Knit and Crochet Bible Study

Category: HowTo

  • 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.

  • My First Knit Crochet Bible Study Groups

    My First Knit Crochet Bible Study Groups
    I thought I’d use this month to share how I started my first groups. You could call it ‘the foundation row’. (for the story of how the Knit and Crochet Bible Studies started check out the about page on my website CLICK HERE)

    After compiling several ‘lessons’ I approached the Women’s Director of my church. She read the stories and really liked the idea. The church leaders agreed to try a semester to see if and how it would go over.
    We met in our church coffee shop where the ladies were allowed to sit in comfy chairs and on sofas instead of at a table like most other classes. This allowed for a very relaxed atmosphere.
    At our first meeting there were about 6 ladies and myself.  I gave a brief description of what the next few weeks would be like then launched into a knitting lesson. (The ladies had all been instructed to bring in a skein of yarn and set of needles.)  By the end of the evening, everyone had cast on and was working on the knit stitch. Over time, the purl stitch, increase, decrease, casting off and more were added as well as some crochet techniques.

    The routine after the first session was to have everyone working on their projects while I read the short lesson and then led a discussion.  During the first weeks there was a not a lot of discussion as many find it hard to knit/crochet and talk at the same time while in the early stages of learning. However, it wasn’t long before everyone could move their hands to the stitch and add their thoughts to the conversation without losing their place. Yes, we did learn to frog (rip it) during these episodes as well 🙂 
    By the next semester, getting started was a bit less hectic in my teaching of the craft as I now had some experienced knitters and crocheters. Instead of standing in the midst of several and trying to teach everyone, I could stand in the middle, demonstrate, and each new person would be alongside an experienced person who would help them one-on-one with what I was saying.

    Not all participants wanted to knit or crochet. We had one join our group who brought along a rug she was hooking and others brought in embroidery work.
    As in all groups, some excelled quickly into the craft; some had difficulty and lagged behind. The same applies to Bible Study and our individual relationship with Jesus Christ. We are all at various levels, no matter how long we have been involved.

    Have you hosted a Knit Crochet Bible Study?  What techniques worked for you? What didn’t?  I’d love to hear your stories.

  • The Empty Tomb–a fun Easter project

    I love Pinterest, but is so easy to get lost in it.  I pin and I pin with items I just know I am going to make one day.

    Last week my grandson came over and we tried one of my Pinterest pins.

    We made the Easter Empty Tomb Garden. (click here for the pin)

    We could not find moss that day at the store so we went with grass.

    Here is what we came up with:

     

     

     

    It was a lot of fun for us to make.  Try one with your child/grandchild.  They make beautiful table centerpieces and opportunities to talk about what Easter is really all about.

     

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  • Lessons 1 Practical Application

    I am currently leading a Knit and Crochet Bible Study.  We recently had our first session.

    If you are about to lead a study, here is an idea that may help.

    In my group, everyone already knows how to knit and/or crochet. They are at varying levels, but each is working on a project.

    Lesson 1 focuses on Jesus as the Foundation of our spiritual life.  We are called to “€ast our burdens on him”. Along this line, we must make our foundation strong when we “cast on” or our projects will fall apart.

    So we practiced different ways to cast on in knitting. Did you know there are multiple cast-on methods?

    The long tail cast on is the most popular. We reviewed that. Then we discussed knit on and cable cast on.  You can find a description of each of these on the knitty web site.

    If you want to add the beginning of a crochet project, some techniques to practice could include the foundation single crochet.

    In preparation for this I took some extra sets of hooks and needles and some scrap yarn from my stash to allow everyone to practice.  I made sure all hooks and needles returned to me before everyone left.

    I would love to hear what practical lessons you have used in these sessions. Tell me about them. Share your suggestions to help others planning their first sessions.

     

    a citizen of heaven (Heb 13:14) straining toward what is ahead (Phil 3:13) ; bearing witness of Christ (Jn 1:7) anxiously awaiting His return (I Cor 1:7)

  • Colors of Salvation: the ORANGE panel

    In our Colors of Salvation story we are making a project that will allow us to use panels of various colors to tell the Salvation story.

    Today we begin with the color orange. Orange in this story represents the fire of hell. Romans 3:23 tells us All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

    Born as sinners, we are condemned to life in hell. Not the physical death, but the spiritual second death life eternally separated from God.  It is  described in Revelation 21:8 But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is a second death.  Sin is not measured by how big a sin it is. Sin is sin. A lie is a sin as murder is.  Sin, no matter how big or how small, separates us from God. Romans 6:23 says For the wages of sin is death.

    The stitch pattern for this part of the story are fairly easy to do. Just as it is fairly easy to sin.

    The stitch pattern in crochet is called The Alternate Stitch.  The pattern is accomplished by making a single crochet and a double crochet stitch in the same stitch. Skip a stitch and do another single and double crochet in the next stitch.

