when words signify nothing

I'm frustrated. I've been trying for months to write something thoughtful about crafting, production and consumption, to go along with these pictures, but I've only ended up irritated with my own writing.

It made me think of this passage from Thomas Merton's New Seeds of Contemplation:

If you write for God you will reach many men and bring them joy.
If you write for men-- you may make some money and you may give someone a little joy and you may make a noise in the world, for a little while.
If you write only for yourself, you can read what you yourself have written and after ten minutes you will be so disgusted that you will wish that you were dead.

So perhaps I post this entry somewhere between "writing" for myself, for men and for God: Disgusted with my own words, craving to make some noise, but also sensing a deep joy from being able to create these objects that I know comes from God. And because of that latter joy, maybe these pictures can give you some pleasure as well, as they certainly give me child-like delight to post. (Past pictures can be found here)

So perhaps, it's appropriate that I limit my words in an entry that's designed to be about what cannot be made with words.

(By the way, if you feel so inspired to learn to knit, I'd be more than happy to show you. The offer doesn't stand for sewing though, because I'm still fumbling about. I am writing a lot for an entry that isn't supposed to be about words... )

Note: For some reason, a huge space is showing up between the text and the pictures on my browser. I have no idea how to fix it. Sorry!

	charade socks knit as a christmas present for my mother
	socks knit for matthew during our move-in; they were started during a very tense afternoon of combining and attempting to organize our book collection...
	socks knit for matthew during our honeymoon
	elijah the elephant, also dubbed roger the republican because it is an election year; knit for my brother as a birthday present
	ms. marigold; knit for myself; I started the vest in august of 2007 and did not finish until june 2008 because I was intimidated by the prospect of picking up stitches for the neckline
	the backside
	reversible winter capelet; knit for myself after two failed attempts of using that same yarn to make a halter top
	clementine shawl; knit as a belated mother's day gift this year; this is a picture of it blocking on my ironing board; lace shawls require blocking in order to stretch out the holes and give the pattern more definition
	the finished product
	a quilt made for charity, completed at quilting group at narberth presbyterian church; my real first sewing project
	an apron for myself; the first thing I made with my sewing machine-- this apron is incredibly good use considering the amount of mess I make when I cook & eat
	a rosetta t-shirt converted into a halter top
	a basic a-line skirt made in a class at the sewing shop spool located at 19th and south in philadelphia
	a pincushion :)
	the start of another quilt for charity; this is just the top-- it still has to be combined with the batting and the back and then quilted