Avery’s Baby Blanket

    

What a mess!

My mom was a great bargain hunter, although occasionally she laughed at her purchases later. “Look at this,” she shared laughing while holding up a pair of shoes. “A great deal, but two left feet!” 

    I thought of mom’s bargain hunting escapades after purchasing a skein of variegated yarn in rainbow sherbet colors at a yard sale. It would have been perfect as a knitted baby blanket for my new great niece. However, there was a problem right at the outset of the project. When I pulled on the loose end of the yarn which was tucked inside the skein, it wouldn't come out. So, I pulled harder, which resulted in several big knots. Inch by inch, starting with the loose end, the yarn had to be untangled and wound into a ball—a long, slow process.

     After spending several hours without making much progress, Al advised me to buy another one and start over. I finally gave up, stuffed the tangled mess in my knitting drawer and bought new yarn with similar colors of lime green, pinks and purples.

    The pattern for the blanket had been shared by a friend and looked “do-able” although it was my first time knitting a blanket. The stitches were repetitive, fairly easy and made a delicate lacy design. I did get lax about counting the number of stitches every row, however. It took so long to count 146 tiny stitches… When I finally did count a row somewhere in the middle of the blanket, there were only 126 stitches. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. What should I do?

      I could rip out rows until reaching one with the correct number and continue on from that point or just try to add a stitch every row or two until there were the full amount of stitches once more. Twenty stitches measured about two inches, which meant that the edges of the blanket would be uneven with the latter method. Baby Avery was already several months old by this time and so pressured by time, I decided to use the ‘add a stitch’ method.

      When the project was finally completed, it was pinned onto a rack, sprayed with water and then left to dry in the hopes that it would even out during the “blocking” process. In spite of repeating that procedure several times, the little blanket was still shaped a like a trapezoid with the two bases nearly the same, but whose sides curved inward! Even though Avery was already a toddler and had celebrated her first birthday, I hoped that she would enjoy carrying the cuddly, though somewhat lopsided, baby blanket around with her.

     The baby blanket project reminds me of the way we tend to get things pretty messed up, not just in our own lives but also in our relationships with others. Unfortunately our tendency is to come to God for help afterwards, when the problems have become knotted, tangled and the damage has been done. With great love and patience, He takes care of one knot, one stitch at a time all the while envisioning what our lives could be if we would just surrender completely to Him. I'm glad that He doesn't give up on us. Aren't you?

Help us, dear Lord to surrender our lives to you each day, trusting you for help and allowing you the freedom to change us into the people you want us to become. Forgive us for selfishness and pride, for being unforgiving and stubborn, for causing knots and tangles in our relationships. May we become more like Jesus, letting His love flow through us to those around us. In His name, Amen.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV