another trinity stitch prayer shawl completed~ a little wider this time ~

Remember this humble beginning in February 2012?

The ugly duckling knitted into a beautiful swan...

Using the trinity stitch pattern, modifying it to complete at a wider 45" width, this yarn worked into a beautiful striped pattern on its own.  The 38" wide original trinity stitch pattern casts on 87 stitches, so wanting a wider prayer shawl to be approximately 45" in width, I cast on 99 stitches on my size 13 needles.  It worked like a charm!

The only 'problem' with this yarn, is that I had to match the beginning of each skein to the knitted colorway, so I was glad I'd purchased a few extra skeins to have some choices.  This shawl used a total of 5 skeins, including the fringe.  I used the same yarn for the double strand of fringe 10" long. 

A peek into my Ravelry notes:

May 25, 2012 ~ this shawl completed at 45” x 64” and only used 5 skeins of yarn, though I originally projected it needing 7. I was glad I’d purchased extra as the ‘striping’ had to be matched when beginning with a new skein and it was nice to have a few to choose from, as each skein began/ended with different colorways. It was fringed with double strands of the same yarn as the shawl, measuring 10” finished length of fringe. The fringe really adds to the overall prayer shawl. I like this new wider width as it’s more like a ‘throw’ instead of a ‘shawl’.

This prayer shawl was knitted for my cousin, Dorothy, who cares for her live-in elderly mother-in-law, who has advanced Parkinson’s and needs round-the-clock care. When I spoke with Dorothy last week, hospice had been called in for her MIL and she was only expected to live maybe a few weeks. At the time she (her MIL) will probably pass away at Dorothy’s home. This news pushed me to box and ship the prayer shawl that very day to Dorothy.

Sometimes the caregiver can be lost in the needs of the patient and I wanted Dorothy to know that I love her and prayed for her to have the strength, patience and wisdom to care for the extreme needs of her MIL.  My hope, is that she will feel strengthened by God’s will and love as she is embraced by this humble shawl.

~Lisa