Knitting 204: Fuzzy Feet

In Knitting 204 the class will learn the anatomy of a sock and the techniques involved in its construction, and also become acquainted with felting.

The pattern is free and can be found at www.knitty.com. Click on “archives.” Scroll down to the “whimsies” section, and that’s where you’ll find “fuzzyfeet.”

The Bible Studies for the three-week class will revolve around “feet,” Jesus’ feet and ours.

Knitting 204–“Fuzzy Feet”
Week One

This week the students will be knitting the leg portion of the sock. Get them started in knitting in the round. They only knit to four inches in length, so they may want to put their work when completed on stitch holders and start the second sock during the week. Next week will begin with the heel flap.

The theme for this week’s Bible study is Jesus’ feet, and utilizes Luke 24:36–43.

I. Jesus’ Feet

Let’s just take a moment to think about Jesus’ feet. 

	Baby Feet—He began life with tiny baby feet. Imagine Mary and Joseph as Jesus took his first step. There’s the Chinese saying, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” The whole journey of his life destiny began with that first step!

	Childhood Feet—Jesus and his family lived in Nazareth. When he was a boy they traveled to Jerusalem for a festival, where they went to the temple. Then they started home, in a large group of pilgrims. Joseph thought Jesus was with Mary, and Mary thought Jesus was with Joseph. But he was still back at the temple! Question: As they were walking back to Nazareth by foot, what do you suppose they were talking about?

	Ministry Feet—Jesus’ whole ministry was done on foot. He walked everywhere. Think about the ministry of his feet. Question: How do you imagine his feet in these scenes?
		Walking on Water
		The sinful woman anointing and kissing his feet
		Walking in the heat of the day across Samaria to the well where he met a woman
		Climbing a mountain to pray at night

II. Resurrected Feet

Well, we know that the first step he took as a baby on his life’s journey led him eventually to a cross, where he was crucified. And when he was dead they took him down from that cross and laid him in a tomb. But death would not hold him, and he overcame death.

So we hear a story of Jesus’ resurrected feet in Luke 24. Jesus has met his disciples on the seashore. Have someone read the story. 

Jesus directs them to look at his feet. “Look!” he says, “It’s really me!” Question: How would they know him by his feet? What would they learn by looking at his feet? (They were well acquainted with his feet after all the time they’d spent together! But now his feet had those nail holes in them. He had been crucified, and OVERCAME death.)

III. Battle Scars

Jesus’ feet have battle scars on them. They’re a sign of victory, and they’re something we can take glory in. Those scars tell us that he has vanquished all our enemies: sin, death and the gates of hell.

In the book of Genesis, after the episode between Adam and Eve and the serpent, God said to the snake, “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

And at this very beginning we hear the words of promise. This offspring of the first parents is Jesus. In Jesus’ crucifixion, Satan “struck his heel.” But in Jesus’ resurrection, he has crushed the head of the ancient serpent with his scarred foot.

Luke 24:36_43 

    While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence. 

Knitting 204–“Fuzzy Feet”
Week Two

This week the class makes the heel flap, turns the heel and shapes the heel gussets. Their homework is to go up to the toe (the toe is next week).

The Bible study for this week is based on Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, in John 13:3–17.

I. Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

Question: If somebody comes to your house, what are some little acts of hospitality that one would typically show to a guest? (Greet them at the door, take their coat, offer them a place to sit, offer them something to drink)

In Jesus’ day, they had regular signs of hospitality, too. Have somebody read the text.

Israel is a dusty place, and folks then either went barefoot (the poor) or wore sandals. So their feet got plenty dusty. When you had visitors, you would wash their feet when they came. This was typically a job for the lowliest house servant to perform.

So we read here that God has “given all things into Jesus’ hands.” So what does he do? He washes the feet of his disciples! He takes on the role of the lowliest servant!

Questions:
•What does Peter think of this role hierarchy? (He thinks it’s not right. He should be washing Jesus’ feet)
•What does Jesus’ actions tell you about what kind of Lord and Savior he is? (He is not here to “Lord it over” us. He is a servant king)

This foot washing is a sign of what is to come in Jesus’ cross. Washing his disciples’ feet demonstrates his love. His love will STEP beyond all boundaries of propriety.

He just wants his disciples merely to receive his act of love. In allowing him to wash their feet, they are placing themselves into his hands, in the hands of the one who has received all things in his hands. That’s where you are, anyway, so let him do what he will do! Let him show you his love!

II. The Disciples Wash Feet

Jesus then leads us to THE NEXT STEP. We have received his love. And now he invites us to wash the feet of others. 

