Knitting 301 – Lace Scarf

Materials • Session 1 • Session 2

Materials

• Two skeins Cashsoft Baby DK by Rowan (50 gr, 142 yd), or another yarn of comparable weight.
• Size 6 needles, or size needed to make correct gauge
• Crochet hook
• Waste yarn, like Kitchen Cotton
• Stitch Markers

Gauge

            22 sts & 30 rows = 4 inches

Patterns

            Feather and Fan Stitch

Row 1 (RS) – Knit
Row 2 – Purl
Row 3 - * (K2 tog) 3 times, (YO, K1) 6 times, (K2 tog) 3 times; rep from *
Row 4 – Knit

            Bead Stitch

Row 1 (RS) – * K1, K2 tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK, K1 *; rep bet * til end of row.
Row 2 – * P2 tog-b, YO, P3, YO, P2 tog *; rep bet * til end of row.
Row 3 – * K1, YO, SSK, K1, K2 tog, YO, K1 *; rep bet * til end of row.
Row 4 - * P2, YO, P3 tog, YO, P2 *; rep bet * til end of row.

Note: Work P2tog-b in the following manner: Slip two stitches, one at a time, as if to knit. Transfer both stitches back to the left needle. Insert the right needle from left to right through the back of the stitches and purl the two together from that position. Drop the two stitches just purled together off the left needle.

Directions

Using a provisional crochet cast on, CO 36 sts using a waste yarn. Switch to pattern yarn, and work Feather and Fan patt for a total of 9 repeats. BO knitwise.

Carefully remove the provisional cast on chain, placing the live sts on a needle. You will need the WS facing you, so you may have to shift your work from needle to needle accordingly. Purl across the WS, dec 1 st in the middle of the row (35 sts). Now work in Bead Stitch patt. It is helpful to place stitch markers between every pattern repeat.Take note where you beg the second skein of yarn. Cont working in Bead Stitch til you have worked one less patt rep than you were able to work with the first skein. This will give you a little “wiggle room” so that you won’t run out of yarn before you finish the scarf and be driven to tears.

Now you’re ready to finish the scarf with the same Feather and Fan border that you have on the beginning edge. You should have completed the Bead Stitch patt, row 4, which is a WS row. Turn your work, and with the RS facing you, knit across, inc 1 st in the middle of the row (36 sts. This increase works best if you use the Lifted Increase, grabbing the additional stitch from the row below. It is virtually invisible.). Regard this as the first row of your Feather and Fan patt. Work 9 reps of Feather and Fan, and BO knitwise.

Block scarf.

Knitting 301—Lace Scarf
Session One

In this two session class students will learn basic lace technique, utilizing two classic Shetland lace patterns, as well as the ever handy provisional crochet cast on. The Bible studies revolve around the theme of “holiness,” as lace work is full of holes.

Session One

In this first week you will get the students started with the provisional crochet cast on and then get them going on the Feather and Fan pattern. Their homework is to finish the Feather and Fan 9 repeats and to cast off (Next week we’ll get started with taking out the provisional string and continue with the Bead Stitch pattern.).

If you have a large class, it is helpful to find someone with a movie camera. You can set the camera on a tripod so you can zoom in on your hands as you demonstrate technique, and you can plug the camera into a television set so that everyone can see on the screen what you’re doing.

It is also good to find some friends who are adept at lace work, as students will need lots of coaching as they learn these new techniques.

Bible Study
The Bible study is based on Isaiah 6:1-8, the call of Isaiah. The theme for this week is the holiness of God.

Knitting 301-Lace Scarf
Bible Study, Session One

1. The Scene

There’s two ways of looking at holiness: as it relates to God, and also in regards to us and to things. This week we’re going to zero in on God’s holiness, and next week we’ll focus on how we are holy.

Pass out the Bible study sheet. This is the call story of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah had a vision in which he was transported to the heavenly throne room of God.

Questions:        What does the scene look like?
                        What happens?
                        What are the angels singing?

Put yourself in Isaiah’s place. Questions: What’s he feeling? Why is he filled with dread?

1. God’s Holiness

Isaiah has stood before the living God, and so he has become aware of the huge gap between him and God. This gap is God’s holiness. When we say that God is holy, we mean that God is set apart from us. God is God, and we are not.

Isaiah has come into contact with the real character and essence of God. God is:
            Perfect in wisdom;
            Perfect in intent;
            Perfect in truth;
            The source of all life

God sends out the pulse of life into the universe. And standing there before the source of all things, Isaiah senses that his own pulse is out of attunement with God’s pulse. His intent and belief are out of alignment with God’s perfect intent and belief. He’s aware of The Gap.

When he realizes how out of attunement he is with the source of life, he has a new self awareness. Question: Look at verse five: what does he realize? (He is lost; he has lived a false existence.)

Isaiah speaks of “unclean lips.” This has to do with our speech. Isaiah means that he and the rest of society have been using False Speak. We’ve been speaking a “truth” that is no truth. We’ve woven together a fabric of a false reality. Now that Isaiah’s come into contact with what is true, he realizes that he’s been living a lie.

God’s holiness is the mark of true reality. It’s our Pole Star. We might live under a “cloudy sky” and not be able to see the Pole Star. But at some point in our life the sky clears and we get a good look at truth and reality. Although it might cause us sorrow and pain, like it did Isaiah, this is a good thing, because it’s the start of our realignment with truth.

1. Our Path to Wholeness

With God there is grace. God’s heart is full of the best of intentions for us. God wants us to live within the pulse of life’s fullness. The fullness of God’s holiness is for us. All the goodness of God is for us.

And so we see that one of the angels flies to Isaiah to bring him healing. This is God’s gift to Isaiah. Isaiah is realigned with the good and gracious will of God.

This is God’s gift to you, too. You can think of this as your baptism. And daily you can look to that Pole Star of God’s grace poured out to you in your baptism. In remembering daily who God is, this realigns us with God’s perfect truth and intent.

And look what happens: In verse eight God asks a question. “Who will go for us?” Question: In asking this, what’s God holding out to Isaiah? (A chance to be put to use. God’s offering him vocation.)

When we are in alignment with the fullness of God’s holiness, we can be instruments in God’s design for creation. And that brings us to our holiness, and that’s the theme of next week’s lesson!

Isaiah 6:1-8  

    In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
    “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
    6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

Knitting 301-Lace Scarf
 Session Two

Session Two

Begin this week by taking out the provisional cast on and picking up the live stitches. Make sure they get their needles situated in such a way that they’re ready to work from the wrong side of the knitting.

The remainder of the class is in teaching them the bead stitch, and giving them time to work it. I also like to have a finished scarf pinned out in a blocking position, so they can see how to block lace work, as blocking is so necessary in the shaping and presentation of lace work.

Before you break for the Bible study, walk through the rest of the pattern for them, so they’ll understand how to finish it when they get to that point.

Bible Study

This week’s Bible study looks at what it means for us to be holy, and uses Romans 12:1-2, 9-21.

Knitting 301-Lace Scarf
Bible Study, Session Two

I. Introduction

Last week we looked at God’s holiness. When we say that God is holy we’re saying that God is altogether in a different realm than we are. When Isaiah came face to face with God in his vision, he realized the wide gap between his own reality and who God is. That gap is God’s holiness.

But we are also holy. So what does it mean for us to be holy? We have these visions of “Holy People.” Question: When you hear that phrase “holy people,” what kind of people come to mind? (Hopefully they’ll say things like the big leaguers, like Mother Theresa, or people who lead spick and span lives and are perfect and without blemish.)

Well, we’ll see that our being holy also involves a gap. Have somebody read Romans 12:1-2.

II. Set Aside

Paul is encouraging us to be “holy.” This somehow involves our physical bodies (a living sacrifice). So our physical bodies are the vehicles through which we can be holy. Look at verse two. Question: What clues do you get here about what it means to be holy?

Paul tells us that we’re not supposed to be conformed to the world. There’s something different about us. Here’s the gap! Somehow, when we are holy, we are set aside from the rest of the world.

(The following is a story I used to illustrate being set apart. You may want to think up one of your own, or you can use the example below of baptismal water.) When I was a seminary student I worked in the cafeteria as the baker. One of my jobs was baking the bread. We made up huge batches of dough in the largest Hobart mixer I’ve ever seen. When the dough was ready we’d dump the entire lump onto a counter and begin cutting it up into individual loaves.

We were also responsible for shaping loaves of bread for the weekly celebration of Holy Communion in the chapel. Was it special holy bread? Nope, it came from the same lump of dough that we used for making sandwiches at noon lunch. That huge lump of bread would be lying on the counter, and I’d cut off a section of it and form a small round loaf for the communion bread.

That act of cutting it off from the big lump and setting it aside for God’s use: that is holiness. Holiness is being set apart for God’s use.

Question: When we have a baptism, where do we get the water? (From the tap) Guess what, when we fill the baptismal pitcher with tap water for a baptism, that water becomes holy! There’s nothing special or more pure about it. The only thing that makes it holy is being set aside for God’s work.

So in your life, you are holy when you allow your body, your physical life, to be an instrument for God’s work.

III. The Holy in the Ordinary

So what does that look like? What does the holy life look like? Have someone read Romans 12:9-21.

I submit that this section is holy living. There’s no special pyrotechnics to it. It’s all very ordinary stuff. But we do it all as instruments of God’s good and gracious will. Question: As you read this section, what sticks out for you? (Solicit their responses.)

We set ourselves aside to be instruments of God’s love. That’s holy living, being God’s instrument. Close with St. Francis’ Prayer.
Romans 12:1–2, 9–21

    I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.

    9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
    14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
            Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
            Where there is injury, pardon;
            Where there is discord, union;
            Where there is doubt, faith;
            Where there is despair, hope;
            Where there is darkness, light;
            Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
            It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and
            It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.