Prayer Shawl Patterns

Shawl is a very common warmth providing piece of clothing which is being used since ages. But we can say that giving them spiritual and religious significance started in Jewish and Christian cultures. A prayer shawl is a definitive piece of cloth, that has been traditionally used by the Jewish people at the time of their morning prayers as well as all the special occasions. In Christianity also, the prayer shawl has a huge significance, as it serves as a healing material, that is offered to the needy and poor people by the church authority and some warm hearted people.

Prayer Shawls

Prayer shawls are not restricted to any particular occasion, they are presented on occasions like marriage, childbirth, baptism, confirmation. They are also presented to the people who are facing difficult times in their lives, like funeral of a loved one, illnesses, bad fortune and such sad incidences that require strong emotional support. People make prayer shawls on their own and gift them to the desired person. This is said to be the most honorable way to present the prayer shawl to a desired person or the one in need. Making a prayer shawl is easy a job, for the ones who are good at stitching and knitting. Those of you who are new to the knitting techniques, can also give it a try.

Prayer Shawl Patterns

There are a lot of ways to make a prayer shawl, and some of them are sewing, crocheting, weaving, and knitting. The believers mainly use white and soothing colors when they decide to make a prayer shawl. Faint colors when combined with small amounts of bright colors, provide the shawl with holy and sacred look. While choosing the material one must be careful that it should also feel soft to its wearer. One must always keep in mind that making a prayer shawl is a holy work and you are doing it to share the feelings of the person, you are presenting the prayer shawl with. Briefly explained here are the prayer shawl patterns that will definitely help me take up my share in this holy task of yours.

Prayer Shawl Knitting Method
Use a good quality, bulky yarn and number 13 knitting needle. First, you have to cast 63 yarn stitches around the needle. The smoothness of the shawl depends upon the tightness of the stitches. You must follow the same knitting pattern throughout the desired size of the prayer shawl. All you have to do is knit three stitches and then sum up with three purl stitches. The same knitting pattern has to be followed for the prayer shawl of at least 60" x 25". You can even add fringes of contrasting colored yarn for the shawl to look more attractive. The fringes must be at least of 12" to suit the average sized prayer shawl. For the fringes, cut the yarn twice the desired size of the fringes and wrap it around a cardboard piece, exactly the same size as the fringes. Now bring the loop ends in the desired position with the help of a crochet hook. Then just tie knots of both the ends of the fringes tightly together. Work the same procedure on the both sides of the shawl.

Prayer Shawl Crochet Method
A J hook crochet will be perfect for this method of making the prayer shawl. The shawl can have 51 chains with a certain specified pattern for the first and the second rows. For the first row, add a half double crochet stitch in number 3 chain from the hook and in every chain across the hook as well. Turn at chain number two. For the second row, add half double crochet stitch in every chain across the hook. All the rest of the rows from number two, are just as same as the second row. You can also enhance the look of this prayer shawl by adding fringes to it on both the ends.

Prayer shawl is said to be the symbol of love and humanity. It is presumed that when the prayer shawls are made accompanied with the blessings and prayers for the desired person, they heal their sorrows. Some people also try to make a single prayer shawl as a group activity, they gather in a group and stitch their share with their own prayers too. This is a good way of social gathering and performing some social duties as well! Who wouldn't like to gift their loved ones with the purest feelings?