Hello all. We will be meeting this week, same time (530 – 730) same place (room 311)! Please bring any completed items to be prayed over. We will NOT meet next Wednesday, the first week of April, due to Gwinnett County school spring break. When we return a week later we will be starting a fun new project! I will send a hint after the meeting tonight, but until then, be blessed and please come see us, and all our fun yarn.
Love to all in Christ,
Dana
Coordinated sweater, scarf, and tam as winter fashion accessories in Fleisher Yarns' advertisement in The Ladies Home Companion, December 1920. (Courtesy Susan Strawn)
Comfort and Good Looks: Sweaters and Scarves as Fashion Essentials
by Susan Strawn
Knitted sweaters and scarves are a mainstay of the modern American woman's wardrobe. Surprisingly, however, it was only a century ago that they began to claim their place in mainstream American fashion.
Knitting was long considered a utilitarian craft, best suited to making warm socks, gloves, and mittens. As early as 1846, Decorative Needlework by Miss Lambert provided patterns for such handknits but focused mainly on soft infant and toddler garments and bassinet covers.
A few adult sweater patterns appear, tucked among the counterpanes and domestic whimsies, in late-nineteenth-century knitting books. The Butterick Publishing Company's Art of Knitting (1892) includes a pattern for a man's "foot-ball sweater" (a turtleneck pullover), but patterns for women comprise only accessories, capes, and shawls.
An advertisement in the July 1922 issue of The Delineator for the summer issue of Needle-Art. The copy states, "Scarfs that match will be worn with slip-on sweaters this Summer, making them 100 per cent more attractive. How shall you make the scarf? The Summer Needle-Art will give you full instructions..." (Courtesy Susan Strawn)
At the close of the century, women were becoming more active outside the home, some entering careers, and these women wanted simpler styles suited to their new roles. For some time, people had been agitating for dress reform, maintaining that the tight-fitting fashions of the time were not only uncomfortable but unhealthy as well.
Sweaters, it could be argued, played a role in dress reform and gave women greater comfort and freedom to pursue an active life, including sports.
Women's sweaters and scarves attained fashion status during the 1910s, and in 1917, The Ladies' Home Journal declared sweaters a wardrobe essential.
Sweaters of the early 1900s were long, typically worn with a wide matching scarf or "girdle" (belt). Department stores and mail-order catalogs sold millions of commercially manufactured sweaters, and abundant patterns were available in books, needlework magazines, and in booklets published by yarn manufacturers.
After World War I, American fashions became increasingly youthful and more casual, reflecting the greater freedom and equality that women had earned. Nonetheless, Paris still was a dominant arbiter of taste. Elsa Schiaparelli and Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel in particular popularized knitwear. "Paris now knits her blouse," proclaims the magazine The Delineator.
In barely two decades, knitted garments for women had transformed from utilitarian to fashion essential. We can thank an unlikely combination of influences—the turn-of-the century craze for sports, dress reform that suited changing roles for women, a multitude of new knitters during World War I, and the brilliant Parisian designers who popularized knitwear—for making knitted sweaters and scarves a wardrobe mainstay.
God is good, all the time. Today was no exception. Communion Sunday is a day where we get to come together and reconnect with God. We get to admit that we are far from perfect, and we get forgiven all over again. Grace enters us through the elements and through it we are renewed in the spirit and in our relationship with the Lord. Communion Sunday is also a day where we get to offer something back to God. We place our prayer shawls upon the altar rails as an offering to the Lord. It is a sacrifice of our time, our resources, and ourselves to something much bigger than us. We don’t know who will receive any given prayer shawl, we are just obedient to place them there. We don’t know who will be in need when we begin a new item, nor do we know who will be the instrument of delivery for that item. There is a lot we don’t know, but one thing we can be sure of is that God knows all the details. He knows when items are needed and how many. We witness that each week when items come in for prayers and blessings. He gives us yarn when we need it, and sends new members when we have asked for them.
Today was a day to watch God in action. We had only 3 weeks to restock from last communion. That is the shortest turnaround time we have, and last month we had given everything out plus some IOU’s. This month we had an abundance. Three services later we had less but still some for the coming week. There was one shawl which really was too big to be included. It was gigantic. It was sent in to us and I personally struggled with what to do with it. we prayed over it and left it in our inventory. Wednesday eve I was still struggling with it. for some reason, this one was bothering me. At 8am, I decided not to include it in today’s offering. I figured we had enough to cover, but at 1125 I just felt a pull in my heart. I got it out of the closet and put it in the cart. At noon someone came to me while we were packing up and asked to receive that one item. It surprised me, but I offered it to that person. Come to find out, the recipient who it was intended for is a 6 year old girl struggling with issues way beyond her years and fighting stress that no one should understand, ever, at any age. The folks who took it for her thought it was perfect. I pray that it is. I know God thought it would be or we would not have watched that miracle unfold. Yes, it was a miracle and I was blessed to be part of it.
