This post will be a little off the beaten track, unless you're one of the people who know me well. For those who know me, you know I have a love for crafting with fibre. And those who really really know me, you know I also have a love for my God. What better than to unify these two loves?
Several years ago I began knitting prayer shawls. these are any style of shawl that the crafter wants to make, with the blessings knitted into each stitch. The first shawls I made were in the Trinity pattern, which I thought was appropriate since the church I belong to is Trinity United Church. It has a repeat of three knit, then three purl stitches. When I knit I say"God Is Love", and when I purl I say "God Loves You. Sometimes I change it up a bit by using other three syllable phrases, but you get the idea. The finished shawls are taken to the church where they are blessed by the minister and then given to someone who is deemed to be in need of one. The recipient never knows who the knitter is. A few years ago I was given one when I was bedridden after having surgery on my foot. It was a pattern I've never knit, and I don't know who made it, but every time I pull it around me I feel like I'm getting a big warm hug from the knitter, my church family, and God! And truthfully, I don't care who made it. I'm grateful for the fact that it was gifted to me.
Well in addition to knitting, I like to crochet granny squares. I can't let any scrap of fibre go to waste- when I don't have enough yarn for a project, I use it to make multicoloured granny squares. the ones I make start with a chain of 6, then they are joined and 12 double crochets are made into the ring. then there is a pattern on each subsequent row of three double crochets, one chain, three double crochets all the way around, for as many rounds as you want to make. I usually do 6. (Those of you who don't speak the lingo, bear with me here. I'll soon be to the neat part.)
Well look at the numbers here: everything builds on the Trinity of God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I start with 6 chains, a multiple of 3. I make 12 DC's. I work in a pattern of 3 DC and a chain.I do this for 6 rounds. Are you seeing it? Of course you are, it's so obvious.
As I was working away this morning, I found that my stitches were falling into a rhythm: as I pulled the hook through the two loops of the first DC, I was saying "Fa-ther" on the two parts of the stitch. On the second stitch I was saying "Son and" and on the third I increased it to "Ho-ly Spir-it".HO was when I looped the yarn over the hook to draw it back through, LY was as I drew the first loop through the two loops,SPIR was the loop being drawn through the second set of two loops, and IT was when I made the single chain stitch. It all came together and felt so natural! I will try to post pictures of each step.
So now I can be prayerful when I am knitting and making granny squares. I have found that I can knit blessings into any knitted shawl pattern I care to make. Sometimes it's necessary to make the phrase longer or shorter. The important thing is that I work carefully and prayerfully, and continue to make these hugs for those who need them.
