Yeah, baby. Handspun prayer flags. Dream it.
I’m working on a big, slow, artsy sort of project: I’m knitting prayer flags out of handspun yarn. Some of the handspun is my own; but most of the handspun yarns are being donated by spinners all over the world.
What’s a Prayer Flag?
These are Prayer Flags…
Prayer flags vary from one tradition to another, but the most well-known tradition is the Tibetan prayer flag. Five colours, representing the five sacred directions, the five sacred elements, and all sorts of other things.
The idea is to create the flags with intention, imbuing them with one’s hopes for peace, healing, compassion, strength, wisdom, light, courage, all that Good Stuff. The flags are hung so that breezes can blow through them, either inside or outside; the breezes waft through the cloth and carry these blessings and prayers for good to “all beings” as the Buddhists would say.
Why use handspun yarn to knit flags?
When we spin, we put ourselves into the yarns we make. When we choose yarns to make things for those we love, we choose them hoping that whatever we knit (or weave, or crochet) will bring our love and caring to the person who wears it.
I want to take those yarns, instilled with your spirits, your hopes, and your hearts, and put all that love and caring together into flags, symbols of community and hope, flags that will carry that love and hope further out into the larger family that lives on our little green earth.
Flags that bless the world with the work of our hands and the hopes of our hearts, in other words.
How did you come up with this idea?
I got this idea because I was participating in Morgaine’s Spin for Peace event on Superbowl Sunday in February of 2011, albeit remotely, as part of their “Canadian Contingent.” A few of us were mulling over what it might mean to knit a prayer flag…and then it hit me. Prayer flags made up of the yarns of knitters from all over the world.
Gave me chills just thinking about it. So of course…I had to try doing it.
FAQs
What sort of prayer flags are you knitting? I’m doing different types of flags, as the spirit moves me. Some of them are pieced out of several different mitered-square motifs all in the same colour; thus, each “solid colour” flag is made of up of the yarn made by several different people. Other flags are all-in-one-piece, sometimes plain, sometimes with some sort of design.
Are you still accepting handspun yarn for the project? Yes! If you would like your energy and spirit to be part of this project, and want to contribute some of your handspun, I’d be thrilled to accept it.
What thickness of yarn do you need? It’s easier to make a flag that will blow in the wind out of lighter-weight yarns. I’d prefer sock-weight yarn, but I’ve been getting all sorts of weights and am finding ways to make them all play nicely together. Thus: Anything from fingering to sport-weight is ideal. I can use heavier yarn as accents; I can double up the laceweights; so really, send what your heart tells you to send.
What colours of yarn do you need? Solids or semi-solids in the following colour families: Blues. Whites/Creams. Reds. Greens. Yellows. Purples. (Whatever. I just have to be able to sort them into one of the above categories.) There will also be a Multi-colour category because I don’t want any yarn to feel left out if it ends up on my doorstep.
But Purple isn’t a traditional colour for Prayer Flags! I know. I think the Buddha will forgive me for this one, because purple is a perennial knitter favourite. Besides. Can’t really have a rainbow without it, now can we?
How much yarn should I send you? About 15 yards. I’m going to knit the pieces with a slightly more open gauge than I would otherwise, and my swatches all took between 12 and 15 yards.
Does it have to be handspun? Nope. If you aren’t a spinner, then choose a yarn that is special to you in some way, maybe leftovers from a special project.
Do I need to send you any info about the yarn? Since part of the point is to include YOU in the creative spirit of the project, it would be lovely to know a bit about you and your yarn. Tell me what’s in the yarn (silk? sheep? tree?) and why the yarn is special to you. If you’ve made something with the rest of the yarn, tell me what you made. If you have a particular blessing or prayer to go into the prayer flag, tell me that, too. INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND WHERE YOU LIVE. First name only is fine.
Where should I send the yarn?
Sandi Wiseheart
P.O. Box 26
Bolton, ON L7E 5T1
Canada
Where can I read more about this and see photos of the yarns and what you’re making? I write on this blog about my work on the Prayer Flag Project; all those posts are tagged “prayer flag project” (clever, eh?) so you can find them more easily.
This a bonkers idea. You bet it is.
Prayer Flag Yarn Donors
…in no particular order
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you…Your stories, your yarns bring me hope and joy each new day.
- Anne – AnnieBeeKnits, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- Cris – westfaire, Liverpool, Pennsylvania, USA
- Lynn – enallagma9, Athol, MA, USA
- Barbara – Washoe Valley, Nevada, USA
- Mardi – nufflebutt, New York, NY, USA
- Sarah - sarahw, Royston, Herts, UK
- Jessica and her son Ben - jekka, USA (Ben did a batt that I spun!)
- Rachel – rcarmich154, Port Washington, NY, USA
- Naomi – enting, Burlington, VT, USA (she sent a batt which I then spun)
- Melanie – teabird, South Huntington, NY, USA
- Ellen – ellenspn, Round Lake Heights, IL, USA
- Morgaine of Carolina Homespun – fibergypsy, Bay Area, California, USA
- Janet – jtdalzell, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
- Mireille – Mireille10, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Nada – craftmonkey, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
- Gwen – Massachusetts, USA
- Jennifer – jennigma, Seattle, Washington, USA
Ravelry names are included if I know them.
If you sent me yarn and don’t see your name listed, give me a shout! Several skeins are sitting here without tags…
And thank you, all of you, for inspiring me to pray my way through this project. Stay tuned for more updates!
~ Sandi
