Prayer Shawl Ministry
 

Prayer shawls are knit or crocheted by Westwood members and presented by a pastor or parish nurse as a gift from our congregation to people who are experiencing bereavement, serious illness or other difficult circumstances. Many prayers and blessings are knit into every shawl. When a person wraps themselves in their prayer shawl, they are reminded of the love our congregation and the gentle arms of Jesus which enfold, uplift and comfort us all.

Shawl creators give their time and talent, and are encouraged to make multiple shawls. To support them in their work, yarn will be available for checkout at no cost to the knitter. Call Janet Tolzmann at 763 545-3058 or email tolzp@aol.com to arrange the turning in of completed shawls and yarn checkout.

Prayer Shawl Instructions

Prayer

Before you start and as you are knitting or crocheting, weave prayers into the shawl for the person who will receive it. Pray for the person by name if you know it. Ask for God to provide healing of body, mind and spirit to the person and pray for the love of Jesus to surround and support the person.

Knitting

Supplies

Needles size 11 or 13, 14" in length

3 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun yarn

(available at Michaels, Jo-Ann’s, Hancock, Walmart)

(or 5-6 skeins Bernat Boucle’)

Directions

Cut 114 pieces of yarn for fringe, each 10" long, off outside of skein. Set aside.
 

Cast on 57 stitches.

First row (and all subsequent rows)

Knit 3 purl 3 to the end

Continue until all 3 skeins are used up (~57-58" long).

Cast off.

Fringe

Before beginning to fringe, it is a good idea to mix all the pieces up so they won’t be used in the order they were cut for the skein. This creates a more interesting fringe arrangement.

Fold over each strand of fringe and loop one through each one of the 57 cast on/cast off stitches and pull. Tie a knot in the end of each fringe thread about 1" from the end because Homespun yarn tends to unravel when cut.

Crochet

Supplies