Comments on: The Joy of Giving Prayer Shawls

By: Lynne

Lynne — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:00:46 +0000

My church has a prayer shawl ministry. Our group is very small, but in the last 18 months we’ve given away over 40 shawls and lapghans (lap robes). One went to a teenage girl whose mother had unexpectedly died. Several were given to nursing home residents who have no family left.

Knitting the shawls is such a blessing to me. Due to health issues, I can no longer serve the church as I once did.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:11:17 +0000

My father died. For 15 years he had been caretaker for my mother who had Parkinson’s. Now I had to care for her. We had never gotten along and now she was a horrible, nasty old woman with dementia. Mom knit and I crochet so I got us matching prayer shawl books to work on. Although I have never been the praying sort, I tried to work a prayer into each stitch like the book said….at first, they were “Dear Lord, please make this horrible woman leave me alone today! “. But there are an awful lot of stitches in a shawl and by the end I had discovered a true power to prayer: I could no longer hate this person I had prayed for. It changed my entire attitude and feeling towards my mother. So… I took the shawl to mom. She barked ” I don’t like the color!” and I gave it to charity. I made 6 more shawls for mom before she passed last month. The residents at the nursing home appreciate them even if mom couldn’t and I actually learned to love my mom!

By: carol

carol — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:14:01 +0000

What a lovely idea! Prayer shawls… and if you do crochet and knit a LOT, and have run out of friends to give things too, (LOL) it’s a great use of your time and dedication… I would suggest a nice water repellant yarn for shawls for the homeless… they don’t always want to stay in a shelter and sometimes get caught out in the rain… sad but true.. and all the positive thoughts that get worked into the threads, leak out and embrace the wearer… at least that’s what I’d like to believe…

By: Shelly

Shelly — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:41:44 +0000

I made a couple of prayer shawls for my boyfriend’s neices when his mother passed away. The girls were particularly close to “mommom” and were distraught when she passed. Mommom was a fellow crocheter so when they cleaned out her attic they found a bunch of her yarn and passed it to me. So with that yarn, I made the shawls and called them “hugs from mommom”. I’m told the girls still use them when they need to be close to mommom.

By: Geneva

Geneva — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:22:55 +0000

I am part of a prayer shawl group at my church. It is a blessing to be a part of such a positive group. Enjoy the fellowship and lots of beautiful shawls and blankets have been given away.
We even purchase blankets and put crochet edging aroung them. They are very pretty too.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:17:46 +0000

Prayer shawls can be crocheted, knitted, quilted or fabric sewn together to make a shawl.

I coordinate the prayer shawl ministry at our church and I can tell you first hand how much these shawls are appreciated, worn and in may cases handed down to other family members. We are a small church and do not have enough contributors but somehow we manage to meet the requests.

We provide the shawls to new mothers, seriously ill, or just temporarily incapacitated folks. It brings a joy to them to know they are being thought of.

Consider starting your prayer shawl ministry; it doesn’t have to be connected with a church or denomination. My two cents!!

By: Patt

Patt — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:15:46 +0000

Prayer Shawls are made to be soft, and warm and comforting for the wearer. We have started a prayer shawl group in my home.. Patterns are basic.. single and double crochet..
chain 60 then 1 row of single crochet, then 2 rows of double crochet then one of single… til piece measures 60 inches long… You can put on and edge or add fringe… The most important thing is praying to your God for the person who is to recieve it… for peace , comfort and health and welfare…
Keep it simple… if you corchet alot you can make variations of the single and double crochet rows… a very pretty one is sc,(dc,sc across) then next row same pattern but crochet in back loop across the next row in both loops.. continue with row 2,3 thoughout piece then end with corchet in both loops…
GOD BLESS

By: Judy

Judy — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:01:42 +0000

Made prayer shawl for our minister’s wife who was having some health issues,& for her mother who was very ill. They were so pleased to receive them. Judy

By: Cynthia Emery

Cynthia Emery — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:40:56 +0000

There are several free patterns on Lion Brand Yarn for lovely prayer shawls, as well as Red Heart Yarn and Caron. Lion also has a section of tags to print with possible suggested prayers and/or best wishes.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:21:13 +0000

I found some nice, free patterns on Ravelry.