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The women of the In the Loop needle arts group at St. Paul United Methodist Church don’t need encouragement to do what they do.
But if they did, they could just contact a McMurry University graduate, who still carries with her memories, skills and inspiration from having bumped into them on campus.
Carly Payne graduated from McMurry in December 2014, worked in the Religious Life office on campus until 2016 and then enrolled at Boston University School of Theology. There, she is in her last semester toward earning a master of divinity degree.
A stitch in time
When she was still at McMurry, Payne saw the ladies sitting in the campus center one afternoon doing handiwork. They invited her to join in. Payne enjoyed crafts but didn’t know how to knit, so they taught her — week after week. They provided the needed materials and instruction, plus conversation.
But they also did something else. They let Payne take her work “needles and all” with her after each session, which might seem miniscule, but not to Payne.
“It felt like they were investing in me,” Payne said in an email, “and had trust in me.”
Now, four years after leaving McMurry, Payne still uses those skills in a similar crochet group in Boston. She has taken up fiber arts like embroidery and weaving.
She frequently takes her craft supplies and finds opportunities to teach people a new skill, just like the ladies from St. Paul did for her.
“I really do think when you give people those tangible supplies and let them create,” Payne wrote, “it’s saying that you believe in them, their worth, and their ability to create.”
The butterfly effect
The original In the Loop needle arts group at St. Paul began about 2007, lapsed for a while and then picked up again. One of the members, Jean Marsh, is fond of taking small crocheted butterfly lapel pins with her to hand out.
“She’s only made about a million of those butterflies,” another member, Susan Mouser said.
The ladies first made 600 of the pins to distribute at a United Methodist Church conference held at McMurry in 2012.
The group originated at St. Paul before expanding to places such as Starbuck’s and Monks coffee house. Then they came up with the idea of seeing whether they could meet on the McMurry campus to engage students.
That has worked perfectly, as students find the activity to be a good stress-reliever and a way to make personal gifts. Most of the students like to make scarves, Marsh noted, chuckling over a memorable experience. One female student started her scarf and week by week it grew longer and longer —much longer than a traditional scarf.
“She just kept going,” Marsh said, before admitting, “I don’t know how to stop.”
The ladies taught her how to stop that scarf and start another one.
Spiritual dimension
Although the women of St. Paul want the McMurry students to learn the craft of knitting, crocheting, embroidering and other needlepoint, they also want them to experience the spiritual dimension to handiwork. The rhythm of the needle arts is peaceful and can serve as a springboard to prayer.
“You can be prayerful about it when you do it,” Marsh said. “It can be meditative.”
The women not only meet monthly at McMurry, they also do projects as a church ministry. St. Paul has a partnership with Johnston Elementary School. In November, the church had a dinner for the school and presented coats for the children in need. This year, they got something extra.
“This group made hats and scarves for the kids,” Marsh said.
They also knit caps for newborns and for chemotherapy patients. A part of the ministry is to pray over the finished products before delivering them. Mouser, one of the group, said recipients often comment on the spiritual aspect when receiving the gift.
“I felt the prayers when I wrapped myself in it,” is a common comment, Mouser said.
Marsh carries a book with her knitting supplies titled, “Contemplative Crochet: A Hands-On Guide for Interlocking Faith & Craft” by Cindy Crandall-Frazier. In the introduction, the author says she finds a range of philosophical and spiritual ties that fit together for her.
“I especially value the intimacy of yarn and hands,” she writes, “and I marvel at being able to create beauty or to compassionately warm another person.”
The women of St. Paul’s In the Loop understand that experience and hope the students they teach get it, too.
Ties that bind
For sure, Carly Payne gets it. She said in her email that during her years at McMurry she felt like she had a group of cheerleaders at St. Paul. And she used the skills she learned to pass on to her McMurry friends, creating a bond. Those are spiritual lessons that Payne took with her to Boston and will carry with her wherever she lands next.
“They were always supportive of me,” Payne said of the St. Paul women, “and I learned so much from them about faith in action.”
She also clings to the thought that the women invested in her and trusted her, simply by allowing her to take the knitting supplies with her after the sessions. Now, she is passing on that spiritual gift to others.
“I really do think when you give people those tangible supplies and let them create,” Payne wrote, “it’s saying that you believe in them, their worth, and their ability to create.”
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