I’m an avid crocheter. I have crocheted a great many pieces over the years. Hats, scarves, shawls, tees and sweaters, bags and home decor pieces. A great meany have turned out beautifully, others have turned out well and some turned out badly while others projects were abandoned.
I’ve said it before, not all crochet patterns are created equal. Some are well written, some are not. Some provide more information and step by step guidance and some do not. Some are written in a way you easily understand while others are not.
Following the Pattern
The lovely thing about crochet and knit patterns is that you can follow a series of instructions and create something beautiful–a sweater, a beautiful prayer shawl or more simple items like dishcloths. And it’s wonderful to see the work of your hands create something both useful and beautiful.
But sometimes, the pattern doesn’t work up as you think it will. Maybe it’s difficult for you to follow due to the way it’s written. Just because the designer wrote it in a way that made sense to him/her and had it tested by others, does not mean that the style will be one that you, the maker, will find easy to follow. This doesn’t happen to me a lot, but it has happened and it has made it harder to me to follow the pattern, making the process both slower and less enjoyable.
When you set about following a pattern, it’s an act of faith and trust. Faith that the pattern will work out exactly as you want and expect it to, and trust that the pattern designer has done her/his job and written a pattern that will yield the expected results in a clear and understandable way.
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And it when it doesn’t work out to pattern, or as expected or is seemingly impossible to follow or complete for whatever reason, you are disappointed. You wonder what you’ve done wrong, or whether you have enough of the skills needed, or whether the pattern designer is reliable. As a maker myself, I have had each of these thoughts when a pattern doesn’t meet expectations and I can’t yield the desired results.
But I continue to trust crochet patterns in the same way that I continue to trust in God’s plan.
Not Always Getting Our Way
God’s plan is not always on our own timing. And it’s not always the path we imagined, or desired for ourselves. At forty-six I now understand more fully that old saying, where God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window. Or maybe He simply opens the door later on. God doesn’t map out our lives before we are born–things are not pre-destined, but He does work things together for our good. He plans to prosper us. He does not plan to leave us disappointed or write unhappiness into our lives. “God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out [H]e also makes use of [H]is creatures’ co-operation.” (The Holy See)
When we are faithful, trusting that God will provide just as Jesus taught us, even when things seem dire or hopeless, we are acting as we do when we embark on a crochet pattern: with pure faith. We trust that pattern because it is supposed to provide us with the way to make a sweater. We trust the person who wrote it. How much more than should we trust God with the pattern of our lives? Jesus assures us we can trust Him completely.
I know that looking back over my own life, that windows were opened where I wanted a door opened. And when the door opened, I saw that it had been better before to only have had the windows opened. God somehow worked my choices (which were not always good) for my own good. And the way was not always easy, or the way that I wanted things to work out. He took all of it and gave me my greatest desires, my greatest joys and grew me into a more faithful daughter.
And he did that on very little faith from me. He is truly good and merciful.
The Lessons Crochet Patterns Have Taught Me
We act on faith when we pick up a pattern, yarn and a hook. Things mostly work out to pattern–as they should if designers are doing their jobs well and we have the skills needed. Crochet has pointed out to me that trusting in God’s pattern of working things together for good is an act of faith that I never need question or wonder about. I don’t have all the answers. But I know God will not hand me snakes in my life. When we know this, it’s so much easier to simply have faith and to be patient. Knowing this, will be less anxious. Knowing this our lives can ones filled with far more peace.
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