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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Sometimes I feel like knitters get intimidated to try new things because they think they need to start with a big project. Your first time working in the round doesn’t need to be a sock, and your first colorwork doesn’t need to be a sweater, for example. You can find little projects that use the skills you want to learn to build your confidence before you move on to something that requires more time commitment.

This adorable knit bunny, for example.

The colorwork bunny from Knit Picks was designed by Amy Munson and is a kind of bowling pin shaped bunny complete with a knit hat, contrasting inner ears and a little stranded colorwork on its body. Note that the ears are attached the the hat not the bunny, but you could stitch them to the bunny if you’d rather.

It’s worked from the bottom up and also has a tiny pompom tail you can’t see in the picture but it’s a really cute touch. There are a variety of little fair isle patterns to choose from to make the best bunny for you.

The bunny comes out about 8 inches tall (or just over 20 cm) and use several colors to complete the colorwork, depending on the design you choose.

You can purchase the pattern by itself from Knit Picks, or make a kit that includes sport weight yarn in all the colors you need for your creation. There are gray and brown options for the main body of the bunny, but of course if you’re using your own yarn you can make it whatever color you like.

Once you’ve tried colorwork (maybe also working in the round and shaping if those are skills you haven’t used before) in a little project like this you’ll be ready to take on something bigger in no time.

Check out the pattern on Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

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