Walled Garden Prayer Shawl

I borrowed Modern Crocheted Shawls and Wraps from the library before purchasing. When I saw the Walled Garden pattern I knew I wanted the book.

Sadly I was in a rush to get the pictures taken as we were headed out when I took these but the colors and the texture on this shawl are wonderful. This actually is one I would love to have for myself. This was the first prayer shawl I made for a specific person not just to be given out randomly and I knew who I'd make it for when I saw the pattern. The key was finding the yarn. Lately manufacturers introduce beautiful colors and then sadly by the time you purchase a book or pattern the yarn may no longer be available.

When I first started searching for Caron Simply Soft Rose Garden it was challenging to find in the amounts I needed. The pattern requires 7 skeins and since the yarn was hard to find and I am known for needing more than the pattern requires I ordered 9 from Mary Maxim as they were the only ones who had the colors and the amount I wanted. There shipping is often expensive but if you can wait they do occasionally have shipping deals and that's when I ordered.

Sadly, my pictures aren't great but the colors really do give you that feeling of being surrounded by a beautiful garden. It is a heavy shawl as you can imagine with it using even 7 small skeins of yarn. However, come winter I expect it will be a nice reminder of the beauty of summer when we don't have the beautiful summer flowers to show us.

Rectangular Prayer Shawl Stole

I've started making prayer shawls again for a Church I'm attending. It's been a bit and I had to find where I'd stored all the leaflets and books and then it was time to think about yarn for the projects.

A few years back I donated all my Homespun yarn because I was and still am determined to decrease my stash yarn to items I will use. I am trying to do this mostly through using it for the doll project but when someone has a better use for it than I, passing it on seems like a wonderful solution to my problem of having yarn I don't need.

However, now that I'm back to making prayer shawls I'm exploring yarn I don't normally use in my doll project.

This first shawl is the Crochet Rectangular Stole from Liesure Arts The Prayer Shawl Ministry #4225 and I substituted Lion Brand's Premier Puzzle Yarn Backgammon for Homespun as it was available locally without having to order Homespun online. The pattern calls for a K hook, I used an M hook to obtain gauage.

Prayer Shawl Patterns

I recently joined a Prayer Shawl Ministry group at my Church and know I need variety when I work on projects. I might come back to a pattern, but I rarely repeat a pattern without looking for a new version. I need to try some new options to keep from burning out. As I was searching for free patterns, I realized I might not be the only one looking and decided to add another page for others who were interested. I discovered there are some with pictures and detailed patterns and many very simply written with minimal instructions. I will list what I can find and leave you to choose what works for you.

Crochet:

Amazing Grace

Bernat

Busy Bees

Chevron Stitch

Comfort

Fisherman's Wool Yarn from ABC Knitting

Half Granny Square

Homemade Noodles

Kindhearted

Kris's

Lion Brand

Lion Brand 13779

Margaret's Hug Healing Shawl

Men's Reversible

Pamela's Lattice

Strawberry Lane Crafts




Knit:

Birds on a Wire

Cashews

Dragon Scale

Faith

Fluted

Gutsy

Hopeful

Journey

Lacy

Nutty Knitter

Pushpa

Raised Eyebrow

Simply Alice

Sing the Song

Sugar Pie

Sunday Drive

Ted's

Walking the Halls

Wonderland

Loom Knit:

Prayer Shawl Ministry no pictures

Triangle Shawl Adapted to Yellow Knifty knitter here

Pictures may not be used without written permission.

The item pictured here is the Comfort Shawl found in Prayer Shawls II (Annie's Attic: Crochet)

Thankful Thursday: Prayer Shawl Ministry

I have posted many times how thankful I am for my online groups, especially Crochetville. The online community is wonderful and supportive. However, I have long wished for a local community to sit and work with to meet people and to have that personal experience. I recently started going to Church in a town not too far from here. I was thrilled to see a notice for Prayer Shawl meetings and while I had to wait a few weeks for the monthly meeting, I got to go this week.

It was so wonderful to sit with a community of women and just chat. I was the only crocheter, but I can live with that. I even had the chance to teach someone the magic circle. One of the woman, also gave me information about another group that meets in the same town twice a month and I am going to see what I can do to make some of those meetings, too. I am feeling very blessed and hopeful as I post this. One of my dearest wishes has been granted.

When I got home, I dug out some Prayer Shawl books I had purchased on clearance from Annie's several years ago and downloaded some free patterns from Ravelry. The rules are pretty open about what styles we can make, size is more the issue. I also have a couple of books on reserve at the library to preview. I know from making doll clothes, I don’t stay motivated repeating patterns. Having variety will keep me motivated. At some point I think I'll start another page for free patterns as I collect them.

Working on human clothing is a big jump for me, but I will still have my doll donation project going. It is just nice to work with a community on something.

On another note, I would like to wish Happy Birthday to my Mom and my nephew. I hope you both have special days.