Fal l 2 0 1 3 VOLUME 7 /N UMBER 2
The newsletter of the
WATCHthisCAP
Seamen’s Church Institute’s
Christmas at Sea Program
In this Issue
WATCHthisCAP
WATCHthisCAP
You have heard the expression “Watch this space,” meaning exciting further developments coming
soon. This winter, SCI asks you to #WATCHthisCAP.
Dear Friends 2
Between Thanksgiving and the New Year’s Day, the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) asks
knitters to help increase awareness of mariners’ contributions by making—and hiding in
plain sight—mini mariners’ watchcaps. The hats draw attention to the fact that mariners,
whose work is often hidden in plain sight, deliver more than 90% of all imported goods.
A New Hat for Mariners 3
Small Hats Making
a BIG Difference
Calendar 6
SCI makes available a pattern for a miniature mariners’
watchcap (along with an informational tag to attach)
so that people can educate the public about the world’s
maritime workforce. As part of a nationwide activity called
#WATCHthisCAP, knitters and their friends place completed
knits in conspicuous places to spread awareness of the
hidden maritime workforce.
SCI’s #WATCHthisCAP movement will have folks
discovering these handknit creations, revealing a fact that
many don’t realize: much of what shoppers purchase on a
day-to-day basis comes courtesy of the men and women of maritime commerce.
Find the tag and hat pattern enclosed with this newsletter (contact [email protected]
for more), and knit a mini mariners’ watchcap for your community.
Part of the fun will be
watching where these
hats wind up. The hats
fit bottle tops—from
olive oil to wine—but
can garnish other things,
too, like gas pumps or
bicycles. Where in your
community would a mini
watchcap belong?
The Seamen’s Church Institute
Track the placement of
the mini hats and monitor
their impact on Twitter,
Facebook and other
social networks using the
hashtag #WATCHthisCAP.
Watch this space for the
project’s development.
Déjà vu? 3
The 1898 Hat 4–5
Your Questions Answered 6
Baby, it
’s
cold outs
ide!
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.
Founded in 1834,
SCI is a voluntary,
ecumenical agency
affiliated with the
Episcopal Church that
When considering where to
place your caps, remember that
mariners do more than deliver imports. They also
move goods within our own country’s borders.
Inland river mariners and Gulf Coast workers
could benefit from some attention, too.
provides pastoral care,
maritime education, and
legal advocacy services
for mariners.
Dear Friends,
L
eftovers. Often that word implies “second
best,” a thing passed over for something
newer, better. But we do well to remember
that leftovers frequently come from something
fabulous. Could you imagine Thanksgiving without
leftovers the following Friday—sometimes more delicious than on the day itself.
Moreover, Thanksgiving leftovers provide an opportunity to relive and savor
again what was so excellent about the dinner in the first place!
As stitchers, we know all about leftovers. It seems that every single project
leaves us with just the tiniest bit of yarn—not enough for a new hat, but too
much to (gasp!) throw away.
Come visit the
Christmas at Sea
knitting room in
SCI’s Port Newark
International
Seafarers’ Center.
Email psato@
seamenschurch.org
to find out how.
I’m always so pleased when I find a good use for leftovers. I like making delicious
Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce. I love the look of a
sweater or a pair of blue jeans patched with a unique square of fabric. And I
enjoy adding cute stripes to hats and scarves. The food, the fabric and the yarn
leftovers are instrumental in creating something amazing.
Need help? Turn
to your knitting
friends for support. 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?
Need…
Patterns?
Yarn?
Ready
to mail?
Christmas at Sea
118 Export Street
Port Newark, NJ 07114
Paige Sato, Program Manager
973-589-5828
[email protected]
This fall, I ask you to take a look at your leftovers—small scraps of yarn—to
help SCI create something amazing, too—a planet with a better understanding
of the work and world of mariners.
Based on last winter’s TEAny hat project, we’re asking you, our legion of
knitters, to think big, but knit small for our #WATCHthisCAP campaign.
Knit up and tag new mini watch caps; and then between Thanksgiving and
New Year’s Day, drop the cap off somewhere—at your library, on the bus,
at your doctor’s office, at your church or in a restaurant. Put a cap on a wine
bottle in your wine shop. Stick a cap on a
toothbrush in your pharmacy, or top off a kiwi
at your grocery store. (Probably best to ask
The Inspiration for the 1898
permission before leaving your cap to make
Hat
sure the store owner welcomes the addition to
“The inspiration came from
his or her merchandise.) The tags are loaded
an illustration I saw in a
with information about SCI and the work
magazine published around
of mariners.
