A few weeks ago I women I knew in passing at church grabbed my hands and said “I have something for you.” I’m not a huge knitter, but I can 🧶 knit and I want to knit more...she can no longer knit and asked if she could gift me her knitting books. I spent a wonderful afternoon with her and her husband, looking at art, hearing stories-it was a beautiful, unexpected connection.
This is a nice thing to ponder. I'm doing a counted cross stitch project this year (yes, it will probably take a year to complete) and it's fun to start putting different colors on the canvas and watch it turn into something recognizable. It takes patience. I make mistakes and sometimes need to remove stitches and sometimes I don't. I figure it will make this more uniquely my project if I have a few differences.
I love being just focused on it and if I don't get to it for a couple of days to put a few stitches in, I long for it. It calms and centers me. On the other hand, too much and my hands hurt. So there is a balance element too.
How would our world be different if our leaders would have a knitting circle to discuss their issues?
I spent countless hours on cross-stitch projects in my younger decades. After organizing my materials, I always hesitated (procrastinated?), finding the blank cloth a bit intimidating. But once I made that first stitch, I always enjoyed watching the scene emerge, one x at a time. I viewed mistakes the same as you do :-) realizing that our imperfections make us uniquely special. Thank you for refreshing my memories. Enjoy many hours of contented x-stitching ahead!
Question: Have you ever experienced a situation when a shared appreciation created a connection? What has been your experience with things that can only be done one stitch at a time?
“Its also about what happens when we open a space and welcome something shared, something beautiful, something that connects.”
It’s what happens HERE....all of us so very different, touched so deeply by words, strung together sharing thoughts we thought we were thinking and feeling by ourselves, only to discover we are knitted together by something less than air, thinking and feeling a part of something greater!
Thank you for the sweet reminder of the love shared through knitting. My mom was always knitting.
Even when flying next to my dad in his small plane... they would both smile and wink that her stitches would tighten up when the weather was worrisome .... bumpy, dark clouds, rain.. She was his faithful co-pilot. We all have momentos of the things she shared, custom-made for each of us, like the Irish Fisherman sweaters, with unique stitch patterns for each of us... all quite good at giving us extended hugs of love that last and last.
You gave me inspiration with the word continuity and now stitches as I practice little steps and perceive life a little differently. Right now my stitches are about practices that help me come from within while being vulnerable to the outside world, but in a good way. I wrote this to help myself take those steps:
Outside of Inside
Nothing ever
fulfills naturally
from the outside
of my insides,
no external “fix”
for growth and thriving.
So I turn my own attention toward
nature and find something more than just something outside of myself.
I watched sunrise’s morning dove
as it turned it’s attention
toward the deep,
of it’s own feathered enfolding, preening and tending.
There is a natural gentle insulation that feathers give to the life of a dove,
that supports effortful and effortless flight and keeps them dry and warm.
So tending its feathery depth is vital.
This is where the morning dove showed me how to go within, enfold, insulate, and tend my own soul.
But there is an unfolding too, between perch and ascension;
the place where there is a launching and a participation with life and all the vulnerability that comes with it.
So for this I look to the cardinal.
It naturally invites attention, and knows what it is to be seen but that comes from deep inside of its inner-connection to the earth in all seasons.
Science has observed this wholeness and mysterious way that nourishment from pigment in the plant life from all seasons, permeates the cardinals bone and feather shaft and creates it’s scarlet plumage.
And when I see that vital flash of red
on the deepest cold of winter’s snowy branches, I sense something about the striking beauty in the winters of my soul,
not winters of isolation and hungry lack, but I sense continuity.
This is where the cardinal shows me that it does not seek assurance from outside itself. It is a carrier of assurances, that earth’s green, orange, and yellow will nourish, provide and cycle into spring, summer, and autumn, and winter,
A few weeks ago I women I knew in passing at church grabbed my hands and said “I have something for you.” I’m not a huge knitter, but I can 🧶 knit and I want to knit more...she can no longer knit and asked if she could gift me her knitting books. I spent a wonderful afternoon with her and her husband, looking at art, hearing stories-it was a beautiful, unexpected connection.
What a beautiful story. I love that you spend the afternoon together and shared stories!
