knitting for Christmas at Sea. You will also notice CAS volunteer, Dolores Osborne in some of the footage.
Hello friends,
The Knit Before Christmas has some great new features, but I need your help to make them interesting.
1. The Community Map
How can you or your group get on the map? By leaving a comment or sending an email with as much information as you would like displayed. If you don’t want to display your address, simply send me your zip code.
The community map is one more way that CAS knitters can connect with each other. Maybe you are knitting Mariner’s scarves all alone in Toledo and want to join a group. Maybe your knitting group needs more members. Maybe you just want to represent your town. I’m looking forward to seeing a well populated map.
2. The Gallery
We have a fantastic new gallery, just waiting to be filled with pictures of CAS knitters, finished objects, works in progress and knitting groups in action. So send your pictures to me and I will be happy to post them. Please include any caption you wish, or if you’d like me to write a caption, just let me know.
I’ll be waiting to hear from you.
Jeanette
Hello knitters! Welcome to the Christmas at Sea knit blog. My name is Jeanette, I am both a volunteer knitter for Christmas at Sea and a staff person of the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey. Whether you are a knitter, eager to learn, a friend to SCI or just happened upon this page, I’m glad you made it here. Christmas at Sea distributes 16,000 handknitted gifts to those who work on the water and are away from home on Christmas Day. Each one of those gifts is made by one of our 3,500 volunteers. If you are a Christmas at Sea volunteer knitter, post a comment and let me know. If you mention your town or zip code, I will add your location to our community map and we will begin to get an idea of exactly how vast our knitting community is. Please add The Knit Before Christmas to your blogroll, take a button, or simply mention us to a knitting friend. If you are not already a volunteer knitter for Christmas at Sea, I urge you to print out one of our free patterns and cast on today. Our patterns are suitable for beginners and quick enough for more seasoned knitters to complete in just a few nights. I hope to hear from you often and soon. Please visit About The Knit Before Christmas or our website to learn more about both The Seamen’s Church Institute and Christmas at Sea.
Pieces: 2,273 / 4,000 (57%)
Pieces: 11,114 / 17,000 (65%)
