Form 1040 instructions February 4, 2009
Posted by nutritionalsupplementnews in : Uncategorized , trackbackStringing purls and doing mitzvahs
At Temple Etz Chaim, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are for study.
Fridays are for Shabbat.
And every other Sunday is for stringing purls, weaving yarns, and generally getting oneself into stitches - that is, if you’re among the 17 women who gather at the temple those Sundays to knit and crochet.
It’s all part of the temple’s Knitzvah Project, made up of new and veteran crafters dedicated to doing good deeds and spreading compassion by making yarn pieces for donation to others in need.
“For the past year, we have had a knitting group for both beginner and experienced knitters,” said Sue Gabbe Cass, president of the Franklin temple. “Last spring, several of us agreed that we wanted to plan a group activity that would fulfill our sense of social action.”
And so the ladies came up with the Knitzvah Project.
“The name is a takeoff on the words knit and mitzvah, which is ‘to do a good deed,”‘ explained Barbara Gillmeister, of Wrentham.
The Knitzvah Project’s first piece, recently completed, is a “Blanket of Love” made of 10-inch by 10-inch squares pieced together into “a generous” twin-sized blanket. It will be donated to the Kaplan Family Hospice Home in Danvers.
The project turned out to be a bigger success than the women anticipated.
“We estimated that we would need 35 squares to complete one blanket,” said Cass.
But, with each member of the group knitting at the Sunday meetings and at home, and with some of their family members helping as well, they ended up with enough for one and a half more blankets.
“It (the Knitzvah Project) really has taken on a life of its own,” observed Cass.
On a recent Sunday, several of the members puzzled with care over the best placement of each woman’s contributions within the design of a second blanket. And there was the reverent placement of the “Tree of Life” square, reserved for a corner spot - the ladies’ way of signing their work, and of imbuing the creation with meaning.
“Our temple is Etz Chaim, The Tree of Life,” explained Dianne Elfenbein of Franklin.
“And the Torah is the Tree of Life,” added Elizabeth Press of Bellingham. “From it, you learn how to live, how to have compassion, how to give back.”
The women give to each other as much as they are giving to the larger world. The group is a place to tell stories and laugh, mentor and learn, and pass on pearls - not to mention purls - of wisdom and wit.
“It makes for good conversation,” said Gillmeister. “We chat about all kinds of things.”
“We also bring (knitting and crocheting) books, and we share patterns,” added Cass.
The women create with yarn offered to the group at a discount from the Franklin Mill Store.
Many of the women learned their knitting or crocheting skills from their mothers or grandmothers. But they’re also learning from each other.
“I crochet. My gramma taught me when I was 10 years old,” said Press. “But from these ladies I have learned different patterns. I’ve learned to knit, too.”
And she’s not the only one. Grace Kooper, of Cumberland, R.I., joined the group because she wanted to learn knitting.
And Elfenbein, who said she has been knitting “longer than I care to tell you,” is learning to crochet. Whatever the technique, though, she said, “It’s fun to turn that yarn into something exciting.”
Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarro@cnc.com or 508-634-7684.
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