I first discovered the joy of knitting with friends when my husband was stationed at Ft. Gordon, Georgia. I joined the prayer shawl ministry of our church, Holy Comforter Episcopal because I love to knit and I hoped to make some friends. The ladies of the Hands of Comfort Prayer Shawl Ministry welcomed me with open arms. I loved listening to the soft-around-the-edges Southern voices of these chatting, laughing, encouraging women. Among them, I grew as a knitter, as the more accomplished knitters in the group inspired me to venture into more complex patterns. I soon learned that being part of this group was about more than knitting, however. It was about reaching out to the world for whom we were making the shawls. When this group started, the pastor made one stipulation: instead of meeting at the church, the Hands of Comfort would have to meet in a public place to knit together. The experience of knitting in community out in the community (for us, the café of a local health food store) inspired my novel, THE HEAVENLY HUGS PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY.
It wasn’t easy to leave my prayer shawl friends behind when my husband retired from the Army and we moved back to Texas. Our new church had a prayer shawl ministry, but everyone knitted on their own and then brought their shawls to church. Where was I going to find knitting buddies? My search led me to The Circle of Healing Prayer Shawl Ministry at Red Oak United Methodist Church in nearby Red Oak, Texas. I have felt comfortable and welcome among them from the very first meeting I attended. Even though my church now has a prayer shawl group that meets weekly, I still knit with my Methodist friends whenever I can. Below you can see some of the Red Oak prayer shawl makers at one of their bi-monthly get togethers.

At my own church (St, Paul Episcopal), prayer shawl makers still create shawls at home, but those of us who can now meet at a local coffee shop on Fridays to knit, crochet, and share our lives with each other. We are a small group, but, excuse the pun, tight-knit. We share what’s on our hearts as we knit and crochet together–joys and sorrows, hopes and challenges, worries and answers to prayer. They have become my close confidants, supportive friends, and wise advisors.
Then there is Knit Night at the local yarn shop. It’s an open circle of knitters that meets at Ewe2 Yarn, located in an ever-expanding corner of Farmhouse Antiques in Waxahachie. We gather at the shop on Thursday evenings from 5-8. At Knit Night, I’ve met a dazzling array of knitters– beginners, experts, and all skill levels in between. Some are quiet, letting the swirl of talk and laughter flow around them as they work. Others are boisterous, full of stories and quips that keep us laughing. All are generous with help, encouragement, and sympathy when things go awry, both in our knitting and in our lives.
Lately, I find my circle of knitting friends expanding exponentially. My agent is always looking for ways to help me build my platform, since these days, publishers want to know that there is an audience for a writer’s work before they invest in publishing it. Her latest idea is to send letters to prayer shawl groups all over the country to invite prayer shawl makers to visit and subscribe to my website. As a result, I’ve spent hours poring over the pages on church websites devoted to their prayer shawl ministries. I read these pages and feel a kinship; each group’s heart for comforting and encouraging people going through difficult times is the same as mine. There are often photographs of the prayer shawl makers at work. As I look into their faces, I realize that they, too, are my knitting buddies. I could walk into any of their gatherings with my knitting bag and a prayer shawl-in-progress and be welcomed as warmly as I was in the Circle of Healing five years ago. I could sit down in their midst, my needles whispering in prayer and feel completely at home. These are the people about whom and for whom I wrote THE HEAVENLY HUGS PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY. I long more than ever for this book to find a publishing home, so I can share this story with prayer shawl makers everywhere.