And here we are, 21 days of peace. It's been a journey, an amazing sweet journey with so many incredible people. If there's one thing this process has made very clear is that this world is filled with amazing, kind, talented, creative, intelligent people...known as knitters. As someone said the other day "... it's a flock of sheep, a gaggle of geese and a kindness of knitters." Yes, there most definitely is a special kindness about knitters and this has been shown over and over again in the Healthy Knitter Ravelry group (Project Peace discussion board) that has over 3000 posts.
In advance, the post today is long but worth your while. There's some treats along the way with a special bonus at the end. So grab your coffee (or lemonade). Let's celebrate Solstice and the culmination of our 21-day peace-along!
Solstice means when the sun stands still. It's brief but the earth is momentarily in a state of harmony. The days are getting longer now in the Northern Hemisphere and shorter in the south. In the north there is hope that the light will return and in the south is a day to celebrate the brilliance of light.
To honor the presence of the knitters in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, I've selected a piece of music for your particular location.
The next chapter of the Three Sisters.
Note: If you did not read the first chapter of The Three Sisters then please read the post from 12/20 prior to reading any farther.
There were amazing comments yesterday; everyone's interpretation of the story was incredible. One comment left by Melanie provided the perfect transition to the next chapter. Honestly I wasn't sure how to transition from where I left off to the ending...and then I read this:
Chapter 2 (as written by Melanie).
Their old grey grandmother watched this for awhile and when she realized that things weren't getting better, decided that enough was enough. She took her walking stick, and a big wicker basket and set out into the woods. She walked and walked until she was tired. She rested, and then carried on, until she had climbed to the top of the mountains overlooking the village. She set her basket down, sat on a stone and looked out over the little village.
Shaking her head, she was disappointed that it had come to this. But she was sure she was doing the right thing.
She opened her basket carefully, and one after the other released three doves into the air. One to the East, one to the West and the last to the South. She held her breath as she watched the birds become specks on the horizon, and hoped that her messages would reach her granddaughters in time...
Chapter 3 (by Christina).
And as the grey grandmother sat on the top of the mountain waiting for her granddaughters to return, she knit and knit and knit. She vowed that she would not stop knitting until they returned. With each passing day she knit love and promise and hope into the increasingly growing blanket that someday peace would once again prevail in their tiny little village.
Far off in distant lands to the East, the West and the South, each of the fair maidens were seeing the world and helping others along the way. Eunice was creating order in each town she visited, Justine helped others to treat one another in kind ways and again, that very blessed Irene brought a sense of calm to anyone she encountered (some say it was her smile).
The doves after many moons reached the fair maidens telling them of their need to return. So each fair maiden made her return back to the village arriving at the darkest hour of the year to find a beautiful white blanket of snow had covered the people. There was hope once again that the days would be brighter once again, that peace would be restored to their tiny community.
And while it would be the perfect ending if Eunice, Justine, and Irene were to restore the village as it once was may make this story sound a bit too much like a fairy tale (minus the handsome prince) and that my friends might not be a fair representation of what really happened.
Instead, Eunice, Justine and Irene revealed their true identities to the people confiding in them that the secret to the life they desired was within each and everyone of them. To find peace (Irene) there must also be good order (Eunice) and justice (Justine). There must be respect for all the villagers despite their differences and there most definitely has to be knitting to weave everyone together throughout all the lands.
The End...and whether or not they lived happily ever after was really a matter of "choice."
This story was inspired by the peace-along and the Greek mythology Goddess of Peace, daughter of Zeus and Themis (Divine Law) and her sisters, Eunomia (good order) and Dike (justice).
Peace tip #21
Knit for peace. Yes, your tip for today is to knit for peace. How will you carry this message of peace forward into the New Year? Today, in honor of World-wide Knit-in for Peace (yes, we created this), light a candle, and reflect on peace.
Please make sure to place a pin on the map we've created in Ravelry. There are directions at the top of the discussion thread. If for some reason you can't place the pin, leave a comment in that thread and we'll be sure to add you.
BONUS GIVE-AWAY:
Knitcircus creates luxury handpainted gradient yarns with love in Wisconsin. Owner and dyer Jaala Spiro leads the Knitcircus Crew making gorgeous yarns in a flexible and supportive workplace. There are 2 chances to win as she's providing 2 skeins (100 g fingering weight), one in the colorway called "La Vie en Rose", the other "Imagine Peace."
To be eligible to win, please leave a comment addressing the following question (s). If for some reason you can't get the comment function to work, please send your comment to me via email (thehealthyknitter at gmail dot com). Entries close by 8 a.m. (central US time) December 22.
Where do we go from here? How do we keep this peace revolution moving forward? And if those questions are too much...just tell me something you've learned along the way that was a game-changer for you.
I began Project Peace with a simple question. Is it possible to create "world peace" by having knitters from around the globe reflect on peace. I thought if I could get people (knitters) to choose peace and all these people were from all corners of the earth, then yes, that would be "world peace." And so, with 1000's of people knitting today (and the past 21 days) for peace we can say we've created WORLD PEACE.
Peace begins with each stitch and extends to the person, family, community, region, country, continent and globe.
“Peace...this we choose each day...”