The Importance of Finished Objects

I’m a sweater knitter. Very occasionally, I’ll knit a hat or a mitten or a fingerless glove but I mainly knit complex sweaters. I’m convinced this is why I have many works in progress (WIPs). I get to a section that is difficult and I tend to put the project in time out and move on to something different.

I was watching an advertisement for a master class in writing and the instructor, Joyce Carol Oats, suggested that writers should work on a short story or a poem so they could experience finishing something. She said it was important to have that feeling of completion. It is what keeps us motivated to work on longer pieces.

I had just finished knitting the lightweight hipster shawl when I heard Joyce Carol Oats talk about how important it is to finish something. I knew exactly what she meant.

Contemplative prayer is something that is never finished but a piece of sacred knitting can be finished. I recently downloaded some wrist warmers to use up the leftover yarn from my Lenten Scarf. I’ve never knitted wrist warmers but I’m experiencing some tendonitis in my wrists so I thought maybe keeping them warm might help. Plus, they can be finished quickly. When we finish a piece of sacred knitting we can spend some time celebrating our piece. We can reflect on the experience we had with that particular piece of knitting. What did we experience during our prayer time? What kept coming up in our thoughts? Did our knitting keep us grounded?

Our Lenten knitting is an offering of our ourselves and our prayers to God. It’s Easter Season and we can be about being a resurrection people. What will you be working on during the fifty days of Easter?