....and they're OFF!!!!

have you ever been in the yarn shop .... just wandering and looking and taking it all it ... meandering through the beautiful textures and rich colors - - the patterns that are displayed to inspire - - the new gadgets, and needles and bags to hold all the treasures ..... when all of a sudden, BAM! out of nowhere a skein of yarn jumps into your basket - - it calls your name and you simply submit! Not sure What you're going to do with it, but fully confident that it was love at 1st site ... mutual admiration and within the next 24 hours you'll be wearing this treausure, in some shape, form or fashion!
You rush home and begin knitting; letting the yarn inspire the needles ... stitches are flying and your heart's content .... you've found the pattern and it's just going to be amazing!!!! knitting along, you encounter your 1st knitting ‘trick’ …. K2tog. Simple, right? Knit 2 stitches together to create 1 single stitch, and in so doing, you have made a ‘decrease’ in the stitch count and are on your way to revealing the masterpiece of a pattern. You knit a few more stitches past the center of your pattern and you find another K2tog, which you comply with, and just keep going ….. however, did you know that there is more than one way to decrease?

Before starting a pattern I have learned that a simple survey of the big picture may give me some clues as to ways to fine tune things so the end result will be a better reflection of the journey. Case in point: while a k2tog does minimize the stitches, it also leaves you with a Right Slant in your row, and that’s great if you aren’t going for ‘balanced’ ….. IF you’d consider using an SSK (slip a stitch knitwise, slip another stitch knitwise, insert left needle into the front of both of these and NOW knit them together) you’d have a complimentary Left Slant … and thus, balance at the end of the day … or pattern!

It’s a rather simple concept …. Avoiding the impulse and applying things you’ve learned from your past that you know are tried and true …. Much like our daily walk with the Lord. There is more than one way to live each day, each moment of my life. He will love us regardless of our “spontaneous” moments that exclude Him, but we may soon find ourselves with a skewed, Right leaning slant on life ….. When I stop and view my day through His eyes and find that I can rest in His promise of provision and providence and genuine regard for my ultimate well being, I know that with each moment of mine that is slipped and then knitted into His plan leaves a decrease that blends beautifully … seamlessly …. Effortlessly in the pattern of my day!

John 3:30 is a perfect Knit So Simple verse …. He must Increase; I must decrease!