My first Prayer Shawl

A few months ago my Aunt Shelly was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in a few years. As more of a preventative measure she decided to move forward with a double mastectomy. I know this was a scary decision, and on top of having a few breast issue scares myself and her being an Aunt that I am closest with, I wanted to make something for her that let her know how much I was thinking about her and how much I love her.

My mom purchased a book for me called "the Prayer Shawl companion" by Janet Bristow and Victoria Cole-Galo with various patterns and explanations about the history of the prayer shawl ministry. I chose a pattern that I felt reflected the meaning and beauty of what I was trying to create (and let's not lie, it looked like something I could actually pull off).

I picked out an off white Boucle yarn that came in 140g skeins. I think it was an acrylic/poly blend but it really looked like a forgiving yarn (keeping in mind that I was still hesitant if I could really knit this successfully) to work with. I actually only ended up using about a skein and a half with size 11 straight needles. The pattern mentioned that using larger needles would give the shawl a lacier affect and using smaller needles and/or thicker yarn would make it more heavy.

It was actually fairly easy to pull off as the pattern really only had 3 rows to keep repeating. The second and third row were simply knit row 2 and purl row 3. Easy enough. Row 1 was a bit more difficult: k1, k2tog, k4, yo, k1, yo, k4, k2tog twice, k4, yo, k1, yo, kn4, k2tog, k1, repeat all.

I then added tassels on the ends and of course my little tag that says "hand made by Erin" (I know I know, this pushed me over into a classified geek).

This was actually the first real gift I have made with my knitting that I'm really proud of. My Aunt Shelly had her surgery last week and is healing exceptionally well. She was also deemed cancer-free. My only hope is that my prayer shawl can assist in a small way to keep her spirits high in knowing she is very very loved.