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
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