Knit and Crochet Bible Study

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  • Ephesians 6 Through the Eyes of The Maker

    Ephesians 6 Through the Eyes of The Maker

    Life can feel like a tangled skein sometimes, can’t it? One moment everything seems to be stitching together beautifully, and the next, a knot appears out of nowhere. A thread snaps. A pattern goes off count. And suddenly the whole project feels overwhelming.

    It’s easy to think the problem is the yarn, the pattern, or even our own hands. But Scripture reminds us that the real tension in our lives often comes from something deeper — something unseen.

    “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

    Paul is reminding us that the snags and tangles we face aren’t really about the people around us or the circumstances in front of us. There is a spiritual battle woven into the fabric of our lives — threads we don’t always see, but definitely feel.

    And just like any fiber artist prepares before beginning a project, God invites us to prepare our hearts and spirits for the work ahead.

    🧶 Putting On the Armor of God — Like Preparing Your Tools

    Before we pick up our needles or hook, we gather what we need: the right yarn, the right tools, the right pattern, the right mindset.

    God’s armor works the same way.

    “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth… the breastplate of righteousness… the gospel of peace… the shield of faith… the helmet of salvation… and the sword of the Spirit.” Ephesians 6:14–17 (NIV)

    Each piece is like a tool in the Maker’s basket:

    • The Belt of Truth — the measuring tape that keeps everything aligned
    • The Breastplate of Righteousness — the protective layer guarding the heart of the project
    • The Shoes of Peace — the steady rhythm that keeps your stitches even
    • The Shield of Faith — the project bag that protects your work from snags and spills
    • The Helmet of Salvation — the pattern that reminds you of the bigger picture
    • The Sword of the Spirit (God’s Word) — the sharp scissors that cut away lies, knots, and anything that doesn’t belong

    God doesn’t send you into life’s battles empty‑handed.

    He equips you like a loving Designer who knows exactly what you’ll need for the journey.

    🧵 God Is Weaving Victory Into Your Story

    And here’s the beautiful part:

    The victory is already woven in.

    “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)

    You’re not trying to earn victory stitch by stitch.

    You’re working from a pattern Jesus already completed.

    Even when the thread tangles…

    Even when the colors don’t seem to match…

    Even when you can’t see how this row will connect to the next…

    God is still weaving.

    Still shaping.

    Still redeeming every knot and every unraveling moment.

    🪡 Take Heart, Dear Friend

    So the next time you feel the tension of the battle — the tug, the pull, the knot forming — remember Ephesians 6:12.

    You are not fighting alone.

    You are held by the Master Craftsman.

    You are equipped with His armor.

    You are part of a pattern more beautiful than you can imagine.

    Take heart, dear friend.

    You are loved.

    You are valued.

    And in Christ, you are already victorious.

  • What is a Knit Crochet Bible Study

    What is a Knit Crochet Bible Study

    Take a look at your Bible Study group. Everyone sits around a table or in some group setting. Bibles are open and pens are poised for note taking. Some will say very little, fearful of sounding unintelligent. Others willingly share their knowledge and ideas. But the focus is the Lord.

    Now take a look at the knitting or crochet group. Everyone sits around, project in hand, with conversation and laughter around. The ease of the setting makes it easy to talk and share.

    Let’s combine the two. Take the ease and comfort from the knitting/crochet group setting and add the conversation guidelines of the Bible Study which is to be focused on the Lord. While the others are working on projects, one person reads the lesson and scripture. Discussion questions are stated.

    With the relaxed atmosphere and yarn in hand, a sense of sharing instead of studying prevails. For many, holding the project makes it more comfortable to join in the conversation. Insights are made with in-depth discussions into how the Word has affected the lives of those involved.

    That is a Knit and Crochet Bible Study. A few guidelines I suggest include:

    • All conversation must be God honoring. This is not a stitch and bitch session. Are you mad at your husband or children? You can speak but no demeaning words may be spoken. Male bashing will not be allowed.
    • You must be respectful of all persons whether in the room or not.
    • Prayer requests are confidential. They are not to be discussed outside the group. They are not to be forwarded with email.
    • Prayer requests must not be something that would be harmful information about another. Every family has secrets. Honor those secrets. Seek counsel from your pastor or another trusted person on a one-to-one basis.
    • Respect each others view. Don’t argue the gospel. Don’t speculate on the gospel. Use the Word as written.
    • There is only one gospel, but when it comes to knitting and crochet, there are many techniques. Just because someone doesn’t do the stitch or hold the yarn the same way you do doesn’t make them wrong. Work together without criticism of needlework abilities.

    And there you have a Knit and Crochet Bible Study.

    With that that in mind, grab your Bible, yarn, needles and/or your hooks; let’s get started.

