Art in Ministry

I took a course called "Art in Ministry" this semester.  It was a 1-credit independent study course that we made up essentially as my "I don't want to be deported" class.  (I needed one credit to bump me up to full-time status in order to meet the requirements of my student visa).  It was actually a great class and a change from all the paper-writing that I do in every other class.  I read a few books (Art for God's Sake by Philip Ryken and Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol).  I was asked to submit some of my thoughts from the readings and to create an art piece in response to both of them.  This is it:

I'll write more on that later.  For now, I need to study for the final I have tonight!

It's official...

I feel like I am officially a knitter and as happy as the little girl in this photo.  Happy because I never have to do the task that she is doing ever again.  I never need to wind a ball of yarn while someone else holds the skein, or while it is propped up between the backs of two of our dining room chairs (although that was a great day when I discovered that one).

Let me back up.... When I was in College at Northwestern I used to walk into the Yarnery or other cute yarn shops and for some reason would pine over the beautiful Yarn Swift they would have for sale.  (Actually, I must admit that I recently learned that they are called "Yarn Swifts.")  They were too expensive and unnecessary for a college student to buy.  After all, it is a good work out to hold the yarn between my feet and hold them up in the air while I wind yarn.  But this beautiful thing now belongs to me and was a gift from my mother-in-law for my birthday. 

For those of you who are curious, this is a yarn swift:

How wonderful!  But it gets even better...

I also used to go into those cute little yarn shops and steer clear of the yarn that comes like this, just because I knew the hassle it would cause when I got home.  Now, I head right to it and I'm actually disappointed when the yarn I want is is already a ball!  The other day I got this and *horray* I needed to wind it into a ball!

Now if that's not bad enough, I got a package in the mail that is a Christmas gift from my dad.  No, I did not cheat and open the box, the box just happened to be adorned with a huge picture of what is inside.  It is official, I must be a knitter if I have one of these in my house:

So now this is what I have under my tree.  I added a bow so I wouldn't be tempted to open it just to peek because I know peeking would turn into using and it would never make it's way back into the box.

  

W.I.P.

As I have mentioned before, I am totally addicted to knitting these days.  Maybe it is stress, maybe it is the season, I'm not sure but things sure do feel pretty hectic around here.  There is not any one reason for the stress or my feeling overwhelmed.  Maybe just too many good things going on... school, work, clc, marriage, friendships, family... the list can go on.

I did read in a magazine last week (not a knitting one, mind you) that knitting helps lower stress hormones and increase endorphins.  I now have proof that knitting makes you happy.  I'm not sure that Grant would buy that as a valid source, but that would not be anything new.  You should ask him about that... it's a pretty funny story.  That might explain why I have been knitting a ton lately and that my hives are a little less obnoxious.  (I have had pretty severe hives every day for almost 6 months now.)

Anyway... onto my thought behind this post.  One of the knitting websites I have discovered recently is Ravelry.  If you are looking for yarn-related inspiration, go no further.  It is fun to take pictures of the things I am working on and what I've completed.  I'm not sure anyone ever sees what I post, but it makes me feel productive and useful.  Just today I made the connection between the label on Ravelry "WIP" or "Work In Progress" and the title of our little blog.

I was in String Theory Yarn Co. in Glen Ellyn this afternoon and there was a woman working on what looked like a sweater.  She had put a lot of work into what she was making only to find out that she had made a mistake right at the beginning and unfortunately she had to pull it all out and start over again.

I named this blog "Work in Progress" because I feel like that represents me (and us) well.  It is amazing to look back and see areas of my life where I have grown and changed and areas where there are mistakes... to go with the knitting theme.  Those areas that are "mistakes" mean that I might have to pull out a lot of work that has been done and re-do it, even when everything beyond that mistake looks fine.  Pulling work out is frustrating and can be hard to do (when a lot of time has gone into it), but it does make me more familiar with the pattern and it does make me a better knitter.  I've even learned how to fix some mistakes without pulling a whole sweater apart now that I've been knitting for a while.  At the same time, other mistakes and glitches (and there will always be mistakes and glitches) are part of what adds character to hand-made work.  I hope that my life turns out like that - something unique and hand-made - one that reflects that handywork of my creator and my willingness to let him shape me.