Founded in 1834,

SCI is a voluntary,

ecumenical agency

affiliated with the

Episcopal Church that

provides pastoral care,

maritime education, and

legal advocacy services

for mariners.

The newsletter of the

Seamen’s Church Institute’s

Christmas at Sea Program

In this Issue

The Seamen’s Church Institute

Just as every stitch from every knitter contributes to mariners’ warmth during the winter months, every dollar you give to SCI upholds the valuable services we provide and on which the entire maritime community depends.

Fall 2014 VOlUME 8/NUMBER 2

Rising to the Challenge

Every month, folks at the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) examine a

report containing stats from our website, and the overwhelming majority of “hits,” or visits, come from one demographic: people looking for information on Christmas at Sea. Knitters (and crocheters)—more than any other single identifiable group—respond to the call we’ve placed on our website to support mariners. SCI asks … and knitters—like you—deliver with awe-inspiring abundance.

When SCI makes a new pattern available, knitters cast on within seconds of its publication. When SCI shares something on Facebook, knitters are the “first responders.” And, when SCI starts a new project like #WATCHthisCAP (see the story elsewhere in this newsletter), knitters and crocheters dive right in.

It makes you wonder how often in life simply asking for help (well, if you ask a knitter perhaps!) would result in you receiving it.

Knitters and crocheters make up a powerful part of the community supporting mariners. Besides knitting, many of you already find yourselves deeply involved in other parts of our work. If, though, you only know SCI through your involvement in our volunteer knitting program, could you consider supporting mariners in other ways, too?

If you haven’t already, have a look around the rest of SCI’s website—not just the Christmas at Sea page. Start by visiting our website’s homepage and having a poke around. Click through the links in the

blue box at the top of the screen—meet

the mariners SCI serves and take a closer look at

the work of our organization. If you want to know why SCI matters,

check out five reasons we’ve listed at http://seamenschurch.org/5; and if that information is old news to you, maybe you could share it with someone else who would find it surprising.

Here’s our challenge: examine all the stuff we’re doing for mariners. If it inspires you, think about getting more involved: donate supplementary items included in Christmas at Sea gift packages; remember mariners in your prayers; share your stories with us online; and if you do not already, consider making a financial gift to SCI to support mariners working around the world.

Having asked for your help, we know we can expect a tremendous response. Your generosity never ceases to amaze.

Dear Friends 2

Christmas at Sea Cowl 3

How You Can Help Now 3

Cowl Pattern 4

CaS Pattern Book 5

Think Big, Knit Small … 5

a Call for Hats! 5

What’s it like out there? 5

Shopping Made Easy 6

PaigeThe Knit Before Christmas Fall 2014 • 2 seamenschurch.org

Come visit the Christmas at Sea knitting room in SCI’s Port Newark International Seafarers’ Center. Email psato@seamenschurch.org to find out how.

Need help? Turn to your knitting friends for sup-port. Check out Christmas at Sea’s Facebook page to meet new ones.

Looking for a PDF of this newsletter that you can read on your iPad or email a friend?

It’s hard to believe another Christmas season is  here! Dear Friends,

I sit here in my office barely able to see beyond my desk over the piles of boxes and hats and scarves stacked oh-so-high. It’s hard to believe another Christmas season is here!

Honestly, even though this is my fourth season with Christmas at Sea, it never gets old. From visiting churches, community centers, retirement communities and knitting groups, to picking up toiletries from Scout troops, to answering phone calls and Facebook questions, when fall arrives, I am so excited for the start of another packing and distribution season.

Coupled with the excitement, though, is the teeniest smidge of worry. Will there be enough knits? Will we collect enough toiletries and candy? Will we find enough churches along the inland river system to pack for us, and will there be enough packers eager to come to Port Newark and Oakland to get these gifts ready?

When I first started managing this program, I had no idea how it would all come together. I spent many a sleepless night trying to figure how on earth we would get 20,000+ knitted items from over 4,000 knitters to mariners around the world. Gulp!

But I should have known better. Knitters consistently rise to new challenges. Four years after my first sleepless fall, I now know that when I explain what Christmas at Sea is all about, I can count on Scout troops to collect Halloween candy; I can count on Sunday schoolers to make holiday cards; I can count on businesses to round up their travel-sized toiletries; I can count on youth groups to come in on a Saturday and pack up gifts; but most importantly, I can count on my knitters and crocheters to pick up their needles and hooks and cast on for just one more hat when needed.

That’s why when SCI’s Gulf Coast Chaplain Winston Rice approached me to ask for another 2,400 hats (read why in the article “A Call for Hats!” elsewhere in this newsletter), I did not shoo him away. Yes, it’s a big number. Yes, it’s a little late in the game, while most of us need to start holiday projects for family and friends. But I also know Christmas at Sea knitters—for the past 116 years—have done whatever it takes to give more and more mariners more and more gifts each year.