  • A Good Foundation

    For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  – I Cor 3:11

    A good foundation will hold firm whether it is our knitted project or our Christian faith.

    Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into
    practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the
    streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash. –  Matt 7:24-27

    The foundation is the base upon which any project will stand. You can make the most
    beautiful of stitches and a pattern that is intricate but if the foundation row is not secure the entire item will ravel at the first sign of wear.

    Do you remember the song we used to sing in Sunday School? It went like this. (By the way, it‟s OK if you sing along.)

    A wise man built his house upon the rock,
    a wise man built his house upon the rock,
    a wise man built his house upon the rock,
    and the rains came tumbling down.
    The rains came down and the floods went up
    the rains came down and the floods went up
    the rains came down and the floods went up
    and the house on the rock stood firm.
    A foolish man built his house upon the sand,
    a foolish man built his house upon the sand,
    a foolish man built his house upon the sand
    and the rains came tumbling down.
    The rains came down and the floods went up
    the rains came down and the floods went up
    the rains came down and the floods went up
    and the house on the sand fell flat.
    author unknown

    To begin any knitting project you must first “cast on” a series of stitches. In crochet, we chain a foundation row. These stitches form the base, the foundation of the project. Our life is like that, filled with stitches that are woven together to create a pattern. We need a firm foundation to keep the stitches of our lives from unraveling.

    Scripture gives us a pattern for our lives and directs us to “cast” onto Christ.
    For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
    I Cor 3:11

    Once the foundation is laid, we are guided through the knitting/crochet (building) process.

    For through him we have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God‟s people and members of God‟s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built
    together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. – Eph 2:18-22

    In other words, to keep our lives securely stitched in the peace that comes only from God. We must “cast on” to Him.

    When a project is finished we must “cast off” (also referred to in knitting patterns as binding off) the stitches. Once we are “cast on” to God, David tells us to “cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you”. Psalm 55:22. 

    Cast on to God and be knit in His peace. Cast off your old life and become new in Him (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). Cast your burdens, worries, fears, and anxieties on to God and cast off from your old self. The outer edges must be secure or all the stitching that is between them will unravel.

    With Christ as our foundation we will face opposition (purl stitch), we will move in various directions (cable stitch), and we will find intricacies that make us unique (fair isle) but in all this we will stand firm because of our solid foundation, Jesus Christ.

  • Blessed by the Reading

    …. devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. . – 1 Timothy 4:13

    I wrote “Stitched in Christ” during a time of extreme physical pain.  It came about from the writings I was doing in my journal, begging God to hold me tight while I was going through this difficult time.

    Those moments brought me peace and comfort. They distracted me from the pain.

    I have received notes and messages from people who read the study and offered the same response.  

    As I strive to expand my online presence, I have been thinking about ways to possibly read from the books. While I was wondering about it, God placed it on the heart of an amazing woman, Kelli Foreman.

    Kelli of Kelli’s Crochet Adventures is reading from my book “Stitched in Christ” on her youtube channel.
    She is reading it on Tuesday nights, then leading a live discussion on Wednesdays, 11:30 Central Time.
    She adds song into her discussion and has an amazing voice.  Check it out on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcfzsfszZOTmc9fW6sbf3cA

    I pray you are blessed by her reading and discussion.

  • Tangled Yarn

    and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. – Phil 4:

    My mind was wandering back to the day when I lay on my bed, crying, begging God to help me through the physical pain. It was more than I could handle.

    I had not done any knit or crochet for awhile. For some reason I picked up an unfinished project and there it was – a tangled mess of yarn.

    I snipped the yarn away from the needles and started the painstaking process of pulling out the knots.
    As I continued to talk to God, telling him how I felt like this tangled mess, I pull out one knot, then another, and another.

    Slowly I started to feel a sense of peace. As the yarn slipped quietly through my hands, one less knot, I felt the chaos in my mind start to slip away.  Peace, God’s peace, was coming through.

    Peace, that peace that is beyond understanding, was seeping into my mind.

    The pain was still there, the medical bills, the inability to work: non of it suddenly disappeared.  Yet peace was weaving its way slowly through my body.

    I couldn’t explain it then. I can’t explain it now. It wasn’t the yarn. It was surrendering to God; giving it all to Him.

    There was nothing more I could do. I continued to pull at the yarn, crying to God and feeling His peace within me.

    Later I journaled that moment and several other moments with God. A few years later, when the journal entries resurfaced while clearing out a stack of papers, my first Knit and Crochet Bible Study was created. I presented it to the leadership of my church and we held our first Knit and Crochet Bible Study class.  It continued for several years.

    I keep a mess of tangled yarn around to remind of God’s peace and constant presence.  And I still find untangling it to be a great moment to cry out to God.

