Amish Memory Shawls - Woman to Woman

Shelley Platt, of My Mountain Home and I were "talking" earlier this week about the tragedy of the Amish schoolhouse shootings. Shelley is a part-time Episcopalian priest, and in the recent past, has learned to knit, spin and weave.  We thought it would be wonderful to reach out and offer our support, in a fibery way, to the mothers, sisters and perhaps even grandmothers, of the victims of the shootings.  We also wanted to include the poor wife of the shooter, who has to be devastated by what her husband did, and in shock.  None of their lives will ever be the same.

So, what we have envisioned, is to spin and knit an Amish-compatible shawl for each mother, sister and grandmother (if possible) of the deceased and alive, of the shootings.  There would be one spinner and one knitter per shawl.  We have researched Amish dress and their shawls.  Colors seems to be black, brown, blue and purple in medium to dark tones.  Their dress and shawls are plain and unadorned.

That brings us to our need from you, our fiber sisters.  We are in need of a few, but diligent and reliable, spinners and knitters.  We are going to assign one spinner and one knitter per recipient, and give only them the name of the victim they are memorializing.  Perhaps in each shawl we could knit in seed stitch the name of that recipient's victim into the hem, or in the case of the shooter's wife, her husband's name.  We do not need a huge number of spinners and knitters, but we do need ones who can commit to this project and get these shawls completed fairly soon.  We decided on a single spinner per shawl in order to have more consistency in the yarn and finished shawl.

If you are able to help us and focus on this project for a short time-frame, please contact either myself at  knitmdster AT gmail DOT com  or Shelley at  shelleyplatt AT frontiernet DOT net .  Perhaps our crafts of spinning and knitting can offer some comfort to these victims.

Comments

[Sue]

Beautiful idea, such loving energy. If you need knitters or spinners let me know. I consider myself mediocre at both, but would certainly be willing to stretch myself to help out. I'm anxious to see how this goes.

[Dorothy B]

This an awesome idea! I'm stretched too thin right now to be able to knit a shawl and I haven't learned how to spin yet, but I can donate a little through Paypal if you need help with the shipping costs.
I don't think the Amish are going to turn down such a thoughtful and completely handmade gift. If it was machine-made acrylic in neon colours, they would accept it in the spirit it was given and then find someone who could use it. At least any Amish women I have come into contact with would.

[dez]

I can donate some appropriate-colored handspun if the recipients can and will use the finished items. Please keep me on your list as this progresses.

[moiraeknittoo]

This is such a cool idea. I see that you have enough folks lined up based on later posts, but if you need an alternate with either, please let me know.

[Gwendolyn M]

Has anyone checked with the families to see if such a gift would be acceptable to them? I think it's a wonderful idea, but I don't know much about their beliefs and would hate to upset them by making assumptions. If they women in question would accept and use such shawls, then I would be honored to spin and knit one.

[Donna]

I would be very glad to help. I don't spin but can knit as long as the pattern isn't overly elaborate. I think what you're doing is wonderful; please contact if you need a knitter.

[Angelia]

Do you already have someone to send the shawls to to get them to the Amish families? If not, I'm willing to help. I live in Lancaster county. You can email me at hlthyskincanbyrs (at) verizon (dot) net

[Rissa]

Can we join as a team? For example, I spin and knit, but for this I could spin the wool and let my friend knit a scarf.

[Judi]

I would be happy to knit a shawl as long as the design is fairly simple. Sign me up.

[holly]

hi... what a lovely gesture. i'm a fast knitter and have made shawls in the past. Please let me know if you need me to help.

[Rhonda]

I don't spin but I'm a very fast knitter; I'd love to help out, if you still need knitters!

[Amie]

I'm a fast spinner and would love to contribute - looks like you've got more knitters than spinners right now - off to send an e-mail.

[Annie]

What a beautiful idea. I would be happy to assist with either the knitting or the spinning....or both.

Best of luck with your project.

[Carrie]

I would be willing to knit one - I'm not a spinner, but I'm a fairly fast knitter.

Email me!

[Beth]

I don't know if in your research you found that the Amish like one particular style of shawl (triangle vs. rectangle), but here is a website that has a lovely compilation of rectangular shawl patterns, some free, some not.

http://lovetobikeandknit.blogspot.com/2006/05/rectangular-shawl-patterns.html

[geek+nerd]

This project sounds so amazing. I don't think that I have the time to give to the project, but I'd love to keep up with how it progresses. What a touching, wonderful thing to do!

[Claire Warren]

Wow, I would love to help, but am not a big lace knitter. Is there a pattern already picked out? I would really like to help, but am unsure my knitting skills are up to it. Is there anything we can knit for the fathers, hats, scarfs, mittens.

[loribird]

I am slow at shawl knitting, but might be able to attempt... I could definitely help with spinning. I am sending an email with details.

Thank you for this.

[robyne]

what a terrific idea. i have knit forever but i have yet to undertake a shawl. i shall pass this along to other knitters that i know and give your emails.

[angie Cox]

That is a lovely idea.I couln't knit a shawl in time and not sure without too many tears.I don't know if there is a book of condolences ? God bless you for what you are doing to show how sad so many of us are and to include the shooter's wife whose life must be un-bearable.

[Billi-Jean]

Wow... this is amazing. You two are amazing and an inspiration!

I can't participate - my spinning skills are just too umm.. bad. Really bad. And I knit too slowly. But I can talk about it in my blog and hopefully drive some spinners and knitters your way. And I can be a cheerleader along the way.

I can't wait for the updates!