The Knit Before Christmas

The snow is still covering the ground for St. Dunstan’s Parish in Madison, Wisconsin, but everything is coming up caps! These caps were Knit4Lent, collected and blessed on Easter Sunday. Isn’t this a great picture?

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Originally uploaded by Mary Hawkins

Wow!!!! The hats are pouring in! Today I’ve received more than 50 Knit4Lent packages and have gotten lots of messages that hats are on their way or will be sent later this week.

I have completed 8 hats, but I don’t plan to stop now. Knitting hats is a great way to take a break from a project that gets to be a little to tedious or complicated. And I always seem to take on projects that are too tedious and complicated! I’m hearing from other knitters and groups that they plan to continue knitting hats for Christmas at Sea throughout the year. On behalf of all the cold headed mariners we serve, THANK YOU!

These are hats knitted by a new Ravelry friend, Mary, a very talented and generous knitter. She knit a dozen hats for us and managed to use up a lot of stash yarn!

Another knitter is sending hats all the way from Germany. One knitter is using her handspun, and another incredibly prolific knitter only stopped after 22 hats!

Thanks to everyone who has participated, whether you knit 1 hat or 22!

Happy Easter!

Have you seen our Knit 4 Lent Gallery? Take a peek and see pictures of hats from all around the country. Please send in a picture of your hat to have it added to the gallery. Extra points for creative pictures.

Happy stitching!

Jeanette

Hello everyone,

How’s your Lenten Knitting going? I have been plugging along at my hats. So far, I’ve knit 7, and I plan to complete at least 3 more by Easter.  I have been finding much of my inspiration  for this practice in a discussion group on Ravelry. We have over 100 members in our group and the conversation has been lively and motivating. 

I thought I would share a couple of posts that I found particularly moving: 

• Monday night at Prayer Shawl knitting I was explaining to someone about the 4,000 Hats in 40 Days and why I was working on a hat. I explained that I had decided to make all of my “public/meeting knitting” during Lent to be for  4,000 Hats in 40 Days. Two of the ladies looked at each other and said something about “It’s her TOM.” When asked about this they explained that at the beginning of Lent they had been talking about “Giving Up Something” vs. “Taking On More” at EFM, which has tuned into the shorthand of TOM and GUS. I like those names! (Though since I only changed what I was knitting, instead of taking up knitting in public/meetings altogether, maybe it is my Tom, instead of TOM.)      Barbara

This has been my first time participating in an online Knit Along, and I am loving it. If you are a knitter, and you are not yet a member of Ravelry, I can’t urge you enough to come online and join us. Although Knit4Lent will soon be complete, our group wanted to continue knitting together all year, which really makes me happy! I’ve loved getting to know everyone and I am glad we will stay in touch.

In non-Ravelry Knit 4 Lent news, I was so happy to meet several groups of knitters and crocheters at the NJ Diocesan convention who have been Knitting 4 Lent since they read about the project on Episcopal Life Online.

I can’t wait to see how many knitters are knitting along.  If you send in caps for this project, please label the package so I know that you have been Knitting 4 Lent with us.

Peace

Jeanette

PS This is Chaplain Marge Lindstrom, who not only distributes our handknit gifts to seafarers each Christmas, she makes them too!

Hello knitters,

I would like to introduce you to our Lenten Knitting & Crochet project: 4,000 Hats in 40 Days.

The idea for this project spun out of a wonderful Episcopal knitters community I found on Ravelry. If you aren’t already a member of Ravelry…well, what are you waiting for?!? It is a great resource for knitters and crocheters; and, you’ll be able to join our 4,000 hats in 40 days group.

Many of the knitters I’ve met on the site are Christmas at Sea knitters, and I was asked to lead a Christmas at Sea knit a long. 

That got me dreaming big…I had been wondering how Christmas at Sea could possibly raise an additional 4,000 hats this year to give as gifts to the mariners working in the Gulf. In previous years our gifts to those mariners have been homemade cookies, cards and bandanas. The KAL and the need for hats seemed like a (challenging!) match made in heaven.

So we started a group. As of today we have 77 knitters committed to knitting for this project, and many of those knitters are taking the project to their parish.

I hope you’ll join us too. Here are the participation guidelines:

• Hats should be made in colors appropriate for both men and women.
• Hats should be made from machine washable yarn. If the yarn is not machine washable, please stick a note in it that says "Hand wash only"
• Hats can be made from our Seafarer’s Cap pattern, but can also be made from any pattern appropriate for both men and women.  You can find lots of great (and free!) patterns on the internet. Here are three suggestions that have been submitted by group members:

Stockinette Seamen’s Cap

Marsan Watchcap

Chunky Ribbed Cap

• Hats knitted for this project should be received by March 30

Lent begins on Wednesday, February 6. I hope you will join us! Please let me know if you have any questions at all. And please send any pictures of completed hats that you’d like to share.

Let the knitting begin!