Communication

In the News

SECURITY BLANKETS FOR GROWNUPS

[Reproduced with permission from New Jersey Countryside, January/February 2006]

Ann Bennett heads a group of needle workers from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chatham, who knit and crochet special shawls for those in need of a little loving comfort. Started in 1998, this fast-growing, non-sectarian project now reaches across the United States and Canada. It even has its own Web site, www.shawlministry.com.

What's the goal of the shawl ministry?

Quite simply, to make people feel better. If you're coping with challenges such as illness, loss or other life problems, wouldn't it comfort you to receive a soft, cozy, attractive wrap that was handmade for you with loving thoughts and blessings? We call them prayer shawls because each stitch is a little prayer for the person it goes to.

So you're basically making security blankets for grownups.

That's about it. At various times in our lives, we all need a little security.

How did you get involved with this project?

Four years ago a woman seminarian visited our church and wanted to start small interest groups so people in the congregation could get together. Since I do needlepoint, I started a needlepoint group at my house with six to 12 women. We'd have tea, sew and chat. We did this for about a year. Then Barbara Conroy, a church friend and hospice nurse, told me about the prayer shawl project. It was started in 1998 by two women clergy from the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.

I suggested it to our group and they loved the idea. They threw down their needlepoint and charged into the prayer shawls. We've been going great guns ever since.

Not every shawl maker can come to the meetings. Some work on their own. We have a disabled member who makes her shawls at home and she just fires them out. It's pretty easy, and it's lots of fun.

Exactly who are the recipients?

Anyone who's going through a challenge in life and needs a blessing. But you have to really need it. Just because your kid got an F on a report card, you won't get a shawl.

So far, most of our shawls have gone to Barbara's hospice patients, and several to bereaved friends. But people have started making them for other life-changing events—happy ones—like a wedding or baptism, or maybe matching shawls for a new mom and her baby, even for a young person going away to college.

Who can join the shawl group? What if I'm intrigued but don't know how to knit or crochet?

Absolutely anyone is welcome, no matter what their age or gender. The only requirement is the desire to make a shawl. We have all skill levels, from beginner to expert. If you don't know how to knit or crochet, we teach you. Don't worry, needle workers are very patient. Last summer we had two little girls, ages 10 and 11, and they enjoyed being part of the group, listening to what grownups talk about.

I suppose there's no point in asking how long it takes to make a shawl.

No, it entirely depends on the maker. It could be anything from a couple of weeks to a year.

This group was started through a church. Is there a religious aspect?

Our meetings are informal and unstructured. We just knit and chat about anything, although we do start out with a short scripture reading and a little prayer. As we work, we like to be mindful of those who are going to receive the shawls. It's a prayerful endeavor. And when the shawls are finished, our rector, the Reverend Elizabeth Kaeton, gives them a blessing.

Are there any rules and regulations for the shawls? For example, do you have to follow a certain pattern?

We have a few simple requirements, based on common sense. The shawls have to be long enough to wrap around a person, that's about 60 inches, and wide enough to cover the shoulders, about 24 inches. The texture should be soft, washable and smooth, no popcorn stitches, lumps or bumps. We generally use big needles so it goes faster and makes a nice loopy stitch.

Apart from that, you can be as creative as you like with colors, patterns, yarns, fringe, whatever. Some shawls are quite simple, just plain knitting or chain stitch crocheting. Others are real fashion statements. Some shawl makers personalize their work by adding little beads or other washable decorations. I read about a woman living on an island who adds a smooth little shell to each one, a gift from the sea.

Some people see symbolism in various patterns. There's an optional pattern—knit three, purl three—posted on the Web site at www.shawlministry.com. The three stitches can stand for the Christian trinity. One Roman Catholic group uses a 10-stitch pattern for the decades of the rosary, and so forth.

The tradition is that the shawls must never be sold. They're always a gift freely given. Often the yarn is donated. We sometimes get closeouts from yarn sources. Although I've made shawls for specific people, I kind of like the fact that I can make something for someone and remain completely anonymous.

Do you ever have extra shawls you don't know what to do with?

Never. They're snapped up as fast as we can make them. The growth of this program has been incredible, across all faiths, across the continent. That has to tell you something.

Do you ever get any feedback about your shawls?

Mostly we don't know who gets them, but our rector has received several touching notes of appreciation. One was from a hospice patient's daughter telling us the shawl became her mother's favorite thing in her last months and she herself was treasuring it. Another was from a husband who said he was keeping the shawl close to him because it was something that had been close to his wife.

I'm told that making these shawls benefits both the giver and the receiver. How does it benefit the giver?

Oh, in lots of ways. Let's see: it keeps us, a friendly group of women, working together, like the old quilting bees. That's something people have been missing in our rushed, over-programmed lives. And the act of working with yarn in a repetitive way is a calming and meditative process, a great stress-reducer. We can feel we're being creative while doing something that helps others. It touches our nurturing response. And we've taught some people a useful skill.

I'm amazed at how knitting like this has taken off in the last few years. It just catches people's imagination. It's something of a miracle, really.

For information on starting or joining a prayer shawl group, go to www.shawlministry.com. Ann Bennett can be reached via St. Paul's church office (973) 635-8085.

Marian H. Mundy is a freelance writer and award-winning contributor to New Jersey Countryside