Girls Knitting and Then Some

Since I was here, the groundhog came and went  - no shadow. However, most of the US can attest to the fact that Punxsutawney Phil was definitely wrong. Negative degree temperatures, piles of snow, and even here in DFW it's been in the 20's with a flurry or two in the air.

I wish he'd been right.  I'm ready for spring. For bluebonnets and baby animals and t-shirts and flip flops. We're almost there, but not quite.

I made the dip referred to in my last post and I'm not sure if it was that concoction or the wings purchased from a local frontage shop, but either way, most of the partakers suffered immediate gastrointestinal issues, so the dip recipe, and the leftovers were promptly discarded.

(If you made the dip, ate it and it went well with you, please let me know. Then I can place the blame on the wings for future reference.)

What I've really be up to is knitting and more knitting. About a month ago, at our neighborhood Bible study, I was asked to teach a few of the ladies how to knit. We met within a week or so, and thank the good Lord another knitter showed up to join us, who was very proficient in her skills; it took the both of us to handle the table full of women eager to learn.

And thank you, also, God, for not sending anyone left handed. I didn't think about that ahead of time, but have no clue what I would have done. Someone said something about using a hand mirror?...

Are there any left handed knitters out there? If so, how did you learn? So I can be prepared when one shows up to join our group, aptly named The Sit and Giggles.

It's sort of amazing how confusing it can be to learn to make a slip knot. And as soon as one feels proficient in that, there's the casting on. And THEN you learn to knit. Having to learn all three the first time you attempt knitting can feel daunting. I was proud of the ladies just for staying the course, and more so for coming back the next week.

We've now met three or four times. As I sit around the table watching the ladies, all their hands holding yarn and needles, eyes looking down with such concentration, but chatting about this and that, and sharing their stories, it is so gratifying. Just to sit and be a part of it all. Some were fresh beginners and are now starting a dishrag or scarf. Some were beginners and are learning to pick up stitches, turn stitch legs, tink (unknit), join in the round. A few have knit for years and are picking it up again, joining our circle as they knit hats for shaken babies, or grandchildren, or even a sweater for themselves. One was immensely brave and asked to learn how to knit a sock. We even have a couple of crocheters in our midst, and one who brings her teensy pieces of quilting fabric to hand piece.

What our hands are doing is of little importance, really. That we are together is what matters. As our rows of stitches grow, so do we. Leaning in a little more toward each other. Seeing past the surfaces we have become used to settling for, into hearts and being allowed to see things - people - perhaps a bit differently than before. That changes everything. It changes our neighborhood. Our town. Our state. Our country. Our world.

I've been blessed to kneel down behind some of these women, take their hands in mine and guide them through the motions of in and out, over and under, showing their hands the rhythm, then watching them accomplish it themselves. I've had a few sessions of one on one when a problem arose, or a little less chatting was needed to absorb the skill that was eluding them.

This past week there were about ten of us, and about a dozen or more have joined us for one week or another. It's hard to describe how good it feels to be part of a group that is somehow bound together with women who have been meeting for generations and generations, all over the world; women sitting with laps full of needles and yarn, trying to learn something new. But mostly just coming together for a bit to share their lives, their hearts, their struggles, some of which involve knitting and many that don't.

I am not an expert knitter; it would be generous to call my skills intermediate. I just know a bit more than most of them did, and was willing to share.

So what do you know how to do that you can share? That you can teach? That you can sit and listen over? I promise if you figure that out, and do it,  you'll be blessed and then some.