Four years ago, this might have sent me into a panic but not now. I will sleep well this fall, knowing that in addition to the thousands of river mariners and seafarers getting gifts this holiday, we will also have made a merrier Christmas for up to 2,400 oil riggers in the Gulf of Mexico. We are Christmas at Sea—we rise to the challenge!

As always, thank you!

Need…

Patterns?

Yarn?

Ready to mail?

Christmas at Sea118 Export StreetPort Newark, NJ 07114Paige Sato, Program Manager973-589-5828cas@seamenschurch.org

Fall 2014Published by the Seamen’s Church Institute

seamenschurch.org

The Rev. David M. RiderPresident & Executive Director

Editor, Oliver BrewerDesign & Production by BlissDesignThis newsletter is printed on recycled paper.

HOW YOU CAN HELP NOW:

The Knit Before Christmas Fall 2014 • 3 seamenschurch.org

When it comes to contributing, sustaining, volunteering and spreading the word, knitters do it best. That’s why we’re counting on you, as knitters, to help us let people know why you support mariners, what SCI is all about and how landlubbers can connect with those working on the water.

• Using the envelope enclosed, make a financial contribution to SCI. A donation of $50 or more entitles you to receive a printed pattern book. (Read more about Christmas at Sea’s new pattern book in these pages.)

• Tell us more about you. We love receiving photos and stories from our stitchers. In our next newsletter, we plan on highlighting some of them (with your permission, of course), so say, “Cheese!” in a selfie and send it along to us.

• Send us one more Oliver’s Cap to help us reach our goal of 2,400 hats for oil rig workers in the Gulf of Mexico. (Find the pattern at http://smschur.ch/oliverscap.)

• Consider gifting “something extra” from the Amazon.com Wish List associated with the email address cas@seamenschurch.org.

Christmas at Sea Cowl

E ver since we released the 1898 Hat pattern (SCI’s new hat with ear-flaps), Christmas at

Sea stitchers have asked about other innovations in mariner knitwear. Some asked, “What about neckwear for the new millennium?”

Having given the question a bit of thought and then asking mariners what they thought, we decided to introduce … wait for it … a cowl (sometimes called a dickey) into our lineup of patterns.

While trendy cowls may have donned the shoulders and necks of famous women of late, men can wear them, too. In fact, the cowl makes ideal neckwear for the maritime workforce because it has no loose ends to get caught up in equipment. A cowl keeps necks nice and cozy while remaining safely tucked into a jumpsuit or work shirt.

The Christmas at Sea cowl may seem familiar—it’s basically the bottom half of our Helmet pattern. The ribbing keeps

the cowl close to the neck and provides elasticity so it slides over the head easily. Knit in the round, our cowl requires very little finishing (just weaving in the two tails), and you can do it with a single skein of worsted weight yarn.

Want to try knitting a cowl? Find the pattern included in this edition of Christmas at Sea’s newsletter.

The Knit Before Christmas Fall 2014 • 4 seamenschurch.org Page 1 of 1

The Seamen’s Church InstituteChristmas at Sea

For patterns and to read more about SCI, visit seamenschurch.org

READY TO MAIL?Christmas at Sea

118 Export StreetPort Newark, NJ 07114

CONTACT UScas@seamenschurch.org

Phone: 973-589-5828

JOIN US ONLINE http://cas.seamenschurch.org

ABOUT THIS PATTERNNo loose ends to get caught up in

equipment, the cowl stays safely tucked into workwear to keep necks cozy.

MATERIALSApprox. 150 yds worsted weight yarn

US size 8 circular or double pointed needles(or size needed for gauge)

GAUGE4-4.5st.=1” in 2x2 ribbing

COWL Using long tail cast on, cast on 88 stitches.

Join to knit in the round, placing marker to mark the end of the round.

Round 1: K2, P2* repeat from * until end of round

Repeat round 1 for 6-7”

Bind off loosely in pattern. Weave in cast on and bind off tails. Slip over a head, and wear!

The Knit Before Christmas Fall 2014 • 5 seamenschurch.org

Think BIG, KNIT SMall …Our #WATCHthisCAP campaign is back for a second year! We’re asking our stitchers to make miniature versions of our Seafarer’s Watch Cap to leave in conspicuous places around their communities between Thanksgiving and the New Year.

Why? The hats draw attention to the work of mariners. The unsuspecting finders of the miniature watchcaps will find an accompanying tag that explains how mariners’ work benefits us all. This project aims to raise awareness of a workforce few people know anything about.

Last year, our little watchcaps were left in stores and public places from New York to Florida to Colorado and California. How do we know that? Because the tag on each cap includes a hashtag (#WATCHthisCAP) so knitters and cap finders can share their sightings through the power of social media. Thanks to sites like Facebook, Twitter and others, we amalgamate the entire collection!

Join us this year. Let’s see where these caps turn up!

If you need extra tags, email us at cas@seamenschurch.org, or call +1 973-589-5828, and we’ll drop them in the mail.

a Call for Hats!This past summer, SCI entered the active phase of a new partnership with a major international offshore drilling contractor to provide pastoral care, guidance and support to its offshore workforce in the Gulf of Mexico.

SCI’s two Gulf Coast Chaplains, Winston Rice and Michael C. Nation, work out of a field office in Covington, LA (just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans) and cover from Panama City in the east to Brownsville in the west to Memphis in the north and into the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in the south as part of SCI’s Ministry on the Rivers and Gulf.

In late August, the chaplains inaugurated their Gulf of Mexico ministry on the deepwater fleet with a two-day, on-location visit to the DEEPWATER CHAMPION. The ministry will continue to grow over the remainder of 2014 with visits to additional rigs. With the new partnership, the chaplains have the potential to serve about 14 rigs in the Gulf—each populated with 150-200 marine and industrial personnel.

This new opportunity for ministry to mariners challenges Christmas at Sea to include offshore workers in our annual collection of knitted items. Knitters can ensure each one of these maritime workers receives a watchcap and Christmas card on Christmas Day to remind them that we on shore are thinking of them and appreciate the work they do. For this to happen, however, we need to supplement our current collection.

Over the next few weeks, SCI is looking to collect another 2,400 hats. (Workplace regulations stipulate no scarves—only hats.) The perfect quick knit for this challenge is our very own Oliver’s Cap. The “beanie” style ensures it will fit under a hard hat. As it uses only as small amount of yarn, consider using up your scraps and adding a stripe or two. Find the pattern online at http://smschur.ch/oliverscap .

Is this a challenge you can help us meet?

Christmas at Sea Pattern Book

The Christmas at Sea patterns are classics—SCI’s Watch Cap and Seafarer’s Scarf seem to have been around since the beginning of

seafaring, and it seems that many of our stitchers’ paper versions of those patterns have been, too!

Earlier this year, we compiled six of our recently reformatted basics (SCI’s Seafarer’s Scarf, Watch Cap, Oliver’s Cap, the Mariner’s Scarf, the 1898

Hat, and a pattern for the sewn Ditty Bag) into a small booklet (the Christmas at Sea Pattern Book) and bound it with a wonderful paperback cover sporting photos of the smiling faces of the mariners who wear our gifts.

The booklet is available for a donation of $50. (Of course, stitchers can also download these patterns for free online, but many prefer to knit from printed copies, and this attractive booklet keeps them all in one place.) If you would like your own copy of the Christmas at Sea Pattern Book, please indicate so on the included envelope with your donation.

What’s it like out there?

Follow the activities of SCI’s Ministry on the Rivers and Gulf chaplains on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/riversandgulf.

READYTO MAIL?118 EXPORT STPORT NEWARK, NJ 07114

CHRISTMASAT SEA

seamensch

urch.org

The Knit Before Christmas Fall 2014 • 6

KNIT

SHARE

TAG

DROP OFF

Knit your miniature watchcap using the pattern contained with this newsletter. (It only takes a few minutes and a tiny bit of yarn—a great way to use up scraps.)

Share photos, videos and stories online using the hashtag #WATCHthisCAP. (You

can also share it on our Facebook group at http://fb.com/christmas-at-sea.)

Punch out, sign and attach the tag included with the pattern. (If you need extra tags, email cas@seamenschurch.org,

or call +1 973-589-5828.)

Put the tagged watchcap in a place others will see—like atop a computer or a banana in the supermarket—between Thanksgiving and New Year. (Position your cap responsibly.)

Shopping Made Easy

Our Christmas at Sea wish list for “supplementary items” hasn’t changed much over the years.

When volunteers visit to help pack our gifts, we always try to include a handful of candies and some valuable sample-sized toiletries. Seafarers tell us they really appreciate these items, and we think we understand why: no one wants to run out of toothpaste three days away from the next port!

Getting these items to SCI’s Center in Port Newark has proved challenging in the past. Carting boxes of things like lip balm, travel-size lotion and chewing gum takes a lot of effort for things so small, and postage can cost a lot. So, we’ve come up with an Amazon.com Wish List to make things easier for those who’d like to add something extra to their knitting.

We’ve picked some of seafarers’ “most requested” items—things like hand cream, playing cards, candies and mini

shampoo bottles. Shop from the wish list, and Amazon will do the packing and shipping for you!

Here’s how:1. Go to

http://smschur.ch/cas-wish-list 2. Ta-da!

The Christmas at Sea wish list appears.

3. Choose items and pay for them like you would normally when shopping online. Later, we’ll receive the items with a card telling us the person who gifted them, and then we’ll distribute these items in mariners’ Christmas gifts.