Julie Cicora - Contemplative Knitting

Contemplative

KNITTING

Julie Cicora

To Betty, Virginia, and Ethel,
my mother and grandmothers who taught me to knit.

Copyright 2021 by Julie Cicora

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Morehouse Publishing, 19 East 34th Street, New York, NY 10016
Morehouse Publishing is an imprint of Church Publishing Incorporated.
www.churchpublishing.org

Cover design by Marc Whitaker, MTWdesign
Typeset by Rose Design

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Cicora, Julie, author.

Title: Contemplative knitting / Julie Cicora.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020045763 (print) | LCCN 2020045764 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640652620 (paperback) | ISBN 9781640652637 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Prayer--Christianity. | Knitters (Persons)--Religious life.

Classification: LCC BV215 .C55 2021 (print) | LCC BV215 (ebook) | DDC 248--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045763

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045764

Fifteen years ago, I decided to try and organize a spiritual knitting retreat. My first phone call was to Mary Ellen Arden whose name I found on our local knitting guild web page. She instantly said yes to the idea and helped me pull the first group together. The knitting retreat evolved into a knitting-through-Lent blog, more retreats, and now this book. I am grateful to all the knitters who have encouraged me in this process: Georgia Carney, the founder of Sew Green and the ardent sock knitter who attended the retreats and gave me pictures for this book. Pattie Blaine, for her contributions of pictures and support. Cindy Lill, Ginny Schindler, and Diane Doncaster, for being sources of consistent encouragement during the process.

I am especially grateful to my son, Chaz Goodman, for reading the first draft of the book cover to cover and giving me specific feedback, even though he has never knit a stitch in his life.

I am grateful to be a part of the Sticks and Cups knitting group from Utrecht, Netherlands. They are a helpful, caring, and supportive knitting community. It was this knitting group and the Fruity Knitting Podcast that kept me sane during the pandemic.

I want to thank Wendy Barrie at Church Publishing for suggesting the format of the book and for guiding me through the process.

A special thank you to my best friend and sister in ministry, The Rev. Dr. Cindy Rasmussen, who inspires me every day to walk the way of love.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:1618

We all know knitters who pray when they knit. They might be making a prayer shawl for a sick friend or knitting a tiny baby sweater for a new mother, perhaps asking God to be with the recipient of each knitted gift as they complete each stitch. The repetitive movements knitters make are calming and healing. Could knitting be a way of opening our hearts to God?

I struggled for years to maintain a regular private prayer practice. I found it difficult to sit still each day in the presence of God. It was so much harder than participating in public worship where there was singing, readings, and preaching. I found the order and content of the liturgy engaging, and there was a palpable sense of Gods presence within the community of worshipers. Whenever I sat down by myself to pray the psalms or to say some intercessory prayers or to just sit in silence, my mind would start to race, the clock would slow to a crawl, and all Id want to do is stop. I preferred reading books about praying rather than actually praying.

When I was in seminary studying to be a priest, a friend of mine gave me the book Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom. One of the stories he tells is about a woman who struggled with prayer. She felt an absence in the silence. The author suggests that she knit in silence before the face of God. After spending some time knitting in silence, she became aware of a presence in the silence. This made me wonder. Could knitting be a way into contemplative prayer? What makes knitting into prayer? Can our knitting habits inform our spiritual lives? This book is an exploration into the connection between knitting and prayer.

Contemplative Knitting is meant for knitters of all levels, and that includes beginners. It is not a book that will teach you how to knit or provide you with any specific patterns. Instead, it will outline some of the physical, emotional, and spiritual advantages of knitting. In part one well explore the history of the craft to discover how knitting has helped people stay connected and express love for others. What happens when we consider our own history of knitting? Who taught us how to knit? What was it like? For those of us who learned to knit before the advent of the internet, we had to find a teacher. Learning to knit was about forming a relationship with a patient and experienced knitter, a relationship that we treasured.

If you are considering learning how to knit or if you have just begun to learn, find someone with knitting experience who is open to sharing your knitting prayer practice. This kind of knitting is not about skill, its about building a consistent practice that will help us deepen our relationship with God.

Anyone who knows how to knit can start a knitting prayer practice. Part two of the book will explain some ways of praying while knitting and give some suggestions on how to start. The spirituality of repetition is powerful. What is difficult is sustaining a prayer practice. We have to plan for the moments when we let go of our practice. There are some suggestions to help us get back on track.

How do we stay engaged with our practice? Part three can help us focus our prayerful knitting efforts around the liturgical year. Perhaps our knitting is something we need to use to pray ourselves through a grieving process or to help fulfill a charitable need in our community. Knitting can also be used as an evangelism tool to bring others closer to God.

Each section will offer some ways of reflecting on our knitting prayer practice. Our stash of yarn can help us learn about ourselves and identify obstacles that might keep us from a regular prayer practice. Reflection is a way to discover more about ourselves and our relationship with God. Adding a daily examen to our prayer practice is a crucial part of our spiritual journey.

This book explores how to use knitting as a tool to lead us into contemplative prayer, but we must be fully aware that private prayer is just one piece of our spiritual lives. We need to be part of a community that is dedicated to following in the way of Jesus. We are part of the body of Christ, and each of us has a role to play given the gifts that God has given us. Being in community helps us discover how we are a part of the body and encourages us to participate in Gods mission.

Knitters know the importance of community and of gathering together for a time of fellowship where we can support and help one another grow in our faith. Public gathering as the beloved community to pray, worship, learn, and serve together helps form our spiritual lives alongside private prayer.