One morning I saw a spectacular Mexican sunrise: yellow,
orange, turquoise, mauve and peach. It was so wonderful that I thought
that I should try to save it in a Prayer Shawl. How is it that I had all
those colors in my stash of yarn? One of the stitches is a Faggotting
stitch. My mother chose that stitch to knit our curtains when I was a
child. Knitting that stitch brought my mother to visit me. I don't
remember much of her. Dad was away in WWII and mom became quite invisible
under an overbearing mother-in-law. This is the 16th Prayer Shawl and
was given away on Christmas Eve. Yesterday I finished the 17th shawl.
This had a modified sunrise design surrounded by royal purple and will be
placed on the Altar this Sunday (Dec 31). There have been no two alike.
Each evolves as I knit, if I make a mistake it becomes part of the design.
If I run out of yarn, I change the design.
"Magical" things happen when "I" am creating these shawls.
Pattern repeats end where they are supposed to even if I did not pre-plan the
last row placement. Designs happen, shapes happen (The last one being
about 150 deg. arc.)
I said "magical", but is it? Do I have any control over
what happens? Mistakes change into design; rows end with just
inches of yarn left; circles not completed due to insufficient yarn
suddenly acquire a triangle of 19 Trinity stitches in a contrasting color.
(Invoking the Holy Trinity for those who are sick has enormous power.)
I read about the shawl ministry in the Canadian Churchman (an Anglican
Newspaper) and contacted the originators to find out more. Ever since, I have
been driven by some force to make and give shawls to those who need them. Over
the last 40 months I have made as many shawls. Thirty were given through St.
Savior’s Parish in Penticton, B.C. and as of December 13th, 2006
thirteen have been given through St. Andrew’s Parish here in Lakeside.
In preparing
to knit a shawl I pray over the needles and
wool before starting and continue to pray and send healing thoughts to the
recipient while knitting. I consistently invoke the Holy Trinity, as the
number of stitches is usually divisible by three, while the patterns and rows
are formed from multiples of three.
A usual
shawl contains over 50,000 stitches and takes
from 20 to 50 hours to finish. The shawls are given free of cost as a ministry
to anyone in a crisis, most often to those facing illness or in mourning.
From
feedback I have learned that many recipients immediately feel better as soon
as they wrap the shawl around themselves.
Every
shawl that I make is first placed on the altar and given to God, and most of
them have been blessed by a priest, before being given further.
I believe that a Power greater than my hands or my skill is at
work here. My hands used to be stiff with arthritis but now I can knit
for hours with no pain. I usually become easily bored with large
projects when knitting for myself and these are frequently tossed into a
cupboard half finished. I started a scarf in 1994 and it still is not
finished.
I don't expect everybody could or should make as many shawls as
I do, but I do think everyone who has the use of their hands can make one
shawl. I have suggested to some people that they make a shawl for a sick
family member, their immediate response is, "I can't knit". I think in
most cases the word "won't" can be substituted for "can't".
Anyone can knit. After all there are only two stitches to
learn. As in math there are only two things you can do with numbers.
There are many wonderful formulae from just two basic functions. A
Balance Sheet can be totaled using only the one function of addition. In
the same way a shawl can be made using only one stitch. About 63
stitches knitted in one row, and this row repeated until the work is about 50
inches long and you will have completed a shawl. As you are knitting,
pray for the person for whom you are knitting. This shawl is now full of
prayer; and is now a Prayer Shawl.
For prayers to use whilst knitting, many patterns in English
and Spanish, letters from knitters and shawl recipients, go to the
international Shawl Ministry website: www.shawlministry.com
Yarn and needles are easy to find. The tianguis sell very
inexpensive yarn. Small shops in Chapala and Jocotopec also sell
inexpensive yarn. The Knitting Club in Ajijic carries luxurious yarns at
prices comparable to USA and Canada, also knitting needles are available here.
I will give the Club phone and address on request.
Psalm 139:13-14 - "You created every part of me, knitting me in
my Mother's womb. For such handiwork, I praise you. Awesome this
great wonder!" God is the Knitter, all you and I have to do is hold the
needles and the yarn.
I’ve been published!!! Wow, I’m tickled
pink. The Shawl Ministry emailed me approx. 2 years ago and said that they
were running a contest and the best 38 entries would be printed in a book. I
started knitting and the result was my Mexican Rainbow shawl. I mailed it to
them and was delighted when they emailed and said Thank you very much for your
shawl, now will you send the directions. Oh oh!!! What directions!! I never
write directions, each shawl I make is an original, made up as I knit. Well I
had to start a duplicate so that I could write instructions as I knitted it.
Well it was one of the best 38 so I am in the book “Prayer Shawl Companion”
Also in the book is a shawl by Kaffe Facette. 16 of the shawls in the book
have been designed by professional designers like Kaffe, who earn their living
writing knitting books, so I am in good company.
I have now made approximately 45 Prayer
Shawls for people at Lakeside. There are now a couple more people
volunteering to help knit while I am gone. We are going to be Snowbirds,
spending the summers in Kincardine, Ontario, so any shawls I make will be
given to the congregation of our new church. We will be back by 1 Nov 2010
for the winter.
We spent last summer 2009 in Wales. I
made 9 shawls while I was there. There are some of the pictures on the
website which are now in Wales, with the exception of the Mexican Rainbow
shawl and the one under it (quite similar in different colours) The Rainbow
shawl is on tour throughout the United States, with the authors of the book on
a signing tour.
While in Wales I wrote an article for the
Llandaff Diocese newspaper called “Croeso” about Prayer Shawls.
I can be contacted any time by email:
acegmcg@yahoo.ca