There was a young man who took a shawl off the altar at the 11am service. As he left, I was in the wings on the other side of the building, but saw it on the camera. I wanted so badly to get his name to pray for him, but figured that would not happen. God knew better. He sent this man straight over and into the hallway where I was waiting. I talked with him for some time. He really looked like someone who normally would not be here, but God sent him to us…today…in time to receive a gift of His grace. God knew all along who that shawl was intended for.
There are many stories like these, and many more to be written which God alone will create. It is an honor to share these stories with you. It is a privilege working with such a great group of dedicated workers. It is a blessing to hug a stranger and know that God’s love is going back and forth from each of you to the other.
The world is changing. Each day there are new challenges. Each day there is news of conflicts, disasters, economic misfortunes, political unrest. Each day there is also a new sunrise and a new beginning. God gives us unlimited opportunities to do good in this world for all of His children. Please hear His call for your life, for what He has in store for you. Take that call, take that chance, take that opportunity to pray, to connect, to study, to crochet, to send a letter to a shut in, to donate blood, donate yarn, donate your time, speak to those who need a kind word, to show God that He is important by putting His will as your priority. Jesus did, and I want to grow in wisdom, in strength, and in favor with God. Will you come on this wild ride too?
I love you all dearly and pray blessings shower you and your family on this Sabbath day.
In Christ’s name and for His sake,
Dana
Good Thursday to all of you! I wanted to send out an update for the ministry, and so here I go!
First..This Sunday is communion (have you ever felt like déjà vu – been somewhere, done something, got the email recently). It has only been 3 weeks since the last one which might make this one difficult, but God has already worked out a plan for that, so we don’t need to worry. Praise be to God! I do however, still need help with placing the items on the altar rails. I can use some extra hands for maybe 15 minutes (truly, it does not take very long) at 745AM, 830AM, 1040AM and noon. There have not been any left to pick up for the last couple of times and I suspect the same will occur this month. I will need the help placing the items out, and help gathering names for our prayer list. If you can help with this important task, I sure would appreciate it. please let me know ASAP.
Next…I would like to find out if anyone is interested in joining a morning edition of the PSM. We will teach knit, crochet and supply your needs as we do in the evening, but this would make it easier on those who cannot get out at night or have conflicts. Please let me know if you would attend such a meeting.
Next next…WE NEED NEW MEMBERS to help us keep the shelves filled. We have plenty of yarn and patterns, but need hands to create items. It is becoming important to add new members as the demands for our items has risen. Please be in prayer for our ministry and if you know of anyone who would like to learn, participate, or just plain make and donate items, I would be so grateful. It would be such a relief. No prior experience necessary.
Please come by next Wednesday eve and check out the supply of new or nearly new yarns we have been given. As some of these yarns have been in storage for a while, it is a good idea to gently wash all items made with these yarns prior to their submission.
I miss you when you are not there, enjoy your company when you come join us, and love you all the time no matter where you are.
Blessings,
Dana
Good morning to you! I hope you had a wonderful week. We had great success with prayer shawl items on Sunday as once again every item was taken off the altar rails and a wait list of 6 items was recorded. God is so good that we had that many almost ready to be prayed over. Beverly and I finished up a few and prayed over them on Monday so we are back in business with items in our closet. To God be all the glory for this amazing ministry!
Couple of things to remember. We will meet this week at our usual time. Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. We will meet only from 530-645 that day so we can all attend services at 7pm. If you have items to bring in and pray for, please join us early that eve. If you choose not to attend the service you are welcome to stay in the room working on a project, but the Ash Wednesday service is very moving. Try to be there for it if you can.
I am sending a couple of new patterns. The country tweed is a great way to integrate yarn colors. It is a bit more advanced than the other pattern which is all done in half double crochets. It goes very quickly and you can use many different types of yarn for this project.
Got coupons? Consider getting one or two skeins of yarn this week to share. Michael’s still has some homespun on sale for $2.49 (discontinued colors only) as well as many discontinued types of yarn as they prepare to transition into their new Loops and Threads yarns. They are really nice (Northlake carries them already), so I am excited for the change.
Is anyone interested in beginning a day time prayer shawl group for those who don’t like to travel at night? It would be awesome to have another set of folks praying and creating. Give that some consideration and much prayer if you will.
Got to finally go to sleep, so see you all later on.
Blessings,
Dana
