Knit 3, Purl 3

Two Saturdays a month a group of men and women gathers in the Memorial Room at Grace Episcopal Church. This is our Prayer Shawl Ministry. As a shawl is completed, it is placed in a cedar chest donated by one of the group. One Sunday At the end of the summer the shawls will be spread on the altar to be blessed before being sent to the local hospital for distribution.

The gathering is as much social as it is a ministry. Our deacon provides coffee and snacks. We begin arriving half an hour before the scheduled start time. Conversation flows. Today the big topic was yesterday's storm. Most Saturdays we are treated to our Music Director practicing for the next morning's service. Many of us stay beyond the scheduled end time.

Most of us knit. Some of us crochet. Some of us just come for the conversation and fellowship.

Knitting has a rhythm all its own. It's very different from crocheting, which I've been doing since I was 11. I crocheted the first shawl I did as part of this ministry. I decided I wanted to try knitting this second one, which meant relearning to knit. The pattern is fairly simple--knit 3, purl 3 over 63 stitches. I've pretty much mastered it, though I can see some of the mistakes back at the beginning of the piece. I've also reached the point where I can hold a conversation or watch TV without pausing the knitting. And if I run into a problem I can't figure out on my own, there are plenty of people to help me.

I'm already thinking ahead to the next two shawls I'll be making. Why two? Because the first will be crocheted and the second knit.

Or is that knitted?