First Prayer Shawl meeting scheduled!

Yay! I finally scheduled our first Prayer Shawl meeting at church. I compiled a lot of information over Christmas vacation with free pattern links for knitting and crochet. Some of these have already been shared with you, but I did find 2 more that I really like - Crochet Pattern Central which also includes a tips and tricks section and Knitty Chick offering everything from patterns to recipes and a blog!

Our first meeting will be on Sunday, January 25th, immediately after church. It's an organizational meeting, so we won't actually work on our projects that day. We'll be deciding on a name for the group and picking our future meeting dates. We will also decide how we will choose recipients and how we will package the shawls.

I can't wait to get started! Keep us in your prayers, please, as we need all the help we can get to be sure and head in the right direction with this ministry.

Stay tuned for more photos of completed projects. I have a fleece prayer shawl that I've put together for those not inclined to knit or crochet. With fleece you can do everything you need with a pair of scissors. You can even do this if you have arthritis courtesy of a pair of electric scissors! I'm adding an embroidered cross to one end, just to jazz it up a little bit. As soon as the embroidery is finished I'll post a picture for you.

Free Knitting Patterns!

I may have mentioned before that I LOVE free things! I don't care if you call me cheap. It's true and I don't try to fluff it up with big words like frugal or conservative. Cheap is fine. It works for me!

I wanted to share some free knitting patterns that I've run across recently as I know patterns can get expensive. Then again, sometimes we get into ruts and just need some inspiration. I hope you find something in here that tickles your "I've got to try this" bone!

How Stuff Works has some cute and simple designs picked for beginners.

About.com gives tons of basic examples from beginner to expert.

Yarn Market offers several unusual designs including a bolero jacket and those flip flops with fur.

Knitting Warehouse.com has links to some major manufacturer's of yarn and crochet materials.

Knitting Daily provides multiple pages of patterns, blogs, forums and how-to information.

If you're interested in finding knitters in your area or connecting on-line try Ravelry. I recently joined and love it. They have personalized pages for you to maintain your needle and yarn inventory, photos and notes on your projects, books in your library, and much more. It's also a fantastic resource for hints and ideas. Currently, Ravelry has a small waiting list but they can usually get you up and running within a few days!

If you join Ravelry be sure and look for me there under Thumperdd.