52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book 18

The overarching theme of The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs is the search for belonging. To some degree, I believe this is a search we are all on.

Unfortunately, the writing is weak and the storyline is expected. Though I found the framework of knitting, to be interesting, it could have been more inspiring with a better editor.

Quotes that stuck out to me:

It was what it was – a very New York kind of friendship – and yet each felt, in the city of strangers, that they had found a good friend in each other... It had been a long, long time since Georgia had had the type of friend who knew what you wanted to say even before you said it. Who was always in your corner. Who actually enjoyed talking to you every day.

... when you're young, you always think you'll meet all sorts of wonderful people, that drifting apart and losing friends is natural. You don't worry, at first, about the friends you leave behind. But as you get older, it gets harder to build friendships. Too many defenses, too little opportunity. You get busy. And by the time you realize that you've lost the dearest best friend you ever had, years have gone by and you're mature enough to be embarrassed by your attitude and, frankly, by your arrogance.

Every knitter has a sweater left unfinished... there's a secret hope that makes you hold on, to dream that you'll get it right some day, that you'll go back and take it up again and it will finally come out right. That this time all the pieces will fit. The mistake is waiting until you feel renewed enough to give it another try. You simply have to pick up the needles and keep at it anyway.

"I'm not God. But I can tell you some things I believe... I believe medical issues just happen – they're not cosmic tests; they're not retribution for all the naughty things you've done over a lifetime. It's not some moral righting of the universe. It's just something going wonky with the wiring... And I think God cries when we're in pain; he cries with us and supports us. But I also believe he stands back and lets us sort things out. Lets the doctors do their work. Lets your body heal itself." – Father Smith

"And if it doesn't?" - Georgia

"Then he welcomes you with open arms. God isn't really about the body, you know - he's about the soul." - Father Smith

"So if I pray hard enough I'll get better?" - Georgia

"No, no, that's not what I mean at all. Praying isn't a form of divine insurance. It's just a way of communicating, just a way of opening your heart." - Father Smith

I'll let you in on a little secret. we don't all love our jobs every day. And doing something you have a passion for doesn't make the work part of it any easier... it just makes you less likely to quit.

Every knitter stitches with love... it never matters if things don't end up just the way you planned. Every moment is a work of progress; every stitch is one stitch closer. There may be worse, but there is always better. When you wear something you've made with your own hands, you surround yourself with love, and all the love that came before you. The real achievement is being proud of what you've made.