HALLELUJAH!

It's a touchy topic that has been Cast About, pun completely intended, recently and a topic which interests me greatly.  May we, or may we not, knit during church services with divine dispensation without fear of being put in an overnight pouch and FedEx-ed straight to Heck without passing Go and without collecting $200 for yarn.  I'm putting the question to my faithful readers.

Personally, I am unable to sit for 90 minutes with my hands folded politely in my lap, listening intently to my pastor preach.  Do not get me wrong.  My pastor consistently gives wonderful sermons, well prepared and thought out and riveting to the max.  The problem is mine.  I. Cannot. Sit. Still.  Call it impatience, or not having got past the Wiggly Kid Syndrome or just the fact that my heart rate increases if I am for five minutes or more without the means to knit.  You can say what you like - I absorb more and benefit more from my pastor's sermons when I can knit one, purl two for every prayer request and reference to scripture.

All of this makes it difficult to drink my coffee (which I also must have in church).  I have been known to pass my coffee to my hubby while I work an intricate cable, but I draw the line at having him hold out his hands with yarn wrapped around them while I wind a new skein into a ball.  That's what my swift is for.  And even my long-suffering pastor might raise an eyebrow at that activity.

My question to all of you is, if you do knit in church (and we know you do so don't try to wiggle out of it), do you attempt to hide it or do you just whip it out and start throwing?  Do you resist the urge to cuss if you drop a stitch?  Do you complain if they turn the lights down to project films onto a screen or do you say, "Ahem, helloooo, trying to KNIT over here?!" 

I am expecting comments and replies to this post if for no other reason than to assure me that my eternal salvation is secure despite my inability to lay aside my knitting for 90 minutes of reflection and prayer.  The clock starts ... now.

Joy in knitting ... and prayerful reflection ...
Judith (who is wondering if they would mind if I attach my swift to the pew in front of me...)

Amen.