1910. Unfortunately I cannot
Like messages in a bottle traveling around the
world, we wonder where these mini watchcaps
will end up. We want to keep track of where
you and your friends put them, so we ask folks—
both organizers and finders—to send us photos
and videos of the hats, sharing them online
with the hashtag #WATCHthisCAP on sites
like Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
Fall 2013
Published by the
Seamen’s Church Institute
With over 4,000 Christmas at Sea stitchers in
our family, imagine if everyone left one hat in a
public place this winter. Imagine the number of
people learning about mariners. Imagine all that
good, coming from simple leftovers.
seamenschurch.org
Imagine.
The Rev. David M. Rider
Executive Director
Sincerely,
Editor, Oliver Brewer
Assistant Editor, Susannah Skiver Barton
Design & Production by BlissDesign
This newsletter is printed on recycled paper.
The Knit Before Christmas
find the magazine again,
despite much searching, but
the construction (bottom
portion knit vertically, then
horizontally in the round for
the top) made an impression.
When I saw the contest for
the 1898 hat, that old picture
came back to me as a way
to add the shaping required
by earflaps, though the
original didn't have earflaps.
I started to experiment
based upon that basic idea
of construction and came up
with doubling the bottom
portion for added warmth.
The fact that it would fit
under a hard hat didn't occur
to me but I am glad that
the men who will wear it
find that feature so useful!”
—Kris Byrnes, Designer of
SCI’s 1898 Hat
Paige Sato
Program Manger, Christmas at Sea
Fall 2013 • 2
seamenschurch.org
Déjà vu?
The History Behind #WATCHthisCAP
L
ast year, Starbucks coffee stores
surrounding Port NewarkElizabeth Marine Terminal, the
largest container port in the eastern
United States, adorned some of their
refrigerated beverages with miniature
seafarers’ caps. The project, called 1200
TEAny Hats (because the hats topped
Starbucks’ TAZO-brand tea bottles),
helped SCI reach consumers to talk
about the work of mariners who deliver
most of their consumable merchandise,
including the tea found at Starbucks.
Over 175 knitters participated in the
endeavor, making some 2,173 hats for
bottles sold at 12 New Jersey Starbucks,
spreading the word about mariners and
SCI to thousands of shop visitors.
A New Hat for Mariners
What’s fashionable on the high seas this winter? Some mariners will
sport a new hat designed by Kristine Byrnes of Allentown, NJ,
winner of SCI’s contest to keep seafaring ears warm.
SCI debuts new garb for mariners this winter. Earlier this year,
we asked the world to outfit the next generation of mariners
with an original knitted hat pattern based on feedback
chaplains received while visiting vessels in port. Mariners said
their ears were cold.
Curiously, while visiting ships this past winter, SCI’s intern,
24-year-old Jania Billups, lost three hats. The wind did not
take them nor did the sea. Rather, seafarers—seeing her
wooly hat—asked Jania if they could have it … because it
had earflaps.
SCI’s Christmas at Sea Program Manager Paige Sato took
this as a directive for the 4,000+ volunteer knitters she
coordinates from across the United States. Sato inaugurated
a contest for a new mariners’ hat pattern to supplement the
watch cap—a special design that would meet workplace safety
requirements and also incorporate the ear-warming features
that mariners requested.
SCI designed the TEAny Hats to mirror
a life-sized watchcap, a hat design that
has protected mariners traveling on cold
waters for hundreds of years. Customers
at New Jersey Starbucks who went to
purchase tea last winter discovered their
bottles topped with a mini watchcap.
The colorful wool on top of each tea
might have drawn some strange looks,
but customers examining the tag
affixed to each hat soon understood:
“From smartphones to blue jeans to the
ingredients that make this beverage so
tasty, seafarers bring us the comforts of
our daily lives.”
The project inspired knitters from across
the United States to craft the miniature
tea-topping hats, which helped spread
the news of mariners’ arduous labors to
deliver overseas products to American
shores and garner support for North
America’s largest mariners’ service
agency, SCI. But many felt the message
did not travel far enough. Passionate
knitters expressed a desire to enlarge
the project’s reach to locations in their
own communities.
design of the contest features a double-knit earflap that stays
put without tying below the chin. Chosen from a pool of
12 submissions, the hat should keep mariners’ ears sheltered
from the cold. Seafarers themselves evaluated the various
designs, trying them on and offering feedback to the contest
judges. They told the judges they liked the design because it
looks good on, and, “The hat feels warm over my ears,” said
one seafarer of the MV Ever Refine, traveling up the East Coast
of the United States.
