Is anyone crocheting prayer/comfort shawls?

[Everyday Crochet]

I just started one with Homespun from the lion brand site.

[moomooo]

Hi Ladies:

As many of you know I am a member of Soldiers Angels.org and well a member there wanted to sort of try making prayer shawls for the chaplains.

 

My question is to you all expericenced in this , what pattern would be good for a male... What would you ladies do for a man. As I think that a shawl would be not be to well received by a man..

 

Any ideas? Can you tell me what size and width can be used.. in crochet ..

 

And what colors would you ladies do prayer shawls for men especially chaplains of soldiers...

 

Help please this is something I;d like to do.. And let others know at Soldiers Angels..

[craftn56]

I'm knitting shoulderettes in place of prayer shawls.. This way they won't fall off and if they do because of the cuffs they won't hit the ground.....

Blessings,

craftn

[scc51055]

there is a lapghan pattern in the prayer shawl ministry book by lion brand i made that one....it is pretty easy...

[heart]

I'm curious about how to edge them...Those of you who are making them already, what has been your preference, with the pockets on the ends or left straight, b/c I've seen some with the ends turned up and sewed so that there are large pockets along either side for your hands. What do they prefer? I'd like to know so when I make one I can make it right. Thanks.

[DeanJ]

I also make prayer shawls but was interested in your triangle pattern, will you share it?

[vonnie]

I make prayer shawls and give them to the hospital chemo center, I also make them and give to the teen crisis center. I don't belong to a church group. This is something I can do on the road and still give back to my community...

[K.a.t.h.y]

We have a prayer shawl group at our church, Bethlehem Lutheran in Ohio. Our shawls are knit, crocheted and cro-hooked. We just went to a prayer shawl get together at another local church where about 40 ladies from various congregations came to give ideas. It was a wonderful sharing experience and something I would recommend.

 

One of the ideas was that prayer shawls don't always have to be knit or crocheted. They can also be sewn, patchworked, quilted and even made using knots with fleece material (no sewing at all). The average size can range from 18-30" wide to 50-75" long. Different sizes are good for different sized people...men, women, children, infants, couples.

 

Back to my cro-hooking: I have made several with cro-hooking (if you want the pattern email me, the instructions are mine, I typed them up with photos I took). Cro-hooking is done with a long two sided crochet hook of sorts. Mine was actually made by my grandfather but they are available on the market. Cro-hooking makes a very soft shawl that is two-sided (two colors are used).

 

One easy way to get a pattern is to do a scraf and make it wider and maybe longer, to the specification above.

 

We have been having some problems at my church with people thinking they HAVE to come to a meeting to participate. WRONG!!! Make sure your parishioners know they do not have to attend a meeting. Give them the dimensions of the shawls, tell them how or where to get patterns and list the options of making them (above). Then make sure you tell them where they can drop off finished shawls.

 

Moomoo: As far as males go, our men love receiving prayer shawls!! We try to give them more masculine colors like blues, beiges, browns. We have even asked for sport team colors to give to our men (or women), or local school colors, or college colors...the possibilities are endless. And I am going to definitely check out your Soldier Angels web site...thank you.

 

We recently had two people buried with their prayer shawls on them. That really touched our group!

 

Our group also makes premee caps for local hospitals and chemo caps (with the fun fur, which cancer patients love because they are soft and feel like hair).

 

Craftn56, do you have a pattern for your shoulder-shawl? Or can you give us a link to were to get a pattern? They sound really neat.

 

Heart: I have never heard/seen anyone do the prayer shawls with "pockets" on the ends. What a great idea! I don't think there is a right/wrong way to make them. Whom ever receives them will be grateful you thought of them.

 

Blessings,

 

Kathy