Knitting

My daughter Annie excitedly showed me her latest knitting project last night; a cable-stitched square with an intricate cross over pattern on it. She is a literal knitting machine. My living room is overrun with brightly colored yarn balls and needles!

Some of my most treasured items are lovingly handcrafted heirlooms. I have great Grandma's crochet samples and patterns, her pioneer apron, and a few other very difficult to crochet doilies. I have some items that my Grandma lovingly made as well. I can still remember her sitting in her chair with the click-click- clicking of her knitting needles as she diligently made each of us warm mittens, scarves and slippers. They weren't all her nimble fingers at that time crafted. There were countless afghans as well. Each one was specifically made for someone in the family, a daughter or son, or one of her ten grandchildren. Colors were carefully chosen and put together with much thought. Many were the times as children that we went to the store with Grandma to pick out skeins of yarn for just such a project. Back at home the work began. We were given the job of taking each skein of yarn and unwinding it to remake into a tightly wound ball of yarn. Not always an easy job for small hands, but Grandma didn't seem to mind that they weren't perfectly wound.

We were always interested in how fast she could knit one, purl one, knit one, purl one. Before we knew it she would have one strip made and then another. We never did actually see her put the whole thing together. She did that at night when we were all asleep. Sometimes we only got in on the selection of colors for one of her creations and then we would have to go back home, our little vacation was over. The next time we would see Grandma would be Christmastime. And she almost always brought a new finished product with her.

Knitting is an age-old craft. Items that are knitted are warm and durable. They are not easily pulled apart. It's amazing that a piece of yarn and two needles mastered by nimble fingers can create such a unique woven material. To knit something means to join closely and firmly together. It comes from an Old-English word meaning knot. When we tie something in a knot, it does not easily come apart does it? It holds fast.

Did you know God has some knitting projects of his own? He's got some things He wants joined together. Those projects involve His children. That's us if we have been born into His family (John 3:3). He, too, does some 'knitting' for our comfort, for our well-being. Colossians 2:2 tells us His desire is "that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ". God wants us to be knit together in love with each other. We are to be knotted so we don't come apart. We are to be so close you can't tell we're not one unit. Where can we get that kind of unity? Only in a local New Testament Church! We are to be so close as believers serving Christ together with one purpose that we can't hardly function without each other. Colossians 2:19 illustrates it this way, "holding the Head (Jesus Christ), from which all the body (that's the local church) by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God." I still remember some of my Grandma's knitting instructions that said increase one. That meant you were to create an extra stitch on the needle to make your item larger. Well, God increases His projects too! Psalm 115:14 gives us a prayer, "The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children." I want to grow, don't you? We should never be satisfied with our current state. I don't recall my Grandma's yarn yelling back at her when she worked on her project. Neither do I remember it complaining the whole time as she pulled out more yarn and increased the stitches on her needle. The yarn would just gently roll off the wound ball and compliantly allow itself to be stretched and pulled to whatever specifications my dear Grandmother desired. Let's allow the Lord to work on His projects and make us into whatever He desires for His honour and glory, without complaining and murmuring, submitting to His will - yielding to His wishes that we may be made into a desirable, useful, artful creation of His choice!