Margaret’s Hug Healing Prayer Shawl | Free Crochet Chart

Posted in Crochet, For Adult, Free Patterns, Inspiration, Stitches, Tutorial by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

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

26Jul2015

June in a Nutshell | 2015

Posted in Amigurumi, Crochet, Family, In A Nutshell by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

Crochet wise it’s been another busy month for me; I released my free Doodle Zoo pattern Peggy Panda into the world (which I blogged about here) and the rest of the time I was busy working on other crochet projects.

I went completely out of my comfort zone this month and got out my sewing machine (eek!) to finish off the lovely Granny Square Crochet / Fabric Dress by Mon Petit Violon for Little G for our holiday and to complete a crochet / fabric hybrid Frozen inspired cape for a lovely customers little girl. I’ll share a photo of Little G in the dress another time but this is the finished off cape. I really wanted a cape that went over the shoulders rather than around the neck and was pleased with how it finally turned out. There is no pattern for the cape, it’s just made up with inspiration from various other patterns. The pattern for the little snowflakes however is this one Teeny tiny snowflake by Elizabeth Dodd.

Using a sewing machine is something I DEFINITELY need more practice at; but I know I want to make another crochet / fabric dress for Little G, it’s so satisfying to see her in a full item of clothing that I’ve made for her – I even made a little bow for her hair out of the same fabric.

I’ve been busy hooking up some more Star Wars characters by the fab Lucy Collins (which I blogged about here). I’ve hooked up another Yoda and a Stormtrooper but I’m seriously in LOVE with how Chewie turned out – I have learnt of a new way to make him a bit fuzzier which I’m going to have to try with a future one I’ve got to make for a lovely customer.

I have also been hooking up Block 12 and Block 13 this month for the CAL and as always I have really enjoyed seeing the different blocks you have all been hooking up at home! Here are some collages of the wonderful squares everyone has been hooking up! I love how just a simple twist of colour can make the same square look so unique! Everyone’s end blanket is just going to be fabulous!

We also enjoyed our holiday in Brittany, France in June, but I’ve lots of photos I want to share so I think that will need to be a post on its own!

Sadly at the end of June we had a family bereavement which has been very hard on my little family. My most wonderful Mother-in-Law lost her fight to cancer and she will be missed dreadfully by us all. In February last year I designed the Margaret’s Hug Healing Shawl / Prayer Shawl for her which is a free pattern. So far it’s been downloaded almost 20 thousand times. I’m sharing it here again so others can see it and perhaps make a hug for someone who needs one. And 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 even more awesome!

Click on the following links to access the pattern here on the blog, add to your queue on Ravelry, here on Craftsy and there is now a video of the first few rows of the pattern available on my Youtube Channel.

11Jan2015

Video Tutorial – Margaret’s Hug Healing / Prayer Shawl

Posted in Crochet, For Adult, Free Patterns, Tutorial by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

It makes me so happy that my Margaret’s Hug Healing / Prayer Shawl has been downloaded over 13,800 times since I first shared it in February last year. I really love the thought of all these shawls being made up and going to someone that could do with a hug.

However I have had a couple of requests for a video tutorial for this pattern so I’ve had a go to create one for you. Now it’s a bit shaky as it’s my first go at trying to do something like this but I hope it helps!

Don’t forget you can get your free copy of Margaret’s Hug Healing / Prayer Shawl here on the blog or over on Ravelry and Craftsy.

3Feb2014

Free Pattern – ‘Margaret’s Hug’ Healing/Prayer Shawl

Posted in Crochet, Free Patterns, Patterns by Keep Calm and Crochet On UK

My mother-in-law is a fabulous person who welcomed me with open arms into her family when I met my husband a little over ten years ago. Three years she ago battled with tonsil cancer so we were all devastated to learn at Christmas that the cancer had come back. In early January she had her kidney, spleen and some of her lymph nodes removed in a 7 hour operation. As we couldn’t be with her I decided to make her a prayer/healing shawl and crochet some love and healing thoughts into every stitch. My mum and even my non-crochet husband added stitches and love to go with mine and the result was ‘Margaret’s Hug’…

Margaret’s Hug Prayer / Healing Shawl

This shawl is 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 even more awesome! And here are some great links on Lion Brand about prayer shawls with some sample messages to send with your shawl. The pattern details are below but if you want to download a copy you can on either Ravelry or Craftsy. I would love to see your finished items so please link your project on Ravelry or Craftsy or drop me a photo either by email or Facebook.

PATTERN:

Note: This pattern is worked by holding two strands of yarn together.

You will need:

600g of double knit yarn (8ply / yarn weight #3)
Crochet hook: 7mm (US size L)
A yarn needle

Gauge: 3 tr/dc (measured at the top) = 2.5cm /1 inch / 1 row = 2.5 cm / 1 inch. Neck edge point to point = 70 inches / 1.8 m. These measurements are approximated, and actual subjects may vary. Pattern will work in other yarns though gauge/size will be different. CHECK YOUR GAUGE, use any size hook to obtain gauge.

Stitch abbreviations:

st(s) = stitches
ch = chain
sl st = slip stitch
dc/sc = UK double crochet / US single crochet
tr/dc = UK treble / US double crochet

Notes:

This pattern is worked from the neck downwards and is worked in alternate rows of clusters (3 tr/dc) and V stitch (1 tr/dc, ch1, 1 tr/dc) with a shell cluster to start each row (4 tr/dc)
The chain 3 between clusters / V-stitches on the point of the shawl counts as sts in this pattern.
Stitches are worked in-between shell clusters/V-stitches/clusters and not in the ch spaces of the V-stitch row (see photo below)

Example of stitch pattern

Row 1: Ch 4 (counts as first st) 3 tr/dc in 4th ch from hook, ch 3, 4 tr/dc in same ch, turn (11 sts)

Row 2: Ch 3 (counts as first st), 3 tr/dc in same st as ch 3, then in next ch 3 sp work [1 tr/dc, ch 1, 1 tr/dc, ch 3, 1 tr/dc, ch 1, 1 tr/dc] miss 3 sts and in last ch work 4 tr/dc, turn (17 sts)

Row 3: Ch 3 (counts as first st), 3 tr/dc in same st as ch 3 then * 3 tr/dc in the next sp between sts of the previous row * repeat from * to * to corner where in the ch sp you need to work [3 tr/dc, 3 ch, 3 tr/dc]. Repeat * to * again to final the st; work 4 tr/dc into final st, turn (23 sts)

Row 4: Ch 3 (counts as first st), 3 tr/dc in same st as ch 3 then * [1 tr/dc, 1 ch, 1 tr/dc] in the next sp between sts of the previous row * repeat from * to * to corner where in the ch sp you need to work [1 tr/dc, 1 ch, 1 tr/dc, ch, 3, 1 tr/dc, 1 ch, 1 tr/dc]. Repeat * to * again to final the st; work 4 tr/dc into final st, turn (29 sts)

Rows 5 – 40: repeat alternate rows of rows 3 and 4, turn. Note: Each row increases by 6 sts (245 sts)

Edging:

Work along each edge of your shawl EXCEPT the neck edge in picot st.

Row 1: * Ch 2, 1 dc/sc in 2nd ch from hook (at the base of ch 2), dc/sc into next 2 sts * repeat from * to * until end, finish off and weave in ends.