A Spirit of Abundance: The Cheerful Giver Headband
I am proud to present this post as part of a paid partnership with Knit Picks, a company I have patronized for many years and whose products and service I trust. All thoughts and opinions are my own, unedited and unaltered as always.
As I’ve taken a few weeks off of social media and blogging, I’ve had extra time to process all the things happening in the world around me. The atmospheric tension and driving fear of most people I interact with is difficult to contend with. It is hard not to notice how many people feel, truly, that everything they value is up for grabs, regardless of whether or not the facts bear that out. It is hard not to notice how scared we all are that we won’t have what we need tomorrow, whether that is a job, our health, the people in our lives that keep us sane and give us purpose, a future we can hand over to our children with pride, or the safety of our selves and our families. Everyone, across the spectrum of ideology and world views, is feeling this to some extent.
What a chance to find out what we are really made of, to lean in to what we really value.
To this end, I’ve been intentionally practicing a mindset of abundance lately. It is frightfully easy to fall into patterns of thinking that leave you trapped in the fear of scarcity. This fear drives so many of our worst instincts: the fear that if we allocate resources to someone else, we won’t have enough; if we lift the voice of someone else, ours won’t be heard; if we acknowledge someone else’s experience, ours will not longer count for anything; if we grant someone else a higher level of access, ours will be limited.
It seems to me that embracing the promise of abundance covers all these fears in a lavish kind of grace. Abundance promises that there is already enough. There is enough love, enough resources, and enough mercy to cover us all. Although I believe strongly that there is enough for all of us to flourish and thrive, I also believe that abundance does, in fact, require something of me. It requires trust that I will have what I need. It requires a simpler definition of what constitutes a need. Most of all, it requires generosity.
Generosity is the mechanism by which abundance is able to spread.
Generosity is giving more than is expected. In order to be generous, we become less attached to the things that give us a sense of security and self-reliance and we are able to freely give, without fear. When we are able to arrive at a place of un-attachment to those things that provide us with a sense that we are secure-our money, our resources, our time, our privilege, our talents, our relationships-we might realize that we are secure because of what we are given, rather than because of what we hoard. This idea is especially applicable to those of us already experiencing relative comfort and security. In Luke 12:48 we read what may not be comforting words for those of us living comfortably: “from those who have been given much, much will be required.” When I read these words, however, I feel a sense of hope and promise. There is joy to be experienced in an economy of generosity, joy for the those who receive in their need and joy for those who give. This joy comes from understanding and dwelling in the truth of abundance, moving resources, grace, and love as conduits of the best things life has to offer.
In this spirit, I am happy to offer to you today a free pattern for a crochet headband, which can be worked as an easy gift for anyone with chilly ears and can be worked in a small amount of yarn. The Cheerful Giver Headband is a möbius style crocheted headband that requires less than 100 yards of yarn. It is simple, stretchy, and easy to work and give.
The Cheerful Giver Headband Pattern
One ball of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed. I used the color Apple Blossom Heather, Lost Lake Heather, and Rabbit Heather. This would also be a wonderful stash buster project for any DK to worsted weight yarn in your stash, as it requires just a little under 100 yards.
Hook: 4 mm G/6
Materials: Stitch markers
Gauge: 4” = 12 st , 12 rows in sc, chain pattern
Size (circumference): Adult: 21”
Ch 84, join to first chain creating a large ring, with one twist in the chain. Place marker.
Round 1: working out of the backs of the foundations chains, ch 2, *skip 1 chain, 1 sc in next chain, chain . Rep from * around until you reach the marker. Move marker. Check to make sure there is ONE twist in the piece as you continue working across the tops of the foundation chain, *skip 1 chain, 1 sc in next chain, chain 1). Rep from * around to marker. Move marker.168 st (sc and ch)
You should now have a möbius strip.
Round 2: *1 sc in next chain space, chain1. Rep from * around, working in each chain space around until you get back to the marker. You’ll be working around the entree edge of the mob’s strip, which will in effect be adding two rows. 168 st (sc and ch)
Rounds 3-10: Repeat Round 2
You can also add or subtract rounds as desired.
To customize the circumference, take the head circumference measurement and multiply by 4 to get the number of stitches in the foundation chain. Work as directed.
I wish you, as one of my heroes frequently says, the best holiday available to you. My most fervent hope is that the life long pursuit of abundant living and giving begins for us now and continues to deepen and expend as we learn how to flourish and to invite others into that flourishing!
xo Nicole
If you are interested in exploring the ideas of abundance and generosity in more details, please check out these resources:
