Someone to knit with
Recently, a dear friend of mine, Maeve, visited Austin. I often think about the origination of our friendship. We worked together at a coffee shop in college, but it was when we decided to meet up and knit together (because she wanted to learn) that our friendship really grew. We met nearly every week, and talked about our lives: my life as a newlywed and recent-grad, her life as a student and girlfriend of her now-husband, and we talked about Jesus' work in our lives. And we knit.
When she visited Austin, it was much the same. This time, we shared about our marriages and work and friends and church families. As we stitched our projects, we listened and shared and encouraged. (For full disclosure, we also toured the botanical gardens, took silly photos, enjoyed the warm weather, and ate barbecue and Tex-Mex). And I wore the necklace she knitted for me last year. Oh, it was so good.
Shared interests lead to shared stories lead to lives intertwined as we encourage each other in Christ.
Two other sweet souls here in Austin (Jessica and Molly!) are dear friends and knitting companions. As we share in the excitement of almost-completed projects and remembering new techniques, we also share in the excitement of larger joys, hardships, and triumphs in life.
Maybe when the hands are busy, the words come easier? Hearts open a bit more. As our hands act and produce beauty, that activity and productivity leads to refinement in our hearts as we talk about the good and the hard parts of life. When we talk, the Holy Spirit enables us to encourage one another and be vulnerable with one another and then, you have a sweater/scarf/pair of socks. But you also have soul sisters and a changed heart.
Related posts
Life lately, late July 2023
Looking back at my recent posts, I realized it has been a long time since I wrote a little post about "life lately." I've written about things in our life, yes, like Cooper turning four, a visit to our friends in Bloomington, a visit from my family, a trip to the beach and the one year anniversary of my mother-in-law's passing, recent knitting and other creative projects, and some updates about our garden this year. But I haven't written a post with the little mish-mash bits of life since early June. So here I am now, playing a little bit of catch up.
Life lately, early May 2023
It's been awhile since a "life lately" post where I write about all the little bits and pieces of our life. This spring has been a rather cold one, but just this past weekend, we are seeing much warmer temperatures and the weather seems to be catching up with the date on the calendar. As someone who enjoys the colder months, I will say that spring and summer feel a bit magical with kids, and logistically, lots of things just feel easier as the temperatures are more mild.
Winter adventuring
Starting sometime in the fall, I made a point to be a bit more creative and find new to us trails to hike on and explore. Since then, we have found several new favorites for when we are in the mood for a hike, regardless of the season.