I would like suggestions for a prayer shawl pattern that works up quickly. I would like to make one for my SIL who has been diagnosed with cancer. Thanks for your suggestions.
Any shawl can be a prayer shawl, it’s the intention and thoughts that make it one. An easy one is CO 63 stitches or any multiple of three, such as 54, 57, or 60. Row 1 - Knit 3, purl 3 to the end of the row. All other rows - Turn and knit the purl stitches and purl the knit stitches. You can also find patterns at http://prayershawlministries.blogspot.com
Thanks, I found one that is feather and fan design and I am starting it tonight, I love the pattern and maybe she will also.
I’m sure she’ll love whatever you make for her.
[QUOTE=suzeeq;1311132]I’m sure she’ll love whatever you make for her.[/QU
I think she will.
I am so glad I found this forum! I’m returning to knitting after a few years (still a beginner!) because I want to knit a prayer shawl for a friend recently diagnosed with cancer. I have tried to follow the prayer shawl ministries directions above, but am confused. On their site (and another prayer shawl site I found) it says that if you cast on 57 stitches (or 63 on the other site), you will always start with Knit 3. I don’t quite understand this, because I think with both of these scenarios, you end your first row with Knit 3, so should’t you begin the next row with Purl 3. Maybe I don’t understand what “knit the purls and purls the knits means”? I started a shawl last night with 63 stitches, began the second row with purl 3 (because the first row ended with knit 3), and the third row with knit 3, and ended up ripping it out after several rows, because it didn’t look right. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
This isn’t supposed to be a ribbed pattern, it may be called a broken rib or mistake rib, or maybe garter rib? You shouldn’t be doing ‘knit the knits, purl the purls’ which makes a regular rib, but the opposite - knit the ones that look like purls and purl the ones that look like knits. Just follow the pattern, CO 9 sts and knit a few rows as a sample and you’ll see what it looks like.
I’m sorry, but I’m so much of a beginner, I don’t even know what a ribbed pattern is, broken or garter! Right now I feel as thick as a plank in asking again, but given the prayer shawl directions of casting on 57 or 63 stitches (in which you end your first row with knit 3), should I begin with Knit 3? (I think my main problem is that I don’t know what a knit or purl stitch looks like. A related question is that if I’ve ended the first row with a knit 3, does that look like a purl from the back side when I begin the next row?) In my head I’m thinking I know I ended with a knit 3, so I should begin the next row with a purl 3, but maybe I’m missing something, like perhaps a knit looks like a purl from the back side, so I should begin with a knit 3?
Thanks for your patience.
Yes, follow the pattern as written. End R 1 with K3, which does look like a purl when you turn it over, and begin R2 with K3. All rows begin and end the same, with k3. The back of a knit is a purl, the back of a purl is a knit. The knits look like Vs, the purls like bumps. When you do ribbing, you want the knits stacked up over each other and separate columns of purls over each other. But this pattern isn’t like that.
You may get some helpful visuals from the video and pictures in this thread.
Thanks so much. I feel like a lightbulb just went on in my head!
Volunteer knitters make these shawls at my church. A simple one is just garter stitch. They use #11 or 13 needles and cast on 57 stitches. It’s knit until it reaches 60 inches. This will give you a size guideline.
I forgot to mention this is with worsted weight yarn. They suggest using Red Heart yarn so it can be washed easily without shrinking. Red Heart holds together better through repeated washings.
I finished the prayer shawl and am quite pleased with it. I hated working with the yarn which was “Homespun”, but the colors are beautiful.