How do you decide what you’re going to make next? Years ago, knitting patterns were available in magazines, books, or pamphlets found at the local yarn store. I can remember spending hours looking through multiple three ring binders for a pattern that I liked. It was not an enjoyable experience. Most stores had multiple pages of the same pattern stuck into plastic protector sleeves and the pattern had to be carefully removed to find out any specifics. There wasn’t a place to check to see if the pattern was easy, accurate, or fun! Sometimes the knitting went well, sometimes it did not.
Ravelry has taken away most of the frustrations we used to experience looking for a pattern. However, there are almost half a million patterns on Ravelry now. I can get lost in all of them. I’ll be sitting at my computer checking out hat patterns and an hour later, my husband apologizes as he interrupts my “writing” time to ask me if I want to eat dinner. It is overwhelming and wonderful at the same time.
One of the cool things about local yarn stores is you can typically find a person who can act as a guide to the myriad permutations of yarn, needles, and patterns. These guides can be found online as well. I’m in a chat group with a woman who is a pattern genius. She takes into consideration your projects, your knitting style, your skill level and then when you mention you might want to do a color work hat, she sends you a few Ravelry links to your idea of the perfect patterns. Hours saved. The search is narrowed and then the research begins by perusing people’s pattern notes until you know what you are getting into and you can cast on the project.
Prayer helps us recognize the guides that are around us. A guide could be the person with the encouraging comment that motivates us to keep going, it could be the person who recommends the perfect book at the right time, or it could be the person who listens to our grief or our frustrations. We are guided by words that leap off a page, a piece of scripture we come across, a note we wrote long ago, a long-lost letter we find or a feeling we get when we are walking alone in the woods. A priest told me recently that he woke up out of a sound sleep thinking about one of his parishioners. He felt compelled to send this person a message which ended up helping the parishioner through a tough spot. Who and what have served as your spiritual guides through your life?
8 rows of stockinette
Contemplative Knitting 
Guides come in all manner of forms. Many years ago i was unhappy in my work but was determined to stick it out for another 7 years so I could reach the fully vest state on my retirement. My manager at the time called me in and explained the new early buy out option the company had announced and strongly suggested that I take it as it was likely I would be terminated if I ddn’t. Of course I may have misunderstood the hints but I do not believe I did. I discussed the situation and my options with my husband who was supportive of what ever decision I made. I struggled for 2 weeks and decided to take the early buyout and look for a more rewarding opportunity. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Before I left that position I had already interviewed and been offered a faculty position at a local university. I am happily teaching still over 20 years later. That manager who did not like me or perhaps just did not think I was doing a good enough job was the guide that helped me move along to better professional life.
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