Star of David

Star of David is a free crochet 6 inch square pattern with devotional

Note: All stitches are worked in both loops unless instructed otherwise.

Yarn: Worsted weight-two colors

Hook: US I /9 -5.5mm or H/8 -5.0mm

Abbreviations:

BLO-back loop only

sp or sps- space or spaces

st or sts- stitch or stitches

sl st- slip stitch

ch-chain

beg- beginning

sc-single crochet

hdc-half double crochet

dc-double crochet 

tr-treble crochet

Start with a magic loop or ch 4 sl st to beg ch to make loop

Rnd 1: With Color A: Ch 3 (counts as dc), 12 dc in loop, sl st to beg ch-3. (13 dc)

Rnd 2: (Ch 1, sc) in same st,* ch 1, sc in next st* Repeat from * to *all the way around, ch 1, sl st to beg sc. (13 ch-1 sps)

Rnd 3: Sl st into first ch-1 sp, (ch 1, sc) in same sp, *skip sc, (sc, hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc, sc)** in next ch-1 sp, sc in next ch-1 sp* Repeat from * to * 5 more times ending at ** on final repeat, sl st to beg sc. Fasten off Color A. (six pointed star)

Rnd 4: (Working in BLO) with Color B: sl st into any tr on the star’s point, (ch 1, sc) in same st, *hdc in next st, dc in next st, tr in next st, skip one st, tr in next st, dc in next st, hdc in next st,** sc in next st (which is again at the point of the star)* Repeat from * to * 5 more times ending at ** on final repeat, sl st to beg sc. Fasten off Color B. (You should have somewhat of a hexagon shape.)

Rnd 5: With Color A: Find a star point from Rnd 3 and your sc in it from Rnd 4, sl st into this st, (ch 1, sc) in same st, sc in next 3 sts, *hdc in next st, dc in next st, 5 tr in next st (corner made), dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next 6 sts* Repeat from * to * 2 more times, hdc in next st, dc in next st, 5 tr in next st (corner made), dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next 2 sts, sl st to beg sc. Fasten off Color A. (You should have 4 corners and a beautiful square by now J)

Rnd 6-9: With Color B: Sl st in any corner, (ch 1, 3 sc) in same st, sc in all sts around with 3 sc in each corner, sl st to beg sc. (Rnd 6: one 3-sc corner, 14 sc/side; Rnd 7: one 3-sc corner, 16 sc/side; Rnd 8: one 3-sc corner, 18 sc/side; Rnd 9: one 3-sc corner, 20 sc/side)

A very special thank you to my testers, Carmen Carpenter and Joanne Jones and Carmen a big kiss for all of the editing J

© Copyright April 2012 by Cynthia Boylan, all rights reserved. This pattern, in whole or part, may not be reproduced – mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying -- without the written permission of Cynthia Boylan. Projects made from this pattern may be gifted, swapped or sold. If you use this pattern to sell items on the internet, please credit Cynthia Boylan as the designer.

Hope and Unity

The star of David though it’s origins are commonly argued, was used as a symbol for the Jewish faith- meaning hope and unity. There are those that say that the Star of David has evil origins- and that may be, anything can be evil, if worshipped and made into an idol rather than our Lord. Some say that it originated as the “Shield of David” because the Lord was David’s shield and David did nothing without the Lord. Regardless of where the symbol came from, many million Jewish people died with this symbol on their chests.

The movie 180 is a wonderful tool that uses our feelings about the holocaust to think about how we feel about abortion.  The conclusion of the movie is that all life is precious, and that we should become united and stand for what is right- especially voting for these choices.  (www.heartchanger.com)

We as Christians are allowing things to creep into our society sometimes without a thought.  These things that crept into our society soon become the normal and take us further from the Lord.  In the Old Testament, when the Israelites were taking over the Promised Land, there were a lot of gruesome murders that we don’t understand.  Not only were the men of the territory killed, but also the women and children at the command of God. Halley’s Bible Handbook reasons that this is because of the great sins of the Canaan people.  Their idol worship was so wicked that they were killing their own children, either for luck, or to offer up to a goddess.  He didn't want His people to intermarry with them and have their hearts led astray by such wickedness.

Solomon was a man of wisdom.  When asked what he wanted from the Lord, he requested wisdom. 1 Kings 3:5-12 “At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ‘Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.’ Solomon answered, ‘You have shown great kindness to Your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to You and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. How, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant kind in place of my father David.  But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.  Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  So give Your servant a discerning heart to govern Your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.  For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?’ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.  So God said to him, ‘Since You have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked.  I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.”  1 Kings 4:34 “Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.” 1 Kings 10:23 “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.”  

Solomon is also known for marrying many women and having many concubines-. 1 Kings 11:1-8 “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter- Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.  They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.  He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.  He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.“    Solomon was punished- 1 Kings 11:11 “So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept My covenant and My decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.” Solomon’s kingdom was ripped from his hands- and he was left with one small piece but only for his father’s sake.  1 Kings 11:36 “I will give one tribe to his son (Solomon) so that David my servant may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.”  Also, if you look at the genealogies in Luke 3:23-38 and Matthew 1:1-17, they differ, and it is argued that Mary’s lineage is that in Luke, whose ancestor would be Nathan, Solomon’s brother. (Here is an interesting commentary to read on this http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/25049/eVerseID/25064/)  How is it that the wisest man in history could be led astray from the Lord, and actually build an altar to a foreign god?  It gradually crept in- once you are surrounded by more non-Christians than Christians, it becomes easier to become more like the non- Christians.  Hebrews 3:10-14 says of an straying heart “That is why I (God) was angry with that generation(talking of the Israelites), and I said, ‘their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. “ When you don’t have a support system in place to cover you in prayer and to listen to your burdened heart and restore in you the hope that the Lord sees in your life- then it is easy to fade in with the crowd. Jesus prayed that we would be as one in John 17:11 “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to You.  Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name- the Name You gave Me- so that they may be as one as We are one.”  Immerse yourself in the Word and in His ways, pray continuously.  1 Corinthians 16:13-14 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  Do everything in love.” Ephesians 4:1-6 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. “

The Star of David symbolizes unity and hope. It is with unity that we show the hope that the Lord sees.  He sees us as His hands and feet in the world.

Here is the link to download the pdf form from Ravelry.