    Click here to  view a video demonstration of this stitch pattern.

    The stitch pattern in knit is called Vertical Weave

    The vertical stitch is made in a 2 row pattern.  In the first row (right side) “ K2 *slip 1 as if to purl, k1, yo, psso, K2. Repeat from * across

    Row 2 (wrong side) Purl across.

    Click here to view a video demonstration of this stitch pattern.

    You may download a PDF version of the project at: http://www.knittingbiblestudy.com/patterns/ColorsOfSalvation_patternKC.pdf

    Join us on facebook to discuss your progress.

    Next month we will work on the GOLD color

  • Sharing God Through Knitting and Crochet

     Show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Matthew 5:19 MSG

     

    As another year of Bible Study begins at my local church I look at myself and feel so unworthy of  speaking of God’s Word.  I fear I will fail Him.

    This led me to look over the second Knit and Crochet Bible Study Book.  It is a look at the Proverbs 31 woman.

    The class at my church, and I believe many others that host a Knit and Crochet Bible Study, is multi-generational. 

    Becoming the Proverbs 31 woman is a journey, a road traveled with twists and turns and even a few detours. It is not a journey you need to take alone.  Working alongside women of all ages helps us to grow emotionally and spiritually. Titus 2:1 tell us Your job is to speak out on the things that make for sound doctrine.   It is my prayer these studies lead you to that sound doctrine.

    Then verses 3-5 says Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness.  By looking at them the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives.

    But the older woman can also learn from the younger. Sitting side by side, many find their lives are woven together through their crafting,  through God’s love, through life experiences. With one simple shared gift, knit and crochet, they open a dialog with each other; one that may not have opened in other circumstances.

    The Proverbs 31 woman is not born the perfect woman you read about. She grows into that woman through work, friendships, prayer, experience, and learning from others.

    Perhaps in your local group you see a woman you look upon as The Proverbs 31 Woman. You admire her emotional strength, her family love, her ability to knit or crochet without even looking at her work.  Talk to her. Learn about her life and how she came to this place in her life; the struggles she endured; the losses she has experienced; how she learned to look to God in all things.  She is not now the woman she used to be.  But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me and not without results.. yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 1Corinthians 15:10 NLT

    Why are we doing all this? Read Titus chapter 2 verses 12 and 13 in the Message. We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears.

    You are a beautiful woman, beauty that radiates from inside.  What matters is not your outer appearance-the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes-but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.  I Peter 3:3-4 MSG   

    With the passage of time you have grown from youthful vanity to honorable womanhood.   Use this time together in the presence of other women to learn how to be obedient to the Lord.

    Though I fear failing Him, I continue on, demonstrating God’s love as He allows. He is still working on me to become the woman He desires me to be. I am an older woman to some, who watch me from afar as a witness to demonstrate God’s command. I am also a younger woman to others as I watch them and learn how to walk pleasing to God.

    You knit me together in my mother’s womb Psalm 139.13 says. God has not put down his knitting needles yet. There are panels to complete, seaming to be done, a decorative crocheted edging to be added. He is still stitching you and me into a tapestry of life of which we are not even aware.

    So, I will continue to knit, to crochet and demonstrate God’s glorious love with those around me.  I thank the Lord every day for accepting me as His child and allowing me to speak of His greatness.

     Show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Matthew 5:19 MSG

  • Keep In Touch

    Today I opened my daily K-Love Word of the Day which reminded me that is not what God intended.

    And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.  Heb 10:25

    When God created man, he then created woman because it was not good for man to be alone. Just as God desires a relationship with us, He desires for us to have relationships, gathering together to encourage, one another.

    If you know someone alone or ill, stop by and talk with them. Conversation does NOT need to revolve around medical issues, talk about life, family, tell jokes, laugh.

    I have a friend that receives calls from me occasionally where I say to her ‘talk to me about anything’. She doesn’t ask about my pain level or what is wrong.  She tells me about her dogs latest antics, how her golf game went, how she did in her computer solitaire game and what projects she is ignoring by doing these things.  In the end she has me laughing and forgetting, even if for just a short time, the physical pain. She is a treasure in my life.

    Perhaps I need to add a little note here: don’t be the one always receiving the encouragement. You will find great strengths in yourself when you also in return offer encouragement to others.

    Encouragement comes in many forms, and just taking the time to spend time with someone in need, is often the best encouragement of all.

  • Why the Knit Crochet Bible Study Books are computer files & not printed books

    Several years ago my husband introduced me to reading e-books on my computer or phone. I have enjoyed it. I could stand in line at the DMV or grocery store or at the doctors office and have my book on my phone ready to read while waiting. Less cost, easy to manage.

    When I started working on the lessons for the Knit and Crochet Bible Study we discussed fees and the idea of putting out the book as a PDF file quickly proved the most cost effective, especially in these economically challenging days.

