I think I have said before that one of the patterns I am most proud of is my Margaret’s Hug Healing / Prayer Shawl. Since I shared this free pattern, and the story of it’s creation, in February 2014 on Ravelry alone it has now been downloaded over 40 thousand times!

Some of you have asked after my mother-in-law, after who the shawl was named, and I’m sorry to say that she lost her battle with cancer nearly two years ago.  Margaret was a midwife / nurse all her working life and a kinder, more caring person you couldn’t wish to meet – she is very much missed by us all everyday! But I believe her legacy lives on in the idea of this shawl; I’m sure she would love the idea of her namesake being used to support people in need.

Many of you have shared your your own projects and your own stories about making the shawl for yourselves and for others. I want to thank you all for sharing details of what has often been a challenging time for you, friends and family – and for anyone still struggling I send you much love and well wishes. 

I have had a few people contact me to say they have had trouble making up the shawl, I did make a rather shaky video (available here) to try and help. I’ll be the first to admit it’s not the best demonstration and I will hopefully be working on making a better video as soon as I’m able! But in the interim I thought charting up the pattern for you might help. 

The downloadable pattern has now been updated with the chart and is available for download from Ravelry and LoveCrochet.com.

This shawl will always be a free pattern so others can make a hug for someone in need; however if you would like to pass on the couple of pounds/dollars you would have paid for this pattern to Cancer Research then that would make you extremely awesome!

Until next time; keep calm and crochet on my friends xx