I need some advice from those wiser than myself. Without getting into all the details, I’ve felt compelled to make and donate a beaded scarf. The barest details involve more than four dreams, one of which I actually saw myself working with yarn that had beads on it.
Since I’d bought yarn for a scarf-to-donate back in December, plus beads for a project-to-be-named later in early January, supplies aren’t an issue. It’s Ivy’s self-fringing scarf, and I’m learning to put beads on it. I started it last night at 7:30 and it’s a sixth of the way done this morning. So far, so good.
The yellow bits of scrap yarn show me where the beads need to go. The poor-man’s stitch marker, as it were.
I figure, if God is asking for a scarf, God should get one. If God isn’t, well, someone who needs one will get one. Friends and I can’t figure out a reason for the enemy to want me to donate a beaded scarf, so I think we’re safe.
Here’s my question: when I originally bought the yarn, I planned to make a hat to go with the scarf. I will probably have enough yarn to make both the hat and the scarf (and beads, too) but what I may run out of is time. See, I’ll be next door to the place where I intended to donate them on Tuesday morning, and it feels like that’s when I should drop off the scarf. I can definitely finish the scarf by then. The hat is problematic.
We live in a cold part of the world, but it’s getting warmer. Hats are more useful than scarves. Hats are also more difficult to make.
The recipient-place isn’t going to close and go away, unfortunately (I doubt my donations have solved hunger in Angeltown) so the option remains of donating the set together when they’re done.
What would you do? Would you assume God wanted the hat *and* the scarf donated? (They should go simultaneously, if they’re a set.) Or would you assume the urgency was that God wanted the scarf done Now-Now-Now and the heck with the hat?
Regardless, I’ll be working on the scarf today as I get a chance.
—
Edited later to add a link to the finished scarf.
And a response to the pair of posts.
—
Speaking of knitters making the world a better place, there’s a prayer request out on a knitting blog for baby Ted. He’s a very tiny preemie, and he’s not doing so well (and there’s a photo of him right at the top of the page, so if you’re an emotional preggo like I am, THOU ART WARNED.) The blog owner is raffling off a skein of sock yarn among those who send prayers or financial donations, but even if that doesn’t float your boat, please pray for baby Ted and for all who love him, because this is a harrowing time.
I would do the hat and scarf separately. Do the scarf. If the hat isn’t done, donate it anyway. Then do the hat and drop it off next time you’re there. Sets frequently get broken up anyway, because the charity has a hat bin and a scarf bin.
Hats are not always more useful than scarves, sometimes I use my scarf as a hat! Though, I don’t know that I would do that with a beaded one. It might pull the hair.
Seriously, if you feel like you should be donating the scarf while you are there, that’s what you should do.
I hadn’t thought of that, Whiskers. If I make it a little wider, then it could be used that way.
The beads are down at the ends of the scarf, so I doubt they’d catch on anyone’s hair. I have a beaded hat and my hair is very frizzy and thin, but it’s never caught in the beads even there, so I don’t think it would pull anyone’s hair. It’s a good point, though. I’ll have to make sure the beads are in flush when I do the hat. Whenever that happens. ^_^;;
Right now I’m just going to make progress on the scarf and see how quickly that winds up.
Ivy, I don’t know how often these folks get hats and scarves, so they might not have a bin. They operate kind of like a grocery store, so they might just put a set on the shelves for someone to take.
Uh, for once, I don’t have an opinion (hat/scarf). But thanks ever so much for posting the prayer request for Ted.
I do beaded hats all the time, with all sorts of different patterns, and they don’t catch the hair. I wouldn’t worry about that. If G-d really wants the set together, the same person will happen upon both.
Hi! Just to say hello, and that I am reading the chapters online of your book (annihilation) because of the discussion over at Happy Catholic and so when I saw you commenting I had to jump over to check on your site. Well, you like books, you like knitting (or so it seems to my diagonal reading) and so it seems we have already two things in common. And you are a mother of several kids, which I wish to be one day.
About the scarf, I have never been asked in such a sharp way by God to do something material, but if I were you I would think God wanted me to make the scarf and give it, as youu have not dreamt of a hat. I would make the scarf, take it to the place, and maybe later make the hat. I would, on the other hand, be wondering what God will do with the scarf, but that’s my weakness. If I were a punctuation mark, I would be a question mark…
Pingback: The scarf: finished, blocked, delivered « Seven angels, three kids, one family
Pingback: response to previous post « Seven angels, four kids, one family
Pingback: Noah, knit me a blanket « Seven angels, four kids, one family