Wrapped in love

On Tuesday night, my spirituality group presented our first completed prayer shawl to a group member who has been dealing with the death of one loved one and coping with the illness of another. Given that her family members live in other parts of the country, Kris will miss a month of meetings. We wanted her to know that we will be thinking of her while she’s gone, and the shawl serves as a tangible reminder of support.

At a different chapel, I had been involved with a similar ministry. There, the women knit or crocheted a whole shawl, with spouses of deployed service members as the intended recipients or for anyone who could use a knitted hug. While a prayer shawl is not a complicated project, it requires dedication to complete, since a full shawl takes three skeins of yarn.

With my current group, members were asked to knit 7 x 7 inch squares. Given that some people had never knit before, this seemed like a do-able first effort. Some blocks turned out somewhat smaller or larger, but yarn’s malleability allowed joining the blocks together. A border crocheted around the shawl’s edge made a more finished look given the varieties of yarn and stitches. As you can see from the completed patchwork shawl, it may not win “best of show” at a county fair. It’s the thought that counts and the prayers that went into the effort.

Patchwork prayer shawl

Presentation prayer: May [the recipient] be wrapped in love, joy and peace and know that she is being lifted in prayer during her travels (or travails).