A Special "Service" Announcement

A guest post today from Marti at 52 Quilts blog:

She is a quilter and a military mom among other wonderful titles. I am amazed at all the wonderful things she does! I unfortunately 

have never learned to knit but I thought

 I would try to help in other ways with Marti's efforts. 

First and foremost is to spread the word about a special project she is a part of...

It’s no secret that many quilters are also knitters. 

Sometimes, it’s just not convenient to quilt – while waiting to pick up the kidlets at school, in church, at the doctor’s office. 

And hats are the perfect thing to knit at these times. 

Hats are easy, fast; rarely require complicated directions and they’re portable.

Sinta graciously invited me to write a guest post for her blog about a group near and dear to my heart, Hats for Sailors.

 My younger son is a Sailor on the USS George Washington, CVN 73 (that means nuclear-powered aircraft carrier). 

The GW’s homeport is Yokosuka, Japan, but they’re getting ready to put out to sea 

for their summer deployment.

What's it All About?

A group of knitters join together each year to knit hats for US Navy Sailors.

Here is the description of the group, from Ravelry:

We are providing hand-knitted and crocheted hats 

for sailors in the US Navy one ship at a time. 

It all started with Shanti who writes the blog 

Adventures in Paradise and had the idea to provide a handmade

 hat to every Sailor serving on the ship she would be commanding.

 Lynne, her mom, made that idea a reality with the help

 of knitters and crocheters from all over the world. 

We continue to knit and crochet hats

 for Sailors on other ships. It is cold on the ships and they can wear 

the hats when they are off duty.

Here is a photo of many of the hats knit for Sailors in 2013:

I just had to include this photo because two of the striped hats in the center of the photo were knit by my friend Marilyn, here in Colorado:

Here is a photo of members of the CGC Halibut (Coast Guard Cutter) wearing our hats:

Hats are fast and easy to knit -- Ravelry.com has lots of free patterns! Here are the guidelines:

The color and design of the hat are the choice 

of the knitter/crocheter, 

but ALL HATS MUST BE 100% WASHABLE WOOL.

 Both men and women serve on the ships. 

We have two deadlines each year - Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day.

 If you have questions about the project or want to know where to send the hats, email us at HatsforSailors@gmail.com. 

You can also read our blog at Hats for Sailors.

If you're a knitter, won't you consider knitting a hat for a US Navy Sailor?

.............................................

I hope  you might be able to help! 

Here is Marti's info if you have any other questions for her regarding the project:

www.52quilts.com or email to AuntMarti at 52quilts dot com

See you at the parade tomorrow!