  • She Clothes Her Family

    She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and enjoys knitting and (crochet). She doesn’t worry about her family when it snows; their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear. She makes her own clothing, and dresses in colorful linens and silks. Prov 31:13,21,22 MSG

    My grandmother taught me how to crochet. She taught me the granny square. For many years I made only granny square blankets.

    One day I saw a cute picture of a crocheted doll in a magazine. I wanted to make that doll for my daughters. But I only knew how to make a granny square blanket.

    Like Winnie-the-Pooh, I sat down and thunk, thunk, thunk  If the stitches go this way to make the pattern look like this, then putting them in another way they would give a different look. Right!? Makes sense to me.
    With a new perspective, I gained the confidence to step out and try something new.

    I bought the magazine, read how to crochet at the back of it so I could now read a pattern, and I made my first doll.

    With the same thought process, I considered making clothing. Making sweaters and dresses and other clothing pieces seemed very daunting. But wait! I am making doll and teddy bear clothing. Adult clothing is just bigger than doll clothing, right?

    Do you experience the same fears?

  • Start Your Own Knit Crochet Bible Study

    As fall begins, so do local bible study gatherings.

    Have you considered a Knit and Crochet Bible Study at your local church?

    There are 2 options in my studies: Group and Personal

    The group study purchase offers you a PDF download with permission to print all the copies you need for your group, as well as picture files you can you to add to the front of notebook and spine.

    The personal studies are available in Kindle and print format.

    Spend time focusing on God’s Word as you stitch your favorite project.  Or create a “Colors of Salvation” lapghan/afghan from the pattern included with each.

    Find a summary of these items on the website: http://www.knittingbiblestudyonline.com/purchase-knit-and-crochet-bible-studies/

    I have created some tote bags on the Zazzle website which could be used as gifts for your participants. Consider a tote bag filled with a a printed copy of the personal book or a notebook of the group study, a skein of yarn and a crochet hook or set of knitting needles. Prepare to teach the craft along with God’s Word in a relaxing, informal environment. (for best use of your funds, watch for site sale events)

  • Decluttering

    God will supply all your needs according… Phil 4:9

    I stepped into my craft room, looked at the mess, threw in the items I had in my hand, then turned around and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me  I could not look at that room any longer.

    I don’t like clutter.  I find I cannot focus when the area around me is cluttered. Yet, I nest anywhere I am, and the clutter abounds.

    Yarn and other crafts are the worst! I find a beautiful color of yarn, I don’t have anything planned for it, but I bet I can find something. OR  I think about one of the thousands of patterns I have and would love to make, buy the supplies, and then don’t proceed OR As in the case of the craft room, I have no place else to put it so I throw it in there to get it out of the way.

    Unfortunately, the craft room is not the only place I clutter. 

    My mind is cluttered.  I have dozens of projects going at once. I am the ultimate multi-tasker. What this means is I do a lot and have a lot of UFOs (unfinished objects/projects) with very few FOs (finished objects/projects). 

    My spiritual life gets cluttered. I have several devotionals open, but I don’t concentrate on one, I don’t finish any.

    Even my recreational world is cluttered. My calendar is filled with ‘do this’ and ‘do that’ to the point I don’t do anything.

    God will provide all my needs (Phil 4:9). Are all of these items ‘needs’? I could fool myself into believing this is overflowing abundance from God, but if I am honest, it’s just overflowing. It is not providing any value to myself or to God’s kingdom. (1 Cor 10:31)

    Clutter abounds. If I just ignore it, my fairy godmother will bring in some elves one night while I sleep and they will call in the forest animals so that when I wake in the morning everything will be in its place.

    Yeah, right.  

    It was time for action. My daughter came to help. In our discussion, it was made clear that I had not touched most of the items in years (my yarn was in another area)  While I worked on the yarn and unfinished projects, she started pulling out things I had no idea I had. She pulled out and filled 10 trash bags, sealed them with the instruction I could not look in any, and prepared to take them to a local thrift shop. She could do what I could not because she did not have an emotional attachment. I did not, and still do not, miss anything that was taken away. However, if I had seen the items, even if I hadn’t looked at them in years, I would have reacted emotionally and pulled them back. WHY?!?!  Because I can’t let go.

    When I can’t let go, it leads to a lot of clutter in my life.

    It’s not just the physical things that clutter my life, not letting go emotionally adds to the clutter as well.

    Scripture tells us to declutter our lives. In Luke 12, there is a parable of the rich fool. I am far from rich, yet I do what this man did. I gather much and store it, then make room to store more even though I have not used what I already have. I keep adding more and more to my stash. This stash is not rewarding to me and does nothing to serve God. “But wait, I will make hats or bears or whatever and donate them!  Really? You have been saying that for years. You have all this material. Where is the finished product? Where is the beginning of the product?  I can’t answer that because I am lost in the confusion and chaos of all the other clutter. And no work is being completed.