The 1898 Hat pattern is now in circulation to the joy of
mariners everywhere. We have printed the pattern in this
newsletter, and you can also download it from our website.
This winter, SCI hopes that, while providing a new, warming
style for seafarers, its interns get to keep their own hats.
The 1898 Hat
supplements
SCI’s traditional
watchcap.
Download all of our
patterns online at
seamenschurch.org/
cas.
Called the 1898 Hat (in honor of the founding year of the
Christmas at Sea volunteer knitting program), the winning
The Knit Before Christmas
Fall 2013 • 3
seamenschurch.org
The Knit Before Christmas
Fall 2013 • 4
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The Knit Before Christmas
Fall 2013 • 5
seamenschurch.org
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I send my completed
knits?
I have my own favorite hat/scarf
pattern. Can I use that instead?
Although SCI has many centers across the
United States, there is only one address
to which knitters and crocheters should
send completed projects: Christmas at Sea,
118 Export Street, Port Newark, NJ 07114.
Sadly, handknits sent to other addresses may
get returned, undelivered and unloved by
mariners across the world.
SCI has made available patterns for garments
that meet workplace safety requirements and
match mariners’ needs; however, we welcome
others, too, with a few caveats:
1. Please use worsted weight yarn.
Hats cannot be bulky, as they need to fit
under hardhats; and scarves need to fit
under jumpsuits.
2. No embellishments. (See previous question.)
What colors can I use?
Just about any. Mariners, just like you and
me, love colors. Keep in mind, however, that
a large proportion of the seafaring population
is male and mariners work in messy
environments. Best to stick with bright or
neutral colors, shying away from pastels.
I have lots of small bits and pieces
of yarn—not enough for a complete
project. Can I use those odds
and ends?
Yes. Throw in a stripe or two (or three) on
any of the projects. If knitting a hat, try
knitting the brim in one color and the body
and crown in a second. For scarves, color
blocking works nicely. (The seafarer’s scarf
looks awesome with the garter stitch in
one color and the ribbing around the neck
in another.)
What about pom-poms or tassels?
Although they may look cute, we cannot
accept knitted garments with
embellishments like pompoms, tassels, fringe,
braids or buttons.
Mariners work
in dangerous
environments
around huge
equipment. These
extra bits present a
workplace hazard.
The Knit Before Christmas
What about sewn fleece hats or
scarves?
Christmas at Sea is really all about the
handknits. If you enjoy sewing, check out
our ditty bag, an excellent project and much
appreciated by mariners.
I want (or my group wants) to
do more. How can folks help in
addition to knitting?
Some ideas: 1. Include Christmas cards
with your knits. 2. Add some sample-sized
toiletries (e.g., lip balm, hand lotion,
toothpaste, etc.) to your box. (If you belong
to a church, suggest the church host a
toiletry drive to supplement your knits.)
3. If you live close enough to Port Newark,
come help pack the gifts. 4. Make a financial
contribution to SCI’s
Annual Fund in honor of
Christmas at Sea.
Can someone from
SCI come to my
group or church
to speak?
2013
Christmas at Sea packing days
are in full swing. If you’re
interested in coming to Port
Newark to pack, or having
Paige come visit your knitting
group or church, please email
[email protected] or
call 973-589-5828.
Oct 15 (Tue): Packing Day
at Trinity Reformed Church,
Plainfield, NJ
Oct 26 (Sat): Packing Day at
Pompton Valley Presbyterian
Church, Pompton Plains, NJ
Nov 2 (Sat): Packing Day at
St. John’s Lutheran Church,
Summit, NJ
Nov 7-10: Stitches East,
Hartford, CT; CAS booth
Nov 12 (Tue): Packing Day
at Grace Lutheran Church,
Somers Point, NJ
Nov 14 (Thu): Packing Day at
St. David’s Episcopal Church,
Cranbury, NJ
Nov 16 (Sat): Packing Day
at St. George’s-by-the-River
Episcopal Church, Rumson, NJ
Nov. 19 (Tue): Packing Day
at Trinity Reformed Church,
Plainfield, NJ
AT SEA
READY CHRISTMAS
TO MAIL?
118 EXPORT ST
rc
chu
ns
me
sea
Absolutely. If you are close enough
to any of the locations from
which we operate (Port Newark,
NJ; New York, NY; Paducah,
KY; Houston, TX; New Orleans,
LA; and Oakland, CA), we
would love to visit. Our staff
often travel, too, so ask if we’re
likely to be in your area soon.
Fall 2013 • 6
rg
h.o
PORT NEWARK, NJ 07114