    Whether you purchase one or both current books, you receive a notification with a link., From here, download the files to your computer. But that is not the best part.

    Have you participated in Bible Study which required each person involved to buy the book and maybe even the  additional workbook? This can run into considerable expense with each individual possibly running from $10 – $25 or more.

    Once you purchase from Knit and Crochet Bible Study, you have copyright permission to print as many copies as you need for your local group. So the breakdown looks like this:

    Purchase one of the books: cost $27   ($37 if both are purchased together)

    Now, you want to offer up a class at your local church. You have 10 people sign up so you can legally print 10 copies.  You can choose how to bind them. One suggestion I like is to print these on front and back, 3 hole punch, place in a binder.  You can charge each participant $5 if you choose, whatever the cost of printing is.  Then when you do the 2nd class, copy the second book front and back page, 3 hold punch, add to the same notebook as previous class.

    You have full control of the fees.  Now you want to offer the first class again. No need to order any more books, you still have permission to print for your local group, so copy again.

    No extra books to keep in storage or return to the publisher. Printing cost whether you go to Kinkos or print at your local church, are all predictable.

    The cost effective method and low key format allows women to learn new trades, share their craft knowledge with others and expand their abilities. It also allows for less threatening setting allowing someone who has never participated in a Bible Study.

    This is a great opportunity for intergenerational learning. A Titus 2 setting is created.

    Additional class studies can also be created from the stories in the monthly e-newsletter Purls and Chains of Wisdom.

     

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    If you’d like more information on the books, click here.

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  • Stitch Patterns

    I found a couple of stitch patterns I thought you might enjoy.  These are the ones referenced in the post, The Shepherd I Shall Not Want

    Knit: Five Stitch Cable (found in Beginner’s Guide Knit Stitches & Easy Projects by Leisure Arts)

    Panel of 5 sts on a background of Reverse Stockinette Stitch.

    Row 1: (right side): Slip next 3 sts onto cable needle and hold in back of work, K2 from left needle, K3 from cable needle.

    Row 2 AND ALL WRONG SIDE ROWS: P5

    Row 3: K5

    Row 5: K2, (K, P, K, P, K) all in next st, pass second, third, fourth, and fifth sts on right needle over first st, K2

    Row 7: K5

    Row 8: P5

    Repeat Rows 1-8 for pattern.

    Crochet: Garden Rows (found in Beginner’s Guide 30 Easy-To-Crochet Pattern Stitches by Leisure Arts)

    Ch 27 loosely

    Row 1: (right side): Dc in fourth ch from hook and in each ch across. 25 st

    To work Front Post Single Crochet (FPsc), insert hook from front to back around post of st indicated, YO and pull up a loop, YO and draw through all 3 loops on hook. Skip st behind FPsc.

    Row 2: Ch 1, turn; work FPsc around first 5 dc, * dc in next dc, (sc in next dc, dc in next dc) twice, work FPsc around next 5 dc; repeat from * across.

    Row 3: Ch 3 (counts as first dc, now and throughout), turn; dc in next st and in each st across.

    Row 4: Ch 1, turn; sc in first 2 dc, dc in next dc, sc in next dc, dc in next dc, work FPsc around next 5 dc, dc in next dc, (sc in next dc, dc in next dc) twice, work FPsc around next 5 dc, dc in next dc, sc in next dc, dc in next dc, sc in last 2 dc.

    Row 5: Ch 3, turn, dc in next st and in each st across.

    Repeat Rows 2-5 for pattern.

  • Granny Square

    I tried to get creative with the title, but as you can see, I just stuck to the basic Granny Square.

    Speaking of basics, do you know how to make a granny square?  If you can chain and make a double crochet, you can make a granny square.

    The ladies in my local Knit and Crochet Bible Study have decided they want to make granny squares using miscellaneous yarn from their stash (or as an excuse to go to a yarn shop for more yarn. Me? Would I do that? My favorite verse is she shops for the best yarns)

    But before they could make the granny squares they had to learn how. So in an effort to help them I have created a how-to video to help.

    I am still having trouble with the volume, once I finish the encoding it drops so you may have to turn your speakers up a bit.  I also added some pop-up instructions on the screen for further assistance.

    The thing I like best about granny squares is that you can make them any size you desire.  I have a number of afghans made full size and baby size in one big piece.  Others I have made are several squares seamed together.  You can make square of various sizes and incorporate them into one piece.

    Overall it is a fun stitch, easily transportable, and versatile. I’d love to see pictures of your completed projects from granny squares. Here are a couple of mine.

     

    This was a Christmas gift I made last year. Using some Peaches’n’Cream cotton yarn the granny square became a dishcloth.

    This granny square grew to be 45 inches square and finishes off this baby ensemble.

    There are other ways of making the granny square, check out other patterns and find the one that is your favorite.