This shawl is a tribute to Saint Brigid of Ireland, the fifth century nun who founded the first convent in Ireland. She is the patron saint of weavers and spinners; hence the main stitch is a woven pattern. Her Celtic heritage inspired the cabled border, and the short edges are worked in a lace arrow motif since the poetical derivation of her name means ‘fiery arrow.’ There is an optional Brigid’s cross embedded in the body of the shawl. The deep rich blue color is inspired by the beautiful children’s story by Bryce Milligan called Brigid’s Cloak.
St. Brigid’s feast day is 1 February and associated with the promise of spring, warmth, new grass, lambs, and fresh milk. The fruits of her humble tasks of brewing ale, shepherding sheep, milking cows, and churning butter were joyfully and generously shared providing warm hospitality to both peasants and nobility. It is said that there was peace in her blessing, so this shawl will be especially appropriate as a prayer shawl.

The shawl is knit flat and rectangle-shaped.
The ‘I-cord’ edging is worked directly onto the long edges of the shawl for minimum finishing requirements. This is so easy and seems magical as the smooth cord appears for a neat, finished edge.

Except for the Brigid cross, the stitch patterns are easily memorized.