Contemplative Knitters at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

Contemplative knitting re-emerged not long ago as a spiritual practice - one that opens a way to meditation and service to others. Have you noticed the contemplative knitters at HTEC?
 

Reverend Samantha Crossley, Carole Johnson, Deacon Mel Mattson and Linda Vance are often busy sitting with their handiwork projects at the hospitality table after church services or in church meetings. They know how wonderfully portable this craft is, toting their knitting materials where ever they go, offering them a chance to do something enjoyable and productive during often tedious times.
 

Our Linda Vance is a contemplative crocheter. From what is basically a piece of string, using only a single hook to hook the loops together directly on the piece, comes an object (Afghan), a real thing of warmth and beauty. It is this major difference that makes crochet much easier to work with than knitting.
 

She told me, “I have been crocheting Afghans (baby blankets) since I was 12 years old when my mom taught me something to reduce stress and relax me. As I got older and better, she taught me more complicated techniques, until she unexpectedly died of a fatal blood clot when I was 17.”
 

Her family’s Arkansas relatives consisted of a long line of crocheting artisans that taught her mom. Her Great Grandma Lilly was a very kind woman who took care of many children of people she did not know. Linda’s extended family relatives were true caregivers and encouraged Linda to become a nurse. However, because Linda suffers from brittle bones (Osteo Genesis Imperfecta), that never happened.
Great Grandma Lilly knew of her disorder and often encouraged her by saying, “Sweety you need to be doing God’s work in some other way.” Linda believed, “My mom did God’s work that was passed down to her and that precious gift was passed down to me. However, my mom never knew I was meant to follow in her footsteps in another way.”
 

Linda said, “I will never stop crocheting until I die. I can feel my parents and other relatives arms wrapped around me giving me a big hug every time I send 20 Afghans to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) with premature babies in hospitals. My wish is to be buried with my mom’s hooks, crochet bag, hook in my hand and a huge skein of yarn with my Aunt Phyllis Vance’s 52- year-old purple Afghan that I sleep with every night, yet today next to me.”
 

Linda has created about 400 baby Afghans and scores of other items to gift to others. Places to where she has shipped items at her expense, include Sandford Children’s Hospital NICU, Fargo,ND-(20 Afghans); St. Jude’s Pediatric Oncology Unit, Little Rock Children’s Hospital-(150Afghans, 6 shoeboxes of children’s games, crayons and coloring pages); Faith Lutheran ELCA Church, Wolverton, MN-(Afghans and baby clothes); Northern Options for Women, International Falls-( Afghans and other baby items) and too many other places and items to mention.

When I enlightened her by saying she was serving others like a deacon, she smiled and replied,“So I guess I am a deacon and a Guardian Angel like my mom taught to be, living out the Way of the Gospel to many hospitalized sick babies, children and pregnant girls.”
 

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after someone experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. Linda has experienced a number of traumatic events. Crocheting relieves her PTSD. “ My mood after a knitting session is virtually always drastically improved over how I was feeling before I picked up the needles that day. When done my 10x10 anxiety levels are down to 0 and my PTSD levels from 20x20 down to 0. It also lowers my blood pressure.”
 

As she sits quietly and crochets, her mind slowly calms. She opens it to all sorts of answers that she would never have considered otherwise. Most importantly, gradually comes a feeling of peace, of hope or anticipation or contentment.
 

Over time, her craft led her to a slower creative life which both emerged at its own pace. Crocheting keeps her busy and centered, but frees her mind and heart to dance around whatever issues or problems currently bothering her. This distance gives her more than just a blessed reprieve from worry.
 

Contemplative knitting prepares the knitter to take the plunge into living fully and actively participating in their lives. If someone can take some yarn and sticks and make a beautiful warm Afghan, someone can certainly construct their own happiness. And when knitters knit for themselves, the resulting creation is a tangible reminder that we can make our own warmth in what is often a cold world. Linda has used her crocheting to deepen her relationship with her Ground of Being and Giver of Breath and Life. She has strengthened her relationship with others and become centered in her life through contemplative knitting.

A Prayer for Crocheting: 

Great Spirit witness every stitch that I create as I crochet this Afghan. Through the warmth of this gift, Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who gives us the ability to create as an act of loving-kindness. Amen!

Resources: 

• Contemplative Knitting by Rev. Julie Cicora, an Episcopal priest in the diocese of Rochester, NY offers a way to turn the hobby into a spiritual practice.