This is a nice thing to ponder. I'm doing a counted cross stitch project this year (yes, it will probably take a year to complete) and it's fun to start putting different colors on the canvas and watch it turn into something recognizable. It takes patience. I make mistakes and sometimes need to remove stitches and sometimes I don't. I figure it will make this more uniquely my project if I have a few differences.
I love being just focused on it and if I don't get to it for a couple of days to put a few stitches in, I long for it. It calms and centers me. On the other hand, too much and my hands hurt. So there is a balance element too.
How would our world be different if our leaders would have a knitting circle to discuss their issues?
I spent countless hours on cross-stitch projects in my younger decades. After organizing my materials, I always hesitated (procrastinated?), finding the blank cloth a bit intimidating. But once I made that first stitch, I always enjoyed watching the scene emerge, one x at a time. I viewed mistakes the same as you do :-) realizing that our imperfections make us uniquely special. Thank you for refreshing my memories. Enjoy many hours of contented x-stitching ahead!
Question: Have you ever experienced a situation when a shared appreciation created a connection? What has been your experience with things that can only be done one stitch at a time?
“Its also about what happens when we open a space and welcome something shared, something beautiful, something that connects.”
It’s what happens HERE....all of us so very different, touched so deeply by words, strung together sharing thoughts we thought we were thinking and feeling by ourselves, only to discover we are knitted together by something less than air, thinking and feeling a part of something greater!
Thank you for the sweet reminder of the love shared through knitting. My mom was always knitting.
Even when flying next to my dad in his small plane... they would both smile and wink that her stitches would tighten up when the weather was worrisome .... bumpy, dark clouds, rain.. She was his faithful co-pilot. We all have momentos of the things she shared, custom-made for each of us, like the Irish Fisherman sweaters, with unique stitch patterns for each of us... all quite good at giving us extended hugs of love that last and last.
Carrie ... i love this. Reminiscent of room at the table...but happier somehow
Thank you for your writing, always.
You gave me inspiration with the word continuity and now stitches as I practice little steps and perceive life a little differently. Right now my stitches are about practices that help me come from within while being vulnerable to the outside world, but in a good way. I wrote this to help myself take those steps:
Outside of Inside
Nothing ever
fulfills naturally
from the outside
of my insides,
no external “fix”
for growth and thriving.
So I turn my own attention toward
nature and find something more than just something outside of myself.
I watched sunrise’s morning dove
as it turned it’s attention
toward the deep,
of it’s own feathered enfolding, preening and tending.
There is a natural gentle insulation that feathers give to the life of a dove,
that supports effortful and effortless flight and keeps them dry and warm.
So tending its feathery depth is vital.
This is where the morning dove showed me how to go within, enfold, insulate, and tend my own soul.
But there is an unfolding too, between perch and ascension;
the place where there is a launching and a participation with life and all the vulnerability that comes with it.
So for this I look to the cardinal.
It naturally invites attention, and knows what it is to be seen but that comes from deep inside of its inner-connection to the earth in all seasons.
Science has observed this wholeness and mysterious way that nourishment from pigment in the plant life from all seasons, permeates the cardinals bone and feather shaft and creates it’s scarlet plumage.
And when I see that vital flash of red
on the deepest cold of winter’s snowy branches, I sense something about the striking beauty in the winters of my soul,
not winters of isolation and hungry lack, but I sense continuity.
This is where the cardinal shows me that it does not seek assurance from outside itself. It is a carrier of assurances, that earth’s green, orange, and yellow will nourish, provide and cycle into spring, summer, and autumn, and winter,
again, and again.
So I am insulating,
nourishing,
and inviting
at the same time,
with the oneness of two birds
and a wide world,
all from a simple breath
and peaceful backyard green.
May I enfold and tend the depth of myself.
May I unfold and invite the continuity
and inner-connection with the goodness in life,
rather than seek anything outside of myself,
as I see myself,
I see,
and
I am seen.
Lindy, oh my...
”This is where the morning dove showed me how to go within, enfold, insulate, and tend my own soul.
But there is an unfolding too, between perch and ascension;
the place where there is a launching and a participation with life and all the vulnerability that comes with it.”
Beautiful, thanks for sharing a precious part of your journey that speaks strongly to my life!!!!
Thank you Lynette. ❤️🙏
This is so fine. Thanks for sharing. Remembering Maui
Thank you Sara. Yes, Maui, ❤️🩹🙏
Lovely!