God is a knitter, too, just like my grandma.
Being Unravelled by Kari Martin, a superb and challenging blog post – really worth a read
This week one of us said that they were so inspired by what we were sharing. There was making a skirt or a book bag, or making a card by sewing a pattern or design. We still have teddy bears (pattern is here) being made for children in emergency care – advice was given on the video below on how to ensure the ears were great. It was great to make these but also nice when they sent a ‘Thank you’ card to acknowledge the gift. There was an intricate cross stitch made of possibly a favourite tie, designed for a loved one; some more baby hats for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.
We had some appliqué art which pushes the boundaries of the capabilities of our equipment and possibly ourselves! This used certain types of yarn such as Gütermann or Aurafil which were available through a wide variety of sources.
This required a special free motion darning foot, which requires maybe some practice – akin to tapping your head whilst rubbing your tummy! There were some who have designed pop-up cards, especially for the next festival of Pentecost, and those who were creating a large material banner which came as a pattern. There was a great programme on either Sky Channel 74 or here on the web, or on YouTube called Sewing Street. There as even an hour, known as Yarn Lane, between 12-1pm, which was focussed on knitting. Lots to look at there!
It’s all in the video below!
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
Psalm 139:10
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
We tried to imagine what God might look like if we were being knitted. We thought of the patience, perseverance, creativity and love might be entwined when creating us. Whether God used different feet in the sewing machine for each of us? What size needles might God use? Those various colours and textures of the yarn that God uses to bring all of our characteristics to the fore. So how might we talk with God about this using the similar tools?
We found that prayer wasn’t something we do when static but something we can do using ordinary words ‘as we go’. If we were in the garden we might find that we can acknowledge the wonder of creation as we tend to the plants – remember weeds are plants that we didn’t intend them to be there. Possibly as we ‘howked our tatties’ in the Autumn we might say some thanks using ordinary words 😉 As we walk, it may be part of the natural rhythm that we may pray. As we knit we find that the process is calming: the sequencing one in which we might flow with. That item we are knitting may be for someone special, and so we pray for them. We may be creating some cross stitch for a loved one, and here, possibly in silence, is our prayer. The radio may be on in the background which offers us opportunities to pray as we hear voices speaking about things local or afar.
Tatties got further mention today in our discussions as we savoured the taste of our produce or those grown by our parents in days gone by, of trips during the Glasgow Fair.
Top Tip: Potatoes could be planted, following chitting, on the new moon at Easter, but first feel the soil with your hand to check in case it is too claggy.
