Holy and Precious

"Whether we are poets or parents or teachers or artists or gardeners, we must start where we are and use what we have. In the process of creation and relationship, what seems mundane and trivial may show itself to holy, precious, part of a pattern." -- Luci Shaw

Angel Karen Egolf from Wheeling, IL sent in her first batch of yarny goodness for the year this week, and all kinds of wonderful things were in it! Just look at the hat and matching mittens for a toddler up top -- perfect for one of the children we serve at Parenting PROgress. And the teen moms will love the hats next to them -- I just love the lace edging Karen knitted on the edge. These lovelies will also be perfect for them:

Karen's cabling is just gorgeous, and I envy her skill with lace -- so beautiful!

She also made some great baby things for our newborns at Swedish Covenant Hospital -- and they will be delivered this coming week!

Over 300 babies are being born each month at Swedish Covenant Hospital, so they were very happy to learn the Angels had filled TWO GIANT BINS with baby blankets and TWO LARGE bins with baby hats and sweaters already this year!

Angel Karen was also thinking about the women in Cornerstone Community Outreach's shelters when she made these lovely spa cloths:

And just look at the beautiful prayer shawl and comfort afghan she made:

She used the same stitch pattern on both of them, and I really like it. It give just enough texture to make the item interesting, but doesn't overwhelm the yarn. It even looks great with the variegated yarn in the afghan -- and usually textured stitches and variegated yarn just don't work too well together. I'm going to email her for the pattern she used for the shawl -- I'm totally enraptured by it!

I truly do believe that the Angels take something mundane -- basically sticks, hooks, and string -- and with love, care, creativity, and skill, turn the mundane into love gifts that are indeed part of God's grand plan. The resulting yarny goodness is most certainly holy and precious in His eyes, and in the eyes of the recipients. Thank you, Karen, for creating such holy and precious gifts!

Kindness

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love...Perfect kindness acts without thinking of kindness." -- Laozi, 570-490 BCE

I thought of the quote up top while I opened all the boxes and bags that arrived at church this week -- and as I packed up yarn to ship off to Angels around the country and finished goods to be sent to Christmas at Sea, Halos of Hope, and the Mother Bear Project. The Crafty Angels are indeed kind, and I believe all this yarny goodness is an act of perfect kindness, done by Angels without even thinking about how kind they are.

Angel Alma Wamsley, one of the first women to join the Crafty Angels ten years ago, slipped me these perfect pink hats on her way into church last Sunday. It's hard for Alma to get around now, so she often can't make it to our gatherings or church on Sunday. But she's still thinking about those in need, crocheting kindness into her perfect hats!

Angel Hazel Lindsay in Australia was doing kindness lately -- and thinking about people who will be cold this coming winter. Take a look at the yarny goodness that was packed into the box that arrived with about a zillion gorgeous stamps on it this week:

I wanted to show you the detail in these scarves -- I just love the feather and fan stitch pattern, and Hazel has used it to perfection on these two scarves. And it shows you how different the stitch looks using different weights of yarn -- the purple scarf is made of heavier yarn. Aren't they just lovely? These hats and scarves will keep the folks we serve at the North Park Friendship Center and Cornerstone Community Outreach's shelters warm this winter!

Angel Marya Preston from Wheaton, IL has been busy in two ways: she's been knitting these lovely hats for the children we serve --

AND she's been getting her friends involved in producing kindness! Her anonymous friend at work sent along these great hats and scarves:

Aren't thse just great? She made the dark colored ones extra thick and warm for the men we serve who live on the streets -- and the men at A Just Harvest will particularly like the dark navy and black ones. Marya also sent along A LOT of warm skull caps for the men at A Just Harvest that she purchased in black and darkest navy -- so if you like to make scarves, but not hats, I could certainly use some black or dark navy scarves to pair up with those hats.

We also received a box from the Happy Charity Klickers in Loogootee, IN, thanks to head Klicker Dianna Overall. Just look what was inside!

Hats and scarves for all ages! The colorful hats are extra thick and warm -- perfect for the teens at Cornerstone's Leland House and the young moms we serve at Parenting PROgress. The Klickers also sent some nice and warm purchased skull caps for the men at A Just Harvest -- so start working on those scarves!

Angel Shirley Miller in Phoenix, AZ sent a box full of all kinds of kindnesses - take a peek:
Lovely spa cloths!

Perfectly kind baby blankets for our newborns at Swedish Covenant Hospital!

And blissfully soft scarves and hats for girls. Wonderful!!!

Thank you, Alma, Hazel, Marya and friend, Klickers, and Shirley for practicing perfect kindness -- and sharing your love with those in need. Your handiwork is GORGEOUS!!