Deborah Newton Designs Hat for Christmas at Sea

There are lots of different charities and places where you can send knit items to bring a little warmth to other people, but one that I really love the idea of is the Seamen’s Church Institute’s Christmas at Sea.

The institute was founded in 1834 by the Episcopal Church and it provides advocacy, training, legal help and pastoral care through visiting chaplains to mariners working in the Port of New York and New Jersey, the Port of Oakland and on inland waterways and the Gulf of Mexico.

Christmas at Sea aims to bring a little holiday cheer to people working away from home during the holidays (and in foul weather throughout the winter season) by providing knit and crocheted garments and accessories to maritime workers.

The group has an approved list of patterns, any of which can be made in washable yarn of your choice (though dark colors are best).

This year the group has teamed up with North Light Fibers and Deborah Newton to produce a new pattern — the Block Island Hat — available as a standalone pattern or a kit complete with North Light Fibers’ Ocean Avenue worsted, made in maritime colors especially for this project.

The hat includes diamonds, ladders, cables and chevron and takes one skein of yarn to knit. The kit, which comes with a project bag and your choice of yarn, costs $75, while the pattern alone is available from North Light Fibers for $35, with all proceeds going to the institute. Learn more from the institute’s newsletter.

Is this a cause you’ve given to in the past? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via North Light Fibers.]

Looking for more Christmas themed Knitting patterns? Check out some of our favorite Knitting patterns on Etsy and

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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