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- Path to on of the world’s longest spits
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- Looking out toward the lighthouse and Mt. Baker
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- Mom on the path
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- Q with my favorite Olympic peaks behind him
For spring break last week I went with my mom and youngest son to Sequim,Washington out on the Olympic Peninsula. We had a marvelous time looking at where I lived until I was five, indulging in nostalgia and walking out on the Dungeness Spit where the waves crashed along over 5 miles of sand bar.
As we drove through the old downtown Sequin, my mom said those dangerous words:
“This looks like a place that has a knitting store!”
Sure enough. We found A Dropped Stitch and the friendliest knit store owner ever (Really! I could tell she loved her job, wanted to be there and she even helped me entertain my kiddo so I could shop. 5 stars for her!!).
The moment I touched the chenille I knew I was lost to another project. The Bella Chenille is soft like those throw blankets you can find in the stores around Christmas – the ones my boys fight over when they want to lounge on the couch.
When I work with yarn, I have an intense sense of calm connection. Perhaps it’s because of all the twisting and weaving and how each stitch combines to create a larger pattern. Transforming the yarn reminds me of that sweet (okay and sappy) song from the Prince of Egypt movie.
“A single thread in a tapestry
Through its color brightly shine
Can never see its purpose
In the pattern of the grand design.”
(‘Through Heaven’s Eyes’ by Brian Stokes Mitchell)
I can’t help but think of how we are all woven together as I click those needles and work the patterns in the varied and sundry places I go.
At one point, I tried to write out for my niece all the locations I had been while crocheting a pink shell blanket for her. I struggled to explain the way I did a sort of extended praying in color for her while in the jury duty pool, of all places.
I don’t write these sorts of things out for people anymore. I simply hope they can feel my good wishes for them as they wear or use what I’ve made in study sessions, sitting at doctors’ offices and waiting in a coffee shop while my mother has cataract surgery.
Perhaps that’s the secret ingredient in the handmade that we love so much and (hopefully) are willing to pay a bit more for: love.
May you find joy in making your gifts.
May you find the love wrapped in the gifts given to you.
Still in the ripping and pulling stage of learning the pattern
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Thank you for sharing the lovely idea of praying while making gifts.
You are most welcome, Martha.
Terrific photos, Karrie! I would love to go there some day.
It’s a beautiful place! It would be a long drive for you but maybe if you stay with your relatives near me you could break it up a bit. 🙂