Customer Reviews

The Prayer Shawl Companion: 38 Knitted Designs to Embrace Inspire & Celebrate Life

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been knitting prayer shawls for almost 5 years, and bought this book only because I had met Bristow/Galo and was curious about what they would put into it. I am impressed...they have patterns that I am not familiar with! Great photos, clear patterns, and new prayers! Worth every penny.

I have just received this book in the mail as a gift from my father - and have been overwhelmed with emotion ever since. You see, unbeknownst to me, there is one excerpt in the book written by my mother's best friend in honor of her. Janet Bristow and her group, that included Ginny Owens, bestoyed the gift of a prayer shawl to my mother Cyndee as she went through chemo the first time. This was a gift that truly paid itself forward 1,000-fold. My mother was so inspired, that despite fighting breast cancer, she went on to knit hundreds of blankets for friends, family and strangers alike for the next 9 years. She taught me to knit and to do the same. Inspired friends of my mother's began to do so, some even forming groups. The next thing you know, lives around the world were touched by one simple gift. This book encapsulates both the beauty and the power of these shawls, and inspires even the timid knitter to knit, because the importance of the gift will overshadow the strength of the knot. Thank you to Vicky & Janet for touching so many lives before now, and countless more that will be touched for reading this book, receiving it as a gift, or entering the community of other prayer shawl users & makers.

What a superb book this is! It is more than a volume of knitting patterns, even though the patterns are great and most very original. (Also, many of the shawls are breathtakingly beautiful.) It is also a collaboration of heartwarming stories and inspirational prayers. The whole experience of this book is uplifting. Thank you Bristow/Galo for this transformational book.

While this book has some lovely shawls and the stories are nice, I was very disappointed to find so many errors in the patterns. When I realized that the pattern I was knitting just wasn't going to work, I discovered that there are five pages of errata for this book! I find it disconcerting that a publisher would send such a nice volume to print without having someone who knits check it out.

This book is for anyone in a life transition: illness, birth/adoption of a child, wedding, caregiver, bar or bat mitzvah or any other celebration of life!! This is filled with awe-inspiring photography of the shawls/stoles/tallis and lap robes. The prayers and magnificent stories are uplifting and inspirational. There is a reverence for people, life and the Creator in the selection and assembly of the materials for this book. And if you love to knit, the patterns are breath-taking. Don't be intimidated, though, all skill levels are in this masterpiece.

This is the best prayer shawl book yet. I highly recommend it. Each shawl is better than the next. Most are easy with a few that are for experienced knitters. I love it and am working on a couple and have plans for several of them and I consider myself a beginner knitter - easy stuff. The shawl on the cover is beautiful. Not all use expensive yarns, some do, but most use regular worsted weight yarns you can get at discount stores. The pictures & locations are really nice. There are wonderful stories throughout of giving & receiving shawls & the blessings each receive. Once again, I would purchase this book again & recommend it to anyone.

I borrowed this book from the library and was toying with the idea of ordering my own copy. The photos are lovely and there are a good number of patterns ranging from easy to advanced. Problem is, I wouldn't trust any of them. Based on another reviewer's comments I checked the authors' website, and no joke, there are five pages worth of corrections. The book is beautiful with great photos and thoughtful prayers, however the knitting instructions - the point of the book - are useless.

Turns out the pattern I decided to work on first (the Cornerstone Shawl) is COMPLETELY incorrect as written in the book. The number of cast-ons is wrong (if you want it to look like the shawl in the picture), they got the knit and purls backwards, and the repeats were incorrectly written. It would have been a total waste of time had I tried to follow the printed directions. Even the online errata seems incomplete as it says nothing about the needle sizes; the book specified US sizes 13 & 15, however I'm knitting the shawl on US size 11 needles in the yarn weight specified, and it looks "lacey" as opposed to as "tight" as the shawl pictured. (It's still a lovely pattern though.)

My recommendation to anyone considering the book would be to wait for the next printing (when presumably all the corrections will be incorporated) or to borrow it from the library as I did.

I've been making prayer shawls for a couple of years now and even though I'm a crocheter (whose attempts at knitting are quite sad), I was drawn to buy this book.

The book offers a great variety of patterns for those who knit, but it also offers inspiration, stories, prayers and helpful hints for all who are involved in prayer shawl ministry no matter which craft they use. The photos are beautifully done and the shawls themselves are inspiring. And I'm already musing on how I might crochet a couple of the knit prayer shawls. This is a wonderful and spiritually inspiring book.

I have known Janet and Vicky for years, knitting prayer shawls for friends and those in need, i have several, all blessed with love and thought that can only come from those who can give.
My copy of The Prayer Shawl Companion sits on my living room table, picked up and thumbed through by knitters and those who just love to read in awe the stories and pictures within.
read it, share it, love it.
Lenell Kittlitz

I was a little nervous when I ordered this book, wondering if it would really have anything to offer me, but I was pleasantly surprised. This is the kind of book that multi-tasks in a wide range of ways. Not only is the book a thoughtful and interesting work of prayer shawl information and ideas, but it also is very inclusive. Primarily Christian in tone, it does allow for all faiths, touching on several other major belief systems throughout. The book doesn't beat you over the head with a bible, but instead shows how faith, or even just letting someone know you're thinking of them, can touch lives in profound ways. All faiths, even no-faith crafters, have something to offer the recently grieving or celebrating recepient.

And, faith aside, if you're looking for thicker yarn wraps to make as gifts then this is the book for you. There are plenty of beginner (or time friendly) projects as well as some that are a bit more challenging.

All in all I'm glad I bought this book sight unseen. It is heartfelt, thoughtful, and an all around good resource for those who would give warm and thick shawls as gifts... whatever the reason.