Clergy Stole?

suziehomemaker · 03-31-2008, 08:48 AM

My best friend is getting ordained at the end of May and she mentioned that she would love a hand knit stole from me. I'm still scouring Google but I was wondering if anyone knew of a place where I could find patterns? Most that I find are either quilted or woven.

It's like a long scarf that they wear over their robes and they have to be specific to the church season that they're in. My hopes are to find several patterns and then just let her choose but I'm not having any luck. I'm not the designer type but in this case I may have to knit "out of the box".

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

cftwo · 03-31-2008, 03:14 PM

Phooey. I lost my reply. Let's try again.

I've made cross-stitch stoles (on linen or linen-like fabric) for my dad (white with angels, for Easter and Christmas), my BIL (red with a burning bush and a communion-table symbol for pentacost), and my sister (green with vines (her choice) for "common time"). Each of them has had a cross at the nape of the neck (1 was very very simple, one stitched in metallic threads, and one beaded). My sister makes stoles, too ( http://www.carlsonarts.com/GA05/index.htm ). While our preferred art form hasn't been knitting, the challenge with a knit stole is that these things are supposed to hang pretty flat around your neck, plus knitting stretches.

Still, if you're set on knitting one, I'd use some interesting yarns (say a nice white paired with a sparkly white lace-weight for character - or a handpainted red yarn paired with a sparkly laceweight would be good for pentacost), knit in a pretty un-stretchy pattern that still lays flat (perhaps a moss-stitch or seed stitch), and knit as tight as you can (so it doesn't stretch out over time), and then perhaps sew on some religious symbols, either at the bottom, or at the lapel level (see #60 in my sister's collection). You can do a simple straight line, or you can shape them like my sister has. Either way they hang OK.

MMario · 03-31-2008, 03:33 PM

about 4 inches by 103 inches or so; lined. Works well. You might ask - as some prefer wider and some prefer narrower stoles. Even a lot of handwoven stoles will be lined with a commerical cloth.

the cross at the centerpoint is a "must have" for most priests - though I have seen some commercial stoles without them.

so far I've knit one with lace "flames" in the last 18 inches or so of either end; one with simple lace blocks along the length; one in very fine ribbed; and working on one based on the column of leaves scarf.

suziehomemaker · 03-31-2008, 03:58 PM

MMario - Those sound great. Do you have any pictures?

cftwo - Thanks for the website. I'll send that off to my friend so she can take a look.

Simply_Renee · 03-31-2008, 07:01 PM

OK Suzie, this has driven me insane.

I was looking at a knitted stole pattern online a few weeks ago & thought I had bookmarked it. I remember I was looking at other (quilted) stoles & followed a link, we have a new minister and I wanted to make her a knitted one.

I can't find it at all now! I have cleared my history since to remove incriminating "I should be working but instead I am looking at knitting patterns" evidence.

One thing I remember that might help you- it did have some shaping on the back of the neck to make it narrower there and lay flat. A fabric lining would also help it not to stretch out.

If I can find it again I will let you know!

MMario · 03-31-2008, 07:07 PM

I think I posted some at http://groups.msn.com/MmariosPage

cftwo · 04-04-2008, 01:48 PM

I was thinking about this in the wee hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep and thought that an option to the heavier, tightly knit option I was thinking about earlier would be something really light and lacy and floaty. You could either find something like this http://www.fiddlesticksknitting.com/...l_scarves.html (but longer) with a detailed pattern, or you could go for something more unstructured that you wouldn't need to block - say like the "Airy Scarf" in Last Minute Knitted gifts.

The purple one in this set might work - it's a pretty generic pattern: http://www.fiddlesticksknitting.com/LoveLarge.html

Knitty has this one, which might work, too: http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTbranchingout.html You'd want to check on the width your friend prefers and perhaps knit this up on a smaller guage if 7 inches is wide. Some of that would depend on her build. I might have to try something like this myself!

suziehomemaker · 04-04-2008, 01:55 PM

I agree. I've been thinking for a knit stole it should be more about texture and color rather than a specific scene like the quilted ones. I've asked my friend to set some time aside to work with me to design something but we've also talked about using a progression of colors symbolically to look like a sunrise or different shades of purple going from light to dark.

This is stretching my knitting ability but I like the idea of knitting a lace stole and then combining the progression of colors with it. Great idea!

Abbily · 04-04-2008, 04:52 PM

I've been thinking about this project too, and I was thinking about the fabric stoles that our pastors wear. Perhaps if you knit two pieces and then attach them together in a "V" shape that will help it lie flat on the recipient? The point of the "V" would be behind the neck, with the long sides hanging down the front... if that makes sense...

suziehomemaker · 04-04-2008, 05:10 PM

I agree. I think that a mitered corner would work best and look very nice. It would be so much easier than trying to figure out increases and decreases for a curved edge.

I love that everyone is thinking about this now. I told my friend that I have an entire network of people working on this now and she loved it!