    Daniel made it a point to go to his room and pray on his knees three times a day (Dan 6:10). Three times a day! My calendar is so full, how will I find time to do that even once. And then, heading to my room, I am interrupted by a text message, by that load of laundry, by the latest crochet project laying by my chair. You get the idea.

    God doesn’t want me to live a cluttered life.

    Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. – Psalm 119:37

    God told his disciples to head out, taking nothing for the journey (Luke 9:3). I can’t even leave a room without a handful of ‘stuff’.

    I did take the bags straight to a thrift store donation site. I don’t miss any of it.

    That accomplished 2 things (1) it made room for better use of that area and (2) released me emotionally.

    Freeing myself of the clutter offers options:
    More opportunity to focus on what is in front of me (Gal 6:5)
    Give attention to prayer and ministry of the word (Acts 6:4)
    Time and energy to write another Knit and Crochet Bible Study post (Col 3:17)

    Once I worked on the physical clutter, I started on the other areas of clutter I created. I keep a calendar in front of me, marking off time away from the computer. I have put up all devotionals except one. I am striving to read and pray through it daily.

    Now that I have cleared away much of the yarn and supplies I stored and never used, I have purchased just what I need to work on one project. This is a drastic change in the way I handled my knit/crochet projects in the past. It feels a bit strange. Yet it feels very freeing.

    How do you handle clutter in your life?

  • In the Blink of an Eye

    But joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

    (from “Stitched in Christ” by TerryAnn Porter available on Amazon)

    I was working on a doll that I was crocheting for my grandchild which was done in a way that had the clothes worked into the pattern. This means there will be color changes along the way.

    I was half way through the project, mindlessly making the stitches, when I looked back at the doll and realized something was wrong. This outfit didn’t look well at all crocheted into the doll body. It was then I realized that although I made the color change for the waistband, I missed the color change back on row 17 for the bodice. Can you say FROG!  (you know, rip-it  rip-it  rip-it).

    On another project I noticed the scarf I was working on had become quite askew. No more did I have the straight even edge that looked so smooth the first 6 inches of the project.  Now, nearly 24 inches later I picked up a wrong needle from the basket it was laying in. I had knitted the last 18 inches on one needle of appropriate size and one 2 sizes smaller.

    These events are very similar to the day I woke up with a smile on my face, plans for the weekend all set, only to receive a phone call that my dear friend has passed away a few hours prior. “In the blink of eye, disaster!” (Psalm 73:19)

    Jesus was escorted into Jerusalem on what we now call “Palm Sunday”. (see the story in John 12)  When people heard he was coming to the Feast; they gathered palm branches and shouted as he approached, “Hosanna” “Blessed is the King of Israel”. (see John 12)

    A few days later these same people stood in a crowd in front of Pilate and cried out “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (see John 19)

    So quickly things change. Every day offers new challenges and new rewards. That dark day was brightened when the women went to the tomb and found it empty. (see John 20) A sad day quickly became bright as Jesus appeared to many who loved him.

    Your life, like the wrongly knit scarf, can change with or without notice. Every day offers new opportunities. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” is our promise in Psalm 30:5.

    God is a steady fortress,(Psalms 91:2)  unchanging (Hebrews 6:7),  ever present (Proverbs 15:3). When things turn suddenly to dark, hold tight to the hand of God. Walk with Him daily, and He will be at your side. Stay with Him when the stitches of your life are straight and smooth; and He will be there when you miss that color change or drop a stitch in your life. “Hold tight to God, your God, just as you have done up to now.” (Joshua 23:8)

  • Gift Idea

    I am putting together a couple of gift bags I am donating to a local single mom’s ministry.

    A friend saw them and thought it was a great gift idea for a friend of hers. This made me want to share the idea with you.

    First, a disclaimer, there are links in the posts to which I am affiliated and may receive a small royalty.

    Now, on to the project.

    I have prepared one with a knit focus, and one focusing on crochet.

    Each started with a Knit and Crochet Bible Study tote I purchased from Zazzle.  I watch for sales and discounts, then order several for my use.

    To each, I added the two Knit and Crochet Bible Study Devotional/Journals I have posted to Amazon.  As a side note, if you purchase the paperback, you are eligible for a Kindle version at no cost – give the paperback, keep the digital version.

    Then I went to Hobby Lobby where I purchased a pattern booklet for each, and one skein of yarn and the proper sized needle/hook to complete one project in the book.

    Who will you encourage with a similar gift idea?