ALLISON'S STITCH
by Sis. Gloria Dillingham, Westerly Ecclesia, Rhode Island, USA
ALLISON'S STITCH
by Sis. Gloria Dillingham, Westerly Ecclesia, Rhode Island, USA
February 8, 2002
This morning, after a very hectic week due to the birth of our first grandchild, I finally had a few free minutes all to myself so decided to knit on my sock. I wasn't happy with the way the heel texture was shaping up and knew I needed to frog that part. (Frogging is ripping out rows of knitting that you're not happy with. i.e., 'rip it, rip it'.)
I pulled the sock out of my knitting bag intending to work on it but instead just stopped and stared with tears in my eyes. There was the working needle stuck into a stitch waiting to have the yarn thrown and the new stitch made. It never happened because at that precise moment in time, my granddaughter entered the world and I had hurriedly stuffed the sock back into the knitting bag to witness her arrival.
I had been asked to be present at the labor and birth by my dear daughter and dear son-in-law. I was able to offer moral support and some positive suggestions to the mid-wife who wasn't aware of - or prepared for - how fast women in my family have babies; but I also tried to stay out of the way and just witness the wonder of the birth process. Thus I did a lot of sock knitting over in the corner of the room as we awaited the big moment.
It was mind-boggling this morning to think THAT particular, single stitch represented Allison's entrance into this world! It got me to thinking about knitting and life in general. Consider that one continuous thread is formed into stitches or loops one at a time, one upon another, all interlocked. Knit stitches are smooth and purl stitches are bumpy. A combination of these stitches gives the knitted items texture - which can be pleasing or displeasing, depending on the pattern.
Life is the same way. Our lifetime is one continuous thread. We have good times (knit) and rough times (purl) with the combination of the two forming the texture of our lives. Sometimes we can control the texture; sometimes we can't. All plain knit can be boring; all purl can be too stressful. We just have to do our best and hope that at the end of our lives when God looks at the finished product, the overall texture is pleasing.
I am 3/4's of the way through my continuous thread if you go by the Bible's 3 score and 10 years life span for man; but there's little Allison just three days (stitches?) into hers.
Grandma Gloria and Allison
For a brief period of time I seriously considered not frogging that heel because it would have meant losing Allison's stitch. But that would also have meant that I would never have been happy with the way that heel wore. Practicality won out over sentimentality and the heel was at last frogged and re-knit. Too bad we can't undo things we don't like in our lives as easily as that. So that particular stitch is gone; but on reflection, it's really still there. It's just been re-formed from the same thread and is still part of the continuous thread of my life. You can be assured that I will always refer to this pair of Opal socks as "Allison's socks".
Hopefully, there will be enough yarn left when I'm finished to make her a pair of matching socks like Gramma's.
By the way, Allison's stitch was a knit stitch.
Allison
-Submitted by Sis. Kara Pecson, San Luis Obisbo Ecclesia, California, USA
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