Crochet Addict UK: Guest Blogger Week 42 Mary Jo Colwell

I would like to say a huge welcome

to Mary

from Mary Jo Colwell

Thanks for the invitation to guest blog! This is something new for me.

The pattern that caught Sue’s eye is:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rose-of-sharing---crochet-version.

This pattern evolved from a challenge made by my church

at Thanksgiving 2010 (late November holiday in the US).

We did not know what we were volunteering to do… until it was too late!

After the pastor spoke about the Parable of the Talents

(http://bible.org/seriespage/parable-talents-matthew-2514-30-luke-1912-28)

he asked for some volunteers to come up and share their thoughts about the message.

It’s a story about a man who gives three of his servants some money (talents)

and asks them to go use the money well.

Two of the three servants doubled their money and were able to return more than they were given.

The third servant buried his money in hole.

He did not return more money, but he did not lose any either.

The man scolded the third servant and praised the other two,

giving them better jobs and more responsibilities.

The story is about using the gifts we are given.

After sharing, we were grouped into teams.

They gave each team a crisp new $100 bill and asked us to take that money

and see what we could do with it by next Thanksgiving.

My partner, Susan (a different Susan), and I are both fiber crafters.

This was a natural direction for our fund raising efforts.

I wrote both a crochet and knitting versions of the Rose of Sharing and published it,

for sale, on Ravelry.com. (pattern is now free)

We printed the pattern and sold hard copies.

We also pulled out hook, needles, beads and yarn and went into production and sold finished items too. When all was said and done, we raised over $500 in sales and were able to purchase a Knitter’s Gift Basket through Heifer International (https://secure1.heifer.org/gift-catalog/knitters-gift-basket.html).

My current crochet obsession is Pineapples! It started with the need for a little thank you gift for an American Revolutionary War re-enactor who helped my daughter with a school report.

Pineapples are a traditional symbol of hospitality and are heavily featured in Colonial décor and Christmas decorations (http://www.history.org/almanack/life/christmas/dec_pineapple.cfm).

I’m still learning the basics of the structure and having fun with patterns written by others.