Generations

One thing I’ve appreciated more and more this year is the value of being still and making things with my hands–especially with my children.  I think back to the times I sat with my grandmother while she knitted and with my mother while she made amazingly creative things for our home.  These are some of the best memories I share with these great ladies. 

   (photo credit)

 

It’s made me even more determined to be a memory-maker this year with my daughters. 

Last year I penned a list of observations and life lessons I learned through knitting–but they apply to sewing, crochet, and probably just about any other endeavor where you get to create something with raw supplies, some basic tools, your love, and your hands:

Sometimes more is gained from slowing down than from running harder.

Every big project starts with that first stitch.

Take time to spend with your parents and grandparents and children in a quiet, “agenda-free” setting.  Those are the times you’ll remember most when they’re not with you.

Things worth having are worth working for.

A teensy slip-up, ignored and not fixed, can turn into a great big hole and a nasty mess down the road.

It’s easier to fix a problem right away than to wait until later.

If something’s a real mess, sometimes it’s best to rip it out and start over from the beginning.

Enjoy both your results and every stitch of the journey to get there.

Finish well.

Homemade really is better.

Read the instructions.

Don’t panic when you realize you’ve messed up.  Stay calm and think it through and you’re on the way to fixing the problem.

Listen to advice from those that know more than you.

When Grandma says, “I can fix it, honey,”  chances are she really can.

When God said He knit you together in your mother’s womb, He didn’t use a knitting machine.  He did it stitch by stitch, purposefully and full of love.  And He didn’t make a single mistake.  (Here’s where He said that.)

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Happy 2009!