Prayer Shawl Ministry
The Prayer Shawl Ministry at New Haven United Methodist Church meets every Monday at 7 pm in the Parlor. They come with their latest shawl projects to exchange knitting and crocheting tips, and pray for each completed shawl and its recipient. Everyone interested in knitting or crocheting a shawl are welcome to join.
How does it work?
Pray for your shawl's recipient before, during and after creating the shawl.
Upon completion, members of the ministry will pray together for your
shawl's recipient.
Do I need to come to the Monday meetings?
No. While the Shawl Ministry is open to anyone interested in knitting or
crocheting a shawl, feel free to make a shawl on your own at home.
If I make my shawl at home, what do I do with it when I am finished?
Bring your shawl to a Shawl Ministry meeting or give it to any ministry
participant to bring to a meeting for you. Your shawl will receive a final
prayer and blessing before it is delivered to its recipient.
Who will receive my shawl?
If you have someone in mind, inform the Shawl Ministry and make arrange-
ments to deliver the shawl. If you are not creating your shawl for a specific
recipient, the ministry will identify one.
For more information, please contact: Becky Hayes (749-1711) or
Betsy Brotherton (749-1996)
Pamphlets on the Shawl Ministry are available on the table in the hallway leading to the Sunday School classrooms. Feel free to stop by and pick one up.
Background on the Shawl Ministry
Since 1998, Shawl Ministry has spread around the world, with groups "gathering to pray and knit for those in need and those celebrating life's joys. As they create shawls for others, their handiwork becomes an expression of their love--and of the loving care of the God who works through them."
"Shawls console those who are grieving, comfort those who are ill, bring hope to those who are in despair. The reasons to knit a shawl are as numerous as the people who knit and receive them."
You may feel led to join the Shawl Ministry because you know someone for whom a shawl would be beneficial. Once involved, you may begin noting people in your life who are ill or grieving and knit for them.
Throughout the process, you will be praying for God's love to surround your shawl's recipient. By the time the person receives it, the shawl is filled with prayers for them. "When they wrap themselves in it, they can feel the warmth and love that the prayers and yarn have become."
For an unknown recipient, the love and prayers that you knit into the shawl are just as powerful and important, offering a wonderful opportunity to pray for a stranger.
"We may never know how our love and care will touch or change a person's life." May you knit your shawl with love and may you be blessed by the shawls you knit and receive.
Above taken from Knitting into the Mystery:
A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry
by Susan S. Jorgensen and Susan S. Izard
Getting Started in the Prayer Shawl Ministry:
Supplies Needed:
Knitting Needles Size 11 or Size 13 - OR - Crochet Hook Size M
Yarn: Most shawls can be made with 3 or 4 skeins of yarn that are 6 oz (170 g)
and 185 yrds (166.5 m) each. If you prefer a larger shawl, you will need more
yarn. Yarn may be chosen for a color best suited for the recipient, its texture
or its name.
Before You Begin:
Because this is a spiritual practice, before you begin, a blessing, prayer or
wish can be said, dedicating the work of your hands and blessing the
recipient of your shawl.
Casting On:
As you cast on, pray for the recipient, asking God to wrap him or her
in His compassionate love.
Finishing Touches:
Finish your shawl with fringe, keeping the recipient in your prayers.
Give Away Your Shawl:
If you are making the shawl for a particular person, you may include the
history of the shawl ministry and a prayer. Many wrap the shawl in tissue
and include a sachet and a written blessing or prayer. If you do not know
someone who might need a shawl, contact the Shawl Ministry.
Knitting Instructions:
1. Decide size needle you will use. Size 11 will create a slightly denser shawl with a more noticeable K3 pattern. Conversely, size 13 will create a slightly looser, less definable pattern. Approximate finished sizes, without fringe, are 26" x 60" on size 11 needles; and 30" x 64" on size 13 needles.
2. Select your yarn. See "Getting Started."
3. Cast on. CO 57 stitches for size 13, 63 for size 11. The pattern is K3, P3 every row. You will always begin with K3 and end with K3. Any odd multiple of 3 will work for your shawl, depending upon how wide you want to make it: 57, 63, 69, 75, 81 and so on. Follow this pattern until you achieve the desired length. You may also decide to knit every row in garter stitch. Before you begin the 3rd skein, make your fringe.
A lap blanket for men is an alternative. In this case, CO 87 stitches (size 13). Blanket will be approximately 45" wide. You may want to use 4 skeins for this project.
4. Make fringe. Fringe is an individual thing. It can be long or short. You can put a piece of fringe through every stitch, or skip several stitches. Some tie or sew beads to fringe, especially if the shawl is for a child. Whatever you decide, do the following:
Decide how long you want the fringe. Because the fringe is doubled when fastened to the shawl, you must cut the fringe twice the desired length. For 6" fringe, each strand must be 12" long and so on.
For standard fringe, cut as many lengths as you have stitches on your needles. Reserve fringe until you have finished knitting the shawl.
5. Finish the shawl. Attach the inside end of the yarn to your shawl and continue knitting until all the yarn is used up, or until you achieve the desired length.
6. Attach the fringe. Double the yarn and using a small crochet hook, pull the loop through the stitch; insert the ends of the fringe through the loop and pull tight, creating a knot.
7. Knot the ends of the fringe if you are using a yarn that frays easily.
Text adapted by Susan S. Jorgensen from original
by Victoria A. Cole-Galo and Janet Bristow (C) 2002.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Crochet Instructions:
1. Size M Hook
2. Select your yarn. (See "Getting Started")
3. Chain 54 st, or desired width of shawl, chain 1, turn
4. Single crochet in each of the chain st to the end, chain 3, turn
5. Double crochet in the top of each single crochet, chain 3 and turn
6. Repeat Step 5, chain 3 and turn
7. Repeat Step 5, chain 1 and turn
8. Repeat Steps 4-7 till shawl is desired length
9. End with 1 row of single crochet
10. Finish with fringe (See "Knitting Instructions")
Developed by Rita Glod. Used with permission.
