souliloquies

avoidance and confessions

in this blog post i've decided i'm not going to hash over:

• my job, or rather the loss of and continued lack thereof
• the fact that my ministry license can only be renewed via the jumping through of a whole bunch of hoops
• my sadness over this, that and the other, including that my father died the second weekend in april
• my, as laura petrie says about 8:20 and forward , general yuckiness

no, instead i'm wondering--what's up with knitting?

here's the deal. several months ago i knew of two people--no, three--who knit on a regular basis. and at some point looking for something completely unrelated online i found these little guys and fell in love:

 

so i decided i would learn to knit, so that i could make sheep. not anything else, you understand, 'cause i'm not interested in knitting for knitting's sake. just for sheep. so i asked my friend lisa, knitter extraordinaire, to teach me to knit. 

and she did.

so i made 2 sheep, and am working on 2 more:

and then things started to, well... come up about knitting. for instance, not only do i know those three people who knit, but i've heard a couple of other friends talking about learning. and then two bloggers i follow are talking about learning to knit:  robin mckinley, one of my favorite fantasy/sci-fi authors got thorough sucked in, and cathy zielske, a scrapbooker who blogs about non-scrapbooking stuff too which is good, because while i admire scrapbookers and the things they create, the idea of actually doing it makes me want to scream and run around in larger and larger circles until i can escape posted this four years ago, although i just found it today:

 

Oh, and knitting.

                 Yes. I can do a long-tail cast on. The garter stitch RULES. Bring on the repetitive                             stress injuries! Woo hoo!

seriously, i have been reading this woman's blog for years and had no idea. then again, maybe this petered out somewhere between now and then for her...

my point is, knitting seems to be making a comeback. publicly, at least. i'm beginning to suspect that there are many closet knitters out there that i have no clue about. i understand from my friend lisa, whose knitting book comes out this fall, that there are many men who knit, too. 

who'd've thought?

then again--who'd've thought i--that's me the un-handicraft-tastic, would be one of them? knitting sheep, or--yes, it's true, if less than expertly done... a scarf?

 

holy cats.

this, by the way, on top of developing and launching a worship consultancy, website and all; getting serious with my artist consultancy new website there as well; directing a one-act play and helping to plan the festival it'll be in, teaching a two-week class at church,and being in the middle of taking the last of four classes for my ministry licensing. amid all the other day-to-day things that come with family, friends, and life in general.

yikes. i think i should go have a cup of tea. and maybe i should knit a few rows, too. there is, after all, as robin mckinley says, a soothingness of knitting when you’re under stress, and how it gives you something to focus on and feel productive by doing.

then again, on a rainy monday, the very same thing could be said about blogging.

 

 

full sunday

 my third sunday back at my church after being laid off and taking a "sabbatical". today i:

started a new spiritual formation class--with my husband. that hasn't happened in about 18 years. spoke up a couple of times. had tons of fun; great people at our table, including the visiting esteemed former colleague the amazing tabatha & her husband. such a great serendipity!

had a lovely time in the worship gathering, very much appreciated receiving communion today.

found two new places to serve (going to be part of the rotation teaching team for spiritual formation, going to work with projection media with the students). hoping this will apply toward some of my requirements for keeping my ministry license even though i don't have a formal "call".

arranged to have an individual membership class, since there isn't a group one planned any time soon, so i can finally vote in the church's meetings. yes, it's true--i haven't been a member for the four and a half years i was on staff at this church. taking care of it this week. better late than never!

did my part to make sure we don't become one of those churches: a) filled out a comment card to my lead pastor and worship pastor regarding the use of non-gender-inclusive lyrics in a worship song that up to now has been inclusive; then b) after church brought up to one of our Leadership Team members one of the women the fact that our church's new Building Committee has not one woman on it & asked why not? she didn't have a good reason, but said they were aware. ok, i thought, but rectify that! 

i'm pleased and a little surprised at how much i'm enjoying my move from staff to congregation. hope the rest of the church will feel the same way... ha!

have a great week, friends!