Today’s instruction was to “open a random drawer … and create something with just the contents.”

Since my embroidery experiment of New Year’s Day, I’ve had fiber arts on my mind. Stitching. Sewing. Braiding. Crochet. Knitting. Macrame. (Did that 1970s hobby ever make a comeback?)

So I’m not sure the drawer I opened today was “random.” Rather, I think the yarn stash called me.

What you see here is one of four drawers. I know it looks like a jumbled mess. But truly, most of the yarn is organized by color. (Obviously, that blue skein jumped into this bin of beiges, whites, and browns. All by itself. Surely I’m more organized than that.)

A moment’s digging in this drawer brought up two sizes of needles and three styles of pure white yarn. I put all the fibers together to get some bulk, selected the smaller needles, formed a slip knot, and wrinkled my brow.

It’s been awhile, so I had to remember how to cast on.

Clumsily, I did manage to get 11 stitches on the needle, which felt like appropriate width for a scarf. I knit a few rows, counting to 11 each time to be sure I stayed on track.

I’m not a numbers person, so quickly tired of counting. Then I remembered a technique I picked up several years ago when making prayer shawls alongside much more experienced knitters at church. Our shawl design involved a series of threes … knit three, purl three … creating a soft, subtle stripe. To keep an accurate pattern, one of the ladies suggested we think/pray while stitching: “Father. Son. Holy Spirit.”

The mantra really worked for me. Not only did I stay on course with the pattern, but my hands, elbows, and shoulders relaxed as I focused on meditation more than math.

So this evening, with 11 stitches on my needles, I considered what phrase might carry me through this project. There, on the table beside me, was the book that’s been guiding me through this year of making things. And so were the words I needed this evening:

“Three. Sixty. Five. Make. Something. Every. Day. And. Change. Your. Life.”

It’s working. In so many ways, these 11 words are moving me right along.