How Knitting has become a Spiritual Practice

When I think back on my knitting journey… I think of these words… “Now kids, you have to have 30 rows knitted by Monday” this is the voice of Mrs. Swanepoel… My  8-year-old eyes widen… palms sweaty… wondering how the heck will I get 30 rows knitted? I barely managed to get the wool onto the needles in 40 stitches… and now it is so tight I can’t even get the needles into the “hole” to try and knit… I can’t do it! and who wants to knit anyway?!! in this day and age! I would much rather go and sit in the peach tree with my book after school… But I panicked! somehow, I just couldn’t figure it out and I didn’t want to look “stupid”, so I hid the yellow needles and navy blue ball of wool in my bag… saying I will do it later…

Now there is something that I am appreciating more today than I even realized I could do back then, and that is “creative thinking”, how to get a solution to a problem with the least amount of effort… lol So I got picked up by my mom from school that day, we went straight to her upholstery shop she had at the time. It was Friday afternoon and I did not feel like doing homework and definitely not knitting!! I loved hanging out with the upholsterer ladies (Betty and Maria) that worked in my mom’s business at the time… Helping them fill the cushions with “chipped foam” or removing “staples” from chairs that have to be re-done… As they always did, they asked me how I got on in school and I told them my tale of woe of the knitting. Before I knew it, I had not one, but two knitters, that were willing to help! My homework got sent off with Maria, only to be seen on Monday morning again! lol How marvelous!

So I got picked up by my mom from school that day, we went straight to her upholstery shop she had at the time. It was Friday afternoon and I did not feel like doing homework and definitely not knitting!! I loved hanging out with the upholsterer ladies (Betty and Maria) that worked in my mom’s business at the time… Helping them fill the cushions with “chipped foam” or removing “staples” from chairs that have to be re-done… As they always did, they asked me how I got on in school and I told them my tale of woe of the knitting. Before I knew it, I had not one, but two knitters, that were willing to help! My homework got sent off with Maria, only to be seen on Monday morning again! lol How marvelous!

So as you can gather I did not like knitting, and never even tried… the first sight of a missed stitch (otherwise known as a “hole”) I became so frustrated! So I would rather leave it and find something that I enjoyed doing…

Where it all changed…

So many, many years later I find myself in Ireland and looking for ways to express my creativity… and being inspired by so many cool young women who were knitting really cool things, I decided to give it a go! My first item… a SCARF! knitted from a starter kit, that I bought on Amazon! I had no idea… where or how to start, but with the help of a guy on Youtube, I managed to learn how to “cast on” stitches, knit in all kinds of weird and wonderful ways! and “cast off” stitches. So anytime I got stuck, I went onto Youtube, to my trusty resource and followed step by step! Before I knew it, I was knitting blankets, scarfs, hats, shawls anything that was easy and FUN! I was knitting purely for the enjoyment of knitting! but then I started to notice something…

I started to “meditate” if you like while I was knitting… the repetitive actions of the needles allowed me to go into this strange kind of “meditative” state. While in this state I connected with something – a prayer, mantra, poem, scripture, quote, image etc. I quite enjoyed this, as it gave my mind something to focus on (apart from the knitting) but also strangely I associated the specific garment with the prayer, mantra, poem etc. that I was knitting. It was almost as if I was knitting the affirmation of the scripture, prayer, mantra, poem or image “into” the garment I was busy knitting.

In a way, the repetitive motion of the knitting, brought my consciousness into a deeper realm of connection with my spirit or soul if you like… So now, anytime I knit anything for myself or for anyone else, I let the affirmation come up while I am knitting, and as it slowly reveals itself, I repeat this over and over again in my inner being while I am knitting. I do believe that the “energy” of this affirmation (and sometimes its just one word) infuses the garment, and the intended receiver will feel the energy of this “affirmation” when they use it or wear it. Well… that is my belief anyway… and I have to say that many of the receivers of my knitting have said they “feel” this way or that way when they use the item… I suppose just like you can taste when food has been made with love, you can feel when a garment was made with love also…

Knitting has taught me that ANYTHING can become a Spiritual Practice… Whenever you do something that connects you to your heart and takes you to a place of love, compassion, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, you have found a spiritual practice! And the more you make time for this spiritual practice the more those ways of being will grow in your life.

Interesting how this has come full circle for me… Something that I found so frustrating and stressful, has become an act of loving kindness and connects me to my soul… Maybe it is just showing me, all the work that I have done, over the years and that things, practices, situations are mere triggers for what is there and needs to be expressed… and back then I suppose avoidance was my only answer to feeling frustrated and stressed. I am so grateful to Betty and Maria for helping me with all the homework over the years… and I wonder what they will say today if they could see me with a pair of knitting needles… lol

I am wishing that you find something that helps you connect to your heart and spirit, that helps you get in touch with your creativity and joy!

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