Visit www.shawlministry.com to learn about a decade-long outreach to those in need of prayer and warmth. The prayer shawl ministry, launched by two New England women in 1998, encourages

people to knit or crochet prayer shawls as a spiritual practice and then give the creations to others, perhaps new moms, patients undergoing cancer treatment or someone who’s grieving. The site explains how the ministry began, offers a pattern for the shawls and posts reader-submitted tips. The prayer page includes suggested prayers for when the process is started, when the knitter has doubts, when the shawl is completed and when the shawl is given. Click on “Stories and Inspirations” for heart-warming accounts of what the shawls have meant to creators and recipients.

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