Prayer Shawl

I started a Prayer Shawl for my aunt last year. It was to be her Christmas present but unfortunately my expectations for my commitment of completion was set too high. And, at the pace I am going, I will probably be 110 years old before I finish it.

I learned to knit in 1967. Bob and I had moved back to Las Vegas from Missouri and we only had the two boys. I decided to take a knitting class which was being taught at the Sears store in Las Vegas on Maryland Parkway. The store is still there today which is a miracle in today's economy. I've never been a big kntter but did tackle house slippers for Christmas presents for everyone once. We didn't have a lot of money early on but both Bob and I did have skills to make things so homemade gifts were primarily what we were able to give to our extended family in place of store bought items.

The instructions for making the Prayer Shawl can be found on the internet - just google "prayer shawl" and it will come up - if you have any question, email me and I'll try to help. It is a very simple project - knit one row, purl the next, but there are rules to be carried out while you are knitting hence the prayer shawl. I selected to do this for my Aunt Thelma. She is my mom's sister and I have been "close" to her since I was a little kid. My mom's family are fun loving people and they all live in Ohio. I remember going to my grandma's for Christmas and everyone was always laughing. Grandma was sick and had to be taken care of by my aunts and my mom and dad helped sometimes too. But, the whole atmosphere in the family was a good time. Every time I talk to my aunt today we always laugh about something so silly - I know someone else would think we were koocoo! I miss getting together will my mom's family as does happen in all families - kids grow up and move away as I did when my parents and I moved from Ohio to Las Vegas in 1960. And, many of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents and my parents are in Heaven, so as naturally happens - things change.

I still keep in touch with my Aunt Thelma and we still laugh a lot even though she has many health problems. She has a wonderful husband and I love him dearly too. I use to ride my bike to their house after they were first married. Aunt Thelma made the best mashed potatoes in the whole wide world.

So, here I am today, still persevering with the Prayer Shawl. The rule is prayer, of course, you must pray for the person you are making the shawl for as you are knitting. It is a loving privilege to be making it but it will be an imperfect shawl I know I have dropped a couple of stitches and maybe started the row the wrong way when I started a new row. Each stitch is made with love. I look forward to the day I complete my prayer shawl and can wrap it in pretty paper and present it to my Aunt Thelma.