What is a prayer shawl?

Years before cancer joined the vernacular of our family, my mom talked about the prayer shawl ministry.

The concept is pretty simple: Creative folks would design and knit or crochet together small blankets with their prayer woven through each chain. Those works of art would then be donated to those going through chemo (or some other major life event) so that they could literally cover themselves with prayer, feel uplifted and physically keep warm at the same time.

It was a project that she never got into before receiving a beautiful prayer shawl herself with the diagnosis of cancer in 2017. Before then, she was much more involved crocheting mats made of plastic bags for the homeless.

So, when she passed, I inherited the remaining skeins and needles of projects never realized, or more likely, the ones that she would start and restart all the time. The decision with what to do with them was easy: prayer shawls for those with cancer.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry was started in 1998 by two women Janet Severi Bristow and Victoria Galo. More about their ministry can be found on their website: https://www.shawlministry.com/. My local parish, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church has a prayer shawl ministry that I donate my shawls to.

Generally speaking, I'm not great at patterns simply because I find crocheting and knitting to be more relaxing when I don't have to think about it too much. So, this prayer shawl was about 120 chains long, alternating between 2 rows of a single chain and 2 rows of a double chain skipping every other space. I used a J-sized needle and 4 skeins.

I hope to honor mom's memory with donating more creations over the years and help others feel like they are not alone.

2021

Of course, my dog wanted to add his love and decided to sit on it while I was taking photos. Thank goodness for lint rollers!