Patience signed up for an after school knitting club last January and I got to tag along with the other munchkins for an hour each Tuesday for about six weeks. Everyone except Vivace tried it out and it was fun. I learned how to knit, something I've always wanted to do, and now I supposedly can help the kids when they get stuck. I learned the knit stitch and one of Dante's teachers gave me a pattern for a dishcloth. I was so proud of myself! I can knit dishcloths! And it keeps me awake during sermons (not that they're boring but I listen better when my hands are busy so it's been a great occasion to practice and my attentiveness has been greatly improved).
Ok, so anyway, a neighbor of mine caught wind of my 'achievement' (probably because I came crawling to her for help one Sunday afternoon). She works with a local refugee resettlement group, and the local yarn shop was doing a "knit a quilt square" project to make blankets for the refugees, most of whom come from warmer climates (Senegal and the like). So I agreed to knit a square. What a stretch that was. I had to learn to purl, and to calculate gauge (still not sure of that... and I really struggle going back and forth between knit and purl - must be doing something wrong there). It was a challenge, but it was good practice. That said, it took me TWO MONTHS (mid March to mid May!) to finish that square. But I did it! Again, I was so proud. It was plain solid rose color. Nothing fancy. There was no way I was going to finish if I had to learn anything else new so I stuck with "boring". But it was done by the deadline (more or less) and it was relatively nice - pretty even and only one accidental yarn over "oops" that I decided we could live with (and they agreed). There were several hundred squares donated (mind you some folks churned out a dozen - I did ONE!). They were able to make several nice sized blankets and it felt good to help in a real way while getting necessary practice!
So 15 minutes ago (and four months later) my phone rings and it's the yarn shop. You see, each person who knit a square got entered in a raffle. And I won one of the raffles! I have no idea what I have won, or if I'll even know what it is, but they have "set aside a few items for me" and I can't believe I won! Wow. What fun. I learned how to knit - it has blessed me - I blessed some poor person I'll never meet with a plain block - and now I get a "prize". What a rewarding new hobby I've found. I'm really encouraged. And I'm definitely blessed.
Now to keep working on my knitting. . . . . :-) Dishcloth anyone?
-Shiloh
