The Prayer Shawl Ministry: Reaching Those in Need (Leisure Arts #4225)

This got me inspired to go back to crocheting 🧶…Also its my time of day to concentrate on prayer while I’m crocheting and get back to whats most important in life..

Very nice and informative. The variety of patterns helpsme to decide what would be best for me to knit.thank. You

Provides information on the ministry of prayer shawls with suggestions on forming a ministry. It also provides basic knitting and crocheting instructions and patterns for shawls.

This provides such a wealth of different designs that can even be adjusted to change the size of the finished product. Highly recommend for the beginner as well as for those with more experience. Also gives good unique ideas for presentation of this outreach for gifting to others.

Easy patterns, lovely prayers. I enjoy using this book. I have the first book too, and have made many prayer shawls.

A very good, easy to follow book. The patterns are easy to follow, even for a beginner like me. The book explains everything about prayer shawls. I've now introduced them into my Christian church.

I was wanting ideas on how to make crocheted shawls, there area few pretty designs but you also get a few ideas on how to choose the colours for the recipient too I'm very happy with this book but still haven't gotten around to making a shawl yet from this book

Some nice patterns, all pretty easy. More for the beginner. Make great gifts. Instructions are well written. who doesn't like a shawl.

This glossy book is attractive and a good resource.Patterns are actually a little more complex than I expected and could easily be altered in size and become throws or afghans or even scarves!!Anyone considering this ministry would find good guiance and direction.The text is focused on meaning, prayers, function and opportnities.Think it is good direction for beginning a group or one person who is interested in supporting friends and family.

Love this book. I had borrowed a copy from my cousin and decided to buy two myself...one for a gift and one for me. Both crocheted and knit patterns are included. They are easy and simple but very elegant looking. The instructions with illustrations at the end are very easy to understand so even a beginner could catch on. The prayers and stories are lovely as well...an inspiration!

If you like knitting or crocheting for other people, this is a usefull resource to have.There is patterns for various shapes and sizes of shawls-some suitable for lap quilts, a range of difficulty levels too.The recomended yarn is easy to knit with, and it comes in a variety of solid and varigated colours. Easy to find suitable colours, whether the shawl is intended for guys or gals. I found the results to be quite nice.The combination of the yarn, the bigger needles, and patterns creates projects that knit up fairly quickly.The book also includes a few traditional prayers for various occasions, and stories from various groups who knit these. Also some basic instruction for the techniques used in the patterns.this book has exactly what the title says, nice pictures too.

I recently started thinking about what crochet work I could do after I finished my last family afghan project and wondered what charitable opportunities there were for crocheters. An internet search revealed a number of great charitable causes and ministries, however, the one that most appealed to me was the shawl ministry. I looked at the websites of both The Shawl Ministry (where it all began) and Lion Brand for information and inspiration. I also looked at the websites of a number of faith communities which are doing shawl ministry.Along the way, I discovered this book, The Prayer Shawl Ministry, by Leisure Arts and Lion Brand. I was hesitant to buy it because of concerns expressed by some reviewers, but after prayerful consideration, I bought the book and am pleased I did.My reasons for buying the book: 1) I acknowledge I do much better with a crochet book in my hand, than with a pile of print outs of free patterns and information from the Internet. 2) The book seemed like a concise volume which I would find helpful and I didn't mind that the publisher would make a little money off my purchase. It's not the first time I've bought a book to use in ministry, knowing the book was clearly sold for profit by the author/publisher. 3) Some reviewers mentioned another book about shawl ministry, but from what I could tell it was for knitters and I am a crocheter. 4) I am starting a shawl ministry as a personal ministry and will not have the benefit of a group to support and encourage me, so having this book as a resource seemed appealing.I now have the book in hand and am pleased I bought it. The book includes a few prayers, which can be used throughout the process of making a prayer shawl and there are some suggestions on how to do the ministry. The book highlights three churches doing shawl ministry in the Little Rock, Arkansas area (home of Leisure Arts). There are also four crochet patterns and four knit patterns for shawls/throws. All are Easy and use a simple repetitive pattern that can be meditative in nature. (And yes, one of the crochet patterns and one of the knit patterns are available for free from the Lion Brand website.)My only issue with the book and why I rated it four stars rather than five is a section of stories from those who have used the Lion Brand Homespun yarn and how the yarn was helpful in their shawl ministry projects. There is helpful information in these stories, especially for someone new to shawl ministry, but I had to get my brain past the Lion Brand marketing in these stories.Despite the marketing aspect, this is a helpful book for those starting a shawl ministry. In addition to purchasing this book, I would also encourage people to check out the Shawl Ministry website and the websites of the many religious communities who are doing this ministry for additional help and inspiration.7/19/07 Update to my original 5/4/07 Review: I have now bought (through Amazon) a copy of the knitting book I referenced above, called "Knitting Into the Mystery". Even though it is written by knitters from a knitting perspective, I could easily relate to it as a crocheter. "Knitting into the Mystery" is a spiritual book filled with stories and prayers, and in my mind, it is a good companion to "The Prayer Shawl Ministry" book, which is more of a concise "how-to" book. Both books are good in different ways.

An excellent book for knitters, crocheters, people interested in starting a shawl ministry, and anyone who wants to help others. Published by Lion Brand Yarn and Leisure Arts, the book is 8 1/2 x 11 format, thin, lightweight and easy to tuck into your needlework bag. The book is well laid-out with plenty of colorful pictures and well written patterns in an easy to read font & size.Contents include information about several established shawl ministries, and ideas; letters from shawl makers; choosing yarn colors by color meanings & birthstones; patterns for 4 knit & 4 crochet shawls; general instructions including charts of crochet hook & knitting needle sizes, terminology, pattern difficulty (Beginner, Easy, Intermediate and Experienced); chart of yarn information; how to knit and how to crochet basics; and prayers from several religions.All 8 patterns in the book are rated Easy, but a good variety of sizes, shapes and designs.