Do you know your combination?

notice that the knit stitches
are sitting with the LEFT Leg
facing front, rather than the
traditional RIGHT leg.

Still in limbo .... in between holidays .... in between work and play .... in between painting the kitchen and knitting a sweater for a friend .... leaves much time to ponder ...

i've been asked to help a friend in a pinch.  She needs the back of a sweater knit for her sister.  The back is 17" of straight stockinette stitch.. Knit a row, purl a row, knit a row, purl a row.  Rather mindless - - so of COURSE i said i'd help!  However, in this process i've discovered some new ways to do old things, i.e, tweaking the WAY i knit.  Have you ever heard of combination knitting or of Annie Modesitt?  Have you ever given any thought as to whether you knit Continental style .. or English?

It all boils down to which hand you use to carry your yarn ....   if you use your right hand you are considered to be a "thrower" because you throw the yarn around the needle before knitting the stitch.  However, if you carry the yarn with your left hand your knitting is more of a "pick and pull" style.  When i teach someone to knit i use the English method because it's easier to get the basic premise; however, once you learn how to hold your yarn using your left hand you may find that your speed increases. 

by knitting into the BACK of the stitch
it leaves the new stitch sitting correctly
and ready to be purled on the next row!

There are many variations, i have discovered, on the Continental method, one of which i think i might actually be incorporating into my own style!  I have learned how to tweak my 'purling' rhythm though it leaves my knitted stitches situated differently on my needle.  This can easily be remedied when i knit through the back of the stitch and thus i'm left with a correct orientation for my next purling row.  The following You Tube video is a great demonstration of something new to consider:



Realizing that my knitting can have new 'combinations' has left me wondering about my faith actually!  Rather than just assume that the way i've always done things is still the correct way to DO things, i find if i'm honest with myself, that my faith is actually stronger when things are rough and that my faith wavers, or is even nonexistant, when life seems to be flowing rather smoothly!  There! Confession!  it's easier for me to trust God, to run to Him, to seek His face, to long for His guidance when things are hard to understand, when i am afraid or confused or basically just lost as a goose!  However, why do i need any help from God when life is flowing smoothly, and things make sense and i can pretty  much handle things on my own?  Right?

WRONG!!!! Just think if my Trust was actually MORE consistent .. if i would include Him in ALL the steps of my day rather than just the rough ones!  He promises to guide my path, to be a LIGHT, to be a LAMP.  He longs to be included but is gracious enough to wait until invited!  Combination faith - - on the good days AND the bad days!  What a concept!  and What a Love would result!  What a relationship i could have if i opened my heart and life to Him in every way.  The friendship and love that would grow because i've been willing to reconsider my old habits!  The relationship and wonder; the first love feelings of recognizing that Him and acknowledging Him and acquiesing to His leadership and trusting Him because of His faithfulness!

I'm off to go purl the new way, to knit using some of my old methods but learning to incorporate my newly found discoveries .. and to apply the same mindset to my faith!

FAITH . . .

     EQUALS

Now FAITH is being sure of what we hope for ... and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

I think that this could most certainly be a life verse for me as a knitter .... so often i have the Big Picture of the Finished Project, the recommended yarn and appropriate needles, good lighting, time to sit and knit and create ... but despite all the right 'conditions' i have no guarantee that what i attempt WILL match the picture. It most definitely requires Faith on my part to Begin the Knitting Journey .... to maintain the process despite the times that i don't understand exactly how 'what i am doing now' will actually result in my string and needles looking like The Picture!

However, with each stitch i attempt i find that before long a shape begins to form.... a pattern is established .. and i rest in knowing that i CAN follow the pattern ....  i'm not resting in my own abilities, per se, but am trusting that the journey will indeed result in the destination/sweater/scarf/hat i was planning for!  FAITH ....

Sitting and knitting is like that tiny mustard seed .... which can move mountains .... AND make sweaters; it results in many, many hours of relaxation and pleasure when i recall where i started, lessons i've learned along the way, times i've had to FROG a row or two or three .... and even the projects that have been completed and captured in my knitting scrapbook.