This order is important! First Jesus washes our feet. We first receive the act of his love. This is first, because it’s his love that transforms. His love fills us, and we in turn love one another.
We STEP into the servant role. Where will our feet take us? What boundaries of propriety might we step over? Our feet will take us as far as Jesus’ love can fill us. Let the adventure begin!

John 13:3_17 

    Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 
    12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. “

Knitting 204–“Fuzzy Feet”
Week Three

This week we work on the toe, and also demonstrate the felting process. Have a pair of Fuzzy Feet ready to felted. Explain the dynamics of wool and why it shrinks. Then felt them (obviously, you have to have access to a washing machine to do this during class time. If you don’t, then have a “before” and “after” pair, and explain what you did.) While the felting process is going on, you can explain the toe decreases and the grafting technique. This works best if you can have an assistant who takes care of the felting, while the main teacher stays with the class and teaches the toe.

The final Bible Study looks at our dusty mission feet, and how we handle disappointment. The text is Mark 6:7–13.

I. Sent Out in Mission

Last week we heard the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. Palestine is a dusty place, and feet get dirty. This week we hear another story about feet and dust. Have somebody read the story.

So Jesus is sending out his disciples for their ministry mission. Questions: He’s got 12 disciples, and he’s sending them out in teams, so how many teams are there? (Six) What’s nice about being part of a team, rather than working alone? (African proverb: “If you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you want to travel far, travel together.” Feet come in pairs!)

Question: Jesus tells them not to take a lot of stuff with them. Why do you think he said that? What’s the point?

II. Dusty Feet

Lastly, Jesus tells them what to do if people don’t welcome them. If people refuse to listen to them, they are simply to leave. And when they leave they are to “shake the dust off their feet.” This, we’re told, is a testimony against the people who have refused them.

But there’s more merit to shaking off this dust. Conflict happens. Rejection happens. Unpleasantness happens. It’s not a matter of if these things are going to occur. Oh, they will! The question before us is what do we do with it when they happen?

Here’s where the shaking off part comes in. We can get mired down in the hurts of the past. But if we do, we’ll never move on. It’s like we get stuck in the past. Even if we move on physically and temporally, we’re still dragging the past with us into our new situation. We never move on!

Look down at your feet. Question: Which way are your toes pointing? (Forward) Our feet were designed to move forward. We are meant to step into the future. Jesus is calling us to let go of past disappointments and rejections. When we let them go we lighten our load. When we let them go, we stop dwelling on past events, and we focus our energy on the events at hand.

Here’s a little story somebody sent me over the internet, and it describes this “shaking off” principle well:

It was an unusually wet spring. One morning a farmer woke up, and when he stepped outside, he was greeted by some kind of commotion in the farmyard. He could hear the distant braying of his donkey. He crossed the yard to investigate, and there he discovered that a sinkhole had opened up in the middle of the night. A deep hole was gaping in the yard, and his donkey had fallen into it. There at the bottom of the sinkhole he saw his donkey. The donkey had injured itself in the fall, and it was limping on one of its legs.

The edge of the sinkhole was very crumbly, and so the farmer couldn’t get too close without imperiling himself. He tried and tried to figure out a way to get his donkey out of the hole, but he couldn’t think of anything. He called up his neighbor, and he came over. But even together, the two farmers couldn’t think of how to get the donkey out of the hole.

“I just can’t stand it any longer,” the farmer said to his friend. “Listen to him braying down there. It’s driving me crazy! He’s going to die down there, and there’s nothing we can do!” 

Indeed, they couldn’t think of any way to help the donkey, and they knew he was going to die a slow and cruel death. So they finally decided the kindest thing they could do would be to bury him. So they got two shovels, and they started shoveling dirt into the hole. But a funny thing happened. Each time they threw a shovel-full of dirt down the hole, it would fall on top of the poor donkey. The donkey did what any donkey would do. He shook the dirt off his poor little back, and, distressed, he stomped it down. Scoop by scoop of dirt, the donkey shook off the dirt and stomped it down with his three good legs. 

Pretty soon the farmers realized that if they kept this up, the ground under the donkey would slowly rise. They had meant to bury the donkey, but their action borne of despair turned into the solution.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the hole, the poor donkey wasn’t liking any of this. He was braying in a distressed tone, but instinctfully, he kept shaking the dirt off and stomping it down. It took a while, but eventually they got the donkey out of the hole.

Like any of Aesop’s tales, this story has a moral: Let go of yesterday’s hurts. Shake off the dust, and move on. There will always be more ministry for us to do, if only we will step forward!

Mark 6:7_13 

    He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.