Cathy and I went yarn hunting yesterday. We were looking for ideas of what yarns would be suitable for shawls that were not being given to someone we knew. That meant we needed yarn that came close to what was recommended in the pattern found on the Shawl Ministry Web-site, but that was also easy care -- machine washable and dryable.
The Knit shawl (stole really -- since it's a rectangle) calls for approximately 500 meters (555 yards) on size 8 or 9 mm needles (those are BIG! needles!) The crocheted stole calls for approximately 670 meters (700+ yards) and a 9 mm crochet hook. Directions will be available -- but you can also find them, and many, many variations (for those who don't want to knit the same thing over and over!) on the Shawl Ministry web-site.
The yarn we found was all in the worsted range (or heavier) ... you can get away with lighter yarn, and achieve a lacier fabric since the basic patten is Knit 3, Purl 3 .... on a multiple of 3 cast on stitches (the suggestion is 57 stitches), making sure that knits and purls do not line up to give you ribbing. (Check the web-site if I've confused you! And congratulations, if I haven't!
Anyway, it was impossible for me to visit our two local yarn shops and the large craft store and not come home with something, so I have begun my first shawl.... just barely, but it has begun. I'll show you what it looks like when it has grown a bit and when I have my camera handy!
Dawn
Friday, December 14, 2007
Expanding our Horizons
As I sat looking around my office recently, my eyes rested on a gift I received some years ago from Sue White's class. It is a stole, created as part of their expression of what they were learning and doing in Sunday School, and when it was complete, they presented it to me, explaining what the symbols meant and what they had learned as they made it. Cathy very obligingly modeled it so I could add this photo to the Blog! Thank you, Cathy!
That's when it struck me. We aren't seeking to begin a new ministry, we are simply looking for ways to broaden and expand it. I have a shawl that was created in love and given with pride and with the hope that it would touch me as its creation had touched them. I was honoured and awed. The first prayer shawl was made before we even knew to name it such.
Helping Hands, a quilting group at LRUC, makes cuddle quilts for police and emergency service personnel to give to children at times of distress, hoping to bring them comfort and security when it is most needed. They also make quilts for the new homeowners through Habitat for Humanity.
Every fall the mitten tree is covered with mittens with the hope and the prayer that little hands will not be cold this winter.
Creating shawls, whether through knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing, weaving or creative stitching, is simply one more way in which we can reach out to someone to celebrate their joy or to bring comfort in a time of distress, a way in which we can offer hugs when we can't always be there in person, a way of saying: never forget, you're not alone, wrap yourself in this and remember someone cares.
Dawn
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Beginning Thoughts on Prayer Shawls
Cathy and I have been discussing this for a while, and we hope that we're ready and that some of you will join us. The whole idea of prayer shawls is one that has been around for a while, and has appealed -- but where to start?
This summer, enticed by a stitching/beading friend, I signed up for a mystery stole knitalong (KAL) . Though it had been years since I had knit a project of any size, I persevered and completed the project -- a stole whose design unfolded through a period of some weeks, as the designer posted sections of her design for the group to download and knit. I also rediscovered my love of knitting, and searched the Internet for other stole or shawl patterns. Through my search I came across a free pattern for a prayer shawl, which renewed my interest in this project.
As a result of that first KAL, I signed up for a few more mystery stole knitalongs, which left me looking for ways to share, not only the finished product, but also the joy of creating, the calm and serenity that I rediscovered in knitting -- well, most of the time!
When Cathy joined us for her internship, we discussed many things related to ministry, and in our conversations, we discovered a common interest in finding new ways in which we could reach out to the community, and the idea of a prayer shawl knitting and crocheting group was born.
A prayer shawl can be many things:
It may be a shawl that you knit prayerfully, intending to use it in the future for times of devotion, meditation, or even simply when you feel the need to surround yourself with the warmth that creating the shawl brings. Prayer shawls of this nature have a long and honourable tradition within the Christian and Jewish faiths.
It might be a shawl that is created with prayers for someone in need, for a new baby, or to mark a special event in the life of someone close to you. I have a friend who sat down and created a shawl for someone she knew who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She delivered the shawl shortly after this woman's surgery, to enfold her friend in her love, concern and care for her as she recovered, and as she faced whatever the future holds for her.
A prayer shawl might also be a gift that is filled with prayers and blessed when it leaves the creator's hands, to be given to someone s/he doesn't know who is in need. this may be facilitated by another agency, such as hospice, a women's shelter, through emergency response personnel, a hospital chaplain ....
The designs are as individual as the creators. We plan to have a variety of pattern resources available for our knitters and crocheters, from the simple patterns offered through the authors of Knitting into the Mystery ... Susan Jorgensen and Susan Izard, and that offered by Victoria Cole-Galo and Janet Bristow, the original creators of the shawl ministry web-site
This is the first step in our adventure and we hope that you will journey with us, sharing information and insight, as we seek a meaningful way of combining our desire for the spiritual to be expressed in concrete ways to help others.
It is our hope that this blog will be an additional way of helping those who cannot always be with us in community at Lincoln Road United Church to keep in touch and share their hopes, dreams, insights and inspiration with us, so that the circle may grow ever larger.
Blessings to all who visit, and on all of your projects.
Dawn
This summer, enticed by a stitching/beading friend, I signed up for a mystery stole knitalong (KAL) . Though it had been years since I had knit a project of any size, I persevered and completed the project -- a stole whose design unfolded through a period of some weeks, as the designer posted sections of her design for the group to download and knit. I also rediscovered my love of knitting, and searched the Internet for other stole or shawl patterns. Through my search I came across a free pattern for a prayer shawl, which renewed my interest in this project.
As a result of that first KAL, I signed up for a few more mystery stole knitalongs, which left me looking for ways to share, not only the finished product, but also the joy of creating, the calm and serenity that I rediscovered in knitting -- well, most of the time!
When Cathy joined us for her internship, we discussed many things related to ministry, and in our conversations, we discovered a common interest in finding new ways in which we could reach out to the community, and the idea of a prayer shawl knitting and crocheting group was born.
A prayer shawl can be many things:
It may be a shawl that you knit prayerfully, intending to use it in the future for times of devotion, meditation, or even simply when you feel the need to surround yourself with the warmth that creating the shawl brings. Prayer shawls of this nature have a long and honourable tradition within the Christian and Jewish faiths.
It might be a shawl that is created with prayers for someone in need, for a new baby, or to mark a special event in the life of someone close to you. I have a friend who sat down and created a shawl for someone she knew who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She delivered the shawl shortly after this woman's surgery, to enfold her friend in her love, concern and care for her as she recovered, and as she faced whatever the future holds for her.
A prayer shawl might also be a gift that is filled with prayers and blessed when it leaves the creator's hands, to be given to someone s/he doesn't know who is in need. this may be facilitated by another agency, such as hospice, a women's shelter, through emergency response personnel, a hospital chaplain ....
The designs are as individual as the creators. We plan to have a variety of pattern resources available for our knitters and crocheters, from the simple patterns offered through the authors of Knitting into the Mystery ... Susan Jorgensen and Susan Izard, and that offered by Victoria Cole-Galo and Janet Bristow, the original creators of the shawl ministry web-site
This is the first step in our adventure and we hope that you will journey with us, sharing information and insight, as we seek a meaningful way of combining our desire for the spiritual to be expressed in concrete ways to help others.
It is our hope that this blog will be an additional way of helping those who cannot always be with us in community at Lincoln Road United Church to keep in touch and share their hopes, dreams, insights and inspiration with us, so that the circle may grow ever larger.
Blessings to all who visit, and on all of your projects.
Dawn
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