WithOUT FAITH it is impossible to please God,

because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists

and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

i can almost knit on auto-pilot most days because i have learned from things i've done along the way.  How much more should my every day life be lived, in fellowship with my Father, based on the journey He has created and mapped out for me.  The pattern of my life that He is knitting ....

*it had a beginning (50 years ago),

        *each day/stitch has a purpose as it builds on the past and is setting up for 

                   the next row of tomorrows that He has designed,

                        *and because of my Faith in Him i KNOW my life has a end ...

                                a "reward" in heaven to spend eternity with Him.  

If i can follow a pattern from a designer i've never met, then why don't i rest on the FAITH i have that my Heavenly Father can, will and does knit my every day into the most beautiful of cashmere creations .... learning to see things thru His eyes ....  i have 50 years of proof that when He knits it's going to be a one-of-a-kind perfect fit!

Measure of Faith . . . in Silk

Got yarn?  check!
Got needles?  check!
Got pattern?  check!

just waiting ......

so WHY is that "project" still sitting there?  all the skeins of yarn are stacked nice and neat, there's a sticky note to mark the page of the t-shirt style pattern that is just waiting in my new book .... i've even swatched so i know that i prefer my knitpick needles over my bamboo ones .... and yet ..... it's all still sitting there ..... because why?

i'm usually NOT this cautious when i knit .... i jump right in (no swatching or nothing!]) and just grin while i knit ... until i mess up or decide i don't like something ..... and then i rip it out and start over, still grinning and anticipating (and hoping and praying) that THIS time it will be right!   i guess i'm rather easily entertained by the shear process of knitting ... but there are times, like now, that i'm frozen .. and my justifications are almost rational and mature  (yikes!)

Time:  yep!  committing to a garment is going to require Time and .... PLANNING ... yep!  another one of my "strong" points!  and did i mention COUNTING? yep!  i'll have to actually keep track of where i am in the pattern, making notes as i go so that the right side will Match the left side [what a novel thought!]  Now, while all these are valid excuses and perhaps even signs of wisdom, i also recognize them as signs of "immaturity" ... and basically FEAR!  and the best way to overcome Fear is just to plow right through it rather than allow that foothold to creep into my knitting stash!

There is no fear in love; for perfect love casts out ALL fear!  (I John 4:18)   Now i realize that this is just a bit (LOT) out of context, but in some ways it's really not!   I LOVE to knit ... and allowing anything to sidetrack shouldn't even be welcomed in my thought process .... i'm growing each and every day as a knitter by learning something, even if that means doing it wrong and ripping it out ... it's still a lesson that builds, day after day, on what I ALREADY KNOW!

and isn't that just like my Faith in the Lord? !!!  yes and YES and YES!  Every day He gives me 1,440 stitches/minutes to knit with.  Every day!  and as of today, i'm looking at approximately 26, 691,861 stitches TOTAL ... and that's a LOT of skeins of time with which to knit! Even more so, i have all the instructions i need for life, and love and living a Godly life contained within His Master Pattern - my Bible.  ALL the instructions .... no gaps or misprints or mistakes in sizing .... so why do i leave so much on the shelf just staring at me, untouched, unknit ... not even swatched?  Looking back should, and does, remind me of His Faithfulness ... His Mercies are New each morning .... His forgiveness is so sincere that He has removed my sins as far as the east is from the west (ps. 103:12).  These are not hopeful wishes, but clearly documented PROMISES ... so that i can ... and SHOULD. ... jump back into the knitting of TODAY, receiving the gift of His construction and design, and by Faith submit to becoming the fabric that He is knitting .. and labeling as mine!

The care label wrapped around my life reads as follows: 

Needle Size:  Calvary's nails

Care Instructions:  Washed in the Blood of the Lamb

Fiber Content:  Mercy and Forgiveness are plied together, tightly wound and interwoven

Note:  Upon completion, this yarn will be impervious to flames!

           Redemption has fortified this yarn, and left it White as Snow!

 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

 they are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness!

Lam. 3:22-23