My Aunt Sherry (an Aunt by marriage) lost her Eldest sister today. Her sister was 80 and had a long list of ailments that combined with Pneumonia, was just too much for her. It was expected and long in the coming, but hard nevertheless.
So, in honor of her sister's memory, I decided to make my Aunt a prayer shawl. Since I have to have this finished my this coming Saturday (yes, I'm nuts to think it can be finished by then) I decided to use some honkin' big needles and this pattern: Purl Shawl by Allison Blevins from Tangle. It's a free pattern and it's super easy. Although, if you hate doing purls, you probably won't enjoy it. There are no knit stitches in this pattern!
It's supposed to be knit with ribbon yarn. I don't happen to have any ribbon yarn in the stash, so I've decided to make do with two skeins of leftover Patons SWS in Natural Earth. I'm hoping that the two skeins will be enough, we'll see. After I get a few more inches on the needles I'll be able to tell a little better. If the Patons doesn't turn out to be a good match, I'll get some sock yarn out and start over. With the huge needles, it will go quickly either way. I hope.
For those that don't know, a Prayer Shawl is for comfort in loss, dealing with sickness or for those in just general need and is begun with prayers for the recipient and the prayers continue with each and every stitch that is knit. It's not necessarily a certain type of shawl. Any pattern can be used with any needles and the knitter's choice of yarn. It let's the recipient know that the shawl was knit with love and with them specifically in mind. As they wrap themselves in the Prayer Shawl, they also are wrapping themselves in the prayers said for them. Everyone needs a Prayer Shawl at some point in their life, don't they?
I'll have a progress report for you tomorrow. I'm going to go knit my little fingers off!
