A Cross Transformed

Want to hear a "transformation" story about  my limited-experience-in-crochet?  My step-daughter and her partner gave me a gift card to JoAnn's for Christmas.  So I treated myself to The Crochet Handbook & Stitch Guide ed. by Ruth Patrick.  I found what appeared to be a simple pattern which makes up into a small block with a cross in the center.  I thought this might make a nice little lap afghan of cross blocks, and it is piecework, such that I could tuck it in my purse and take it with me and work on it in odd moments where I found the time.  Like when we had to take the car in for the new wheel bearing recently.  Or like when we had to take the car in for the oil change.  Or like when we had to take the car in (again?!) for a new headlight.  I must say, the guy in the service department was very talkative when he saw my yarn and crochet hook.  Mark told me about his grandmother, who taught him to do needlepoint, just like Rosey Grier (I don't remember Rosey Grier, but my husband knew who Mark was talking about).

So I begin with a ring, and it's coming along quite well, I think, looking like a ring and all.  And I count out chains and skipped dc's and so forth, and pretty soon, it's to the fourth round out of seven total, and it looks suspiciously not at all like a cross, but rather more like a snowflake (the yarn is white with a bit of sparkle...Caron "Simply Soft Party"...and the edge is all soft and ripply, nothing at all like the flat, cross block picture in my pattern book). So, I decide to accept this new creation for the beautiful snowflake that it is, and make a loop (ready for the Christmas tree next year!).  I will try again, to see if the cross reveals itself the second time around...

We have people working on making (or buying) afghans, lap quilts, and prayer shawls throughout our New England Conference!  Some people are spreading the word about this mission via church Facebook pages.  Others are letting their church groups know about it, so their knitting, crochet, sewing groups can plan what they want to make and bring. Church newsletters are also a good way to share about this mission...or the old-fashioned, face-to-face sharing over a cup of tea or coffee.  Saturday, June 15, Gordon College, Wenham, MA, morning worship.  Blessing of the blankets, and sending them out to those in need, around our New England Conference, and the wider world.  Join us in the making, in the purchasing, in the gathering, in the blessing, in the sending!

And, for those of us who are crochet-pattern-reading-challenged, pray for us, that our hooks can find their way, to create what the pattern intends (otherwise, I may have to settle for a snowflake afghan...).