Pocket Prayer Pocket

May 11, 2020

Are you looking for a small gift that you can give to a friend who especially needs prayers or comfort right now?

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If you love alliteration, then this post is for you!

Backstory, my grandmother is losing her eyesight. It seemed to happen rather quickly at the start of the year this year. I had been thinking about making something for her that she could feel. I thought of a cross bookmark but I don’t work with crochet thread much at all anymore. So I thought well, what if she could feel the cross as bobble stitches. Then, someone in one of my facebook crochet groups, asked how big should a pocket prayer cloth be. I had never even heard of these before. I googled some images and saw that they were crocheted or knitted with a cross in the middle. So, I made my own. But I’ve gone 2 steps

further with my pocket prayer cloth
and turned it into a
pocket prayer POCKET! This is big enough to put a small card inside (or a bookmark) or a new testament bible.

pocket prayer pocket and new testament bible

Another option is a pocket prayer pillow! You could also make it as part of a blanket. Perhaps I will work on that some day soon. But for now onto the pocket prayer cloth pattern

If you are a beginner, do not be afraid to try the bobble stitch, just take it slow and follow the directions.

Yarn Worsted weight (4) smallish amount if you are just making the pocket prayer cloth- I found some scrap balls of yarn in my stash

size 5.00mm hook/ H
To check if you have the correct crochet hook for this pattern, here is a crochet hook conversion tool for you.

Stitches:
sc = single crochet = insert your hook into the stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through both loops on your hook

Bobble = 5dctog = Yarn over, insert your hook into the stitch yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through (looks like the part of a dc – you will make this 4 more times so that it looks like you have 5 partial dc’s on your hook) yarn over, insert your hook into the stitch, yarnover and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through (now you have 3 loops on your hook)Yarn over, insert your hook into the stitch yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through (4 loops)Yarn over, insert your hook into the stitch yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through (5 loops) Yarn over, insert your hook into the stitch yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through (6 loops) Yarn over and pull through all 6 at once.

Pocket Prayer Cloth
Ch 14

Row 1: sc in second and across (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 2: sc in first 6, bobble stitch, sc in next 6 (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 3: sc in all stitches across (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 4:  sc in first 6, bobble stitch, sc in next 6 (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 5:  sc in all stitches across (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 6: sc in first 6, bobble stitch, sc in next 6 (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 7:  sc in all stitches across (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 8: sc in first 6, bobble stitch, sc in next 6 (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 9: sc in all stitches across (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 10: sc in first 6, bobble stitch, sc in next 6 (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 11: sc in all stitches across (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 12: sc, sc, bobble, sc, bobble, sc, bobble, sc, bobble, sc, bobble, sc, sc (13)

Row 13: sc in all stitches across (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 14: sc in first 6, bobble stitch, sc in next 6 (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 15: sc in all stitches across (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 16: sc in first 6, bobble stitch, sc in next 6 (13) ch 1 and turn

Row 17: sc in all stitches across (13)

Tie off and weave in the ends

To the right is a picture of one square blocked and one unblocked. Can you tell the difference? If you stop at just the square and don’t make it into a pocket or a pillow, then please block so that the
edges won’t be all curled up.

Pocket Prayer Pocket Pattern!
Make 2 pocket prayer cloths and join with single crochet on side a, b and c leaving the top open so that you can insert a New Testament or a small card. This would be nice to give to someone grieving or just in need of comfort and prayers. To let that person know that you are praying for them.

Pocket Prayer Pillow
Make 2 pocket prayer cloths and join on side a, b and c and then stuff with small amounts of poly-fil or left over yarn bits before you join on the last side (join with single crochet)

Alternative to the previous pattern
one side with a cross and the other side with a heart
to make the heart square, I needed a bit more room, so there are changes to the cross side as well.

Heart side

Ch 16

Row 1: sc in the 2nd chain and in every stitch across (15) chain 1 and turn

Row 2: sc in first 7 stitches, bobble stitch, sc in next 7 stitches (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 3: sc in all stitches across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 4: sc in first 5 stitches, bobble, sc in next 3, bobble, sc in last 5 stitches(15) ch 1 and turn

Row 5: sc in all stitches across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 6: Sc in first 3 stitches, bobble, sc 7, bobble, sc in last 3(15) ch 1 and turn

Row 7: sc in all stitches across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 8: Sc in first 2 stitches, bobble, sc 9, bobble, sc in last 2 stitches (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 9: sc in all stitches across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row10: sc in first stitch, bobble, sc 11, bobble, sc in last stich

Row 11:sc in all stitches across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 12: sc in first, bobble, sc in the next 5 stitches, bobble, sc in the next 5 stitches, bobble, sc in last stich(15) ch 1 and turn

Row 13:sc in all stitches across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 14: sc in first 3, bobble, sc in next 2, bobble,sc in next 2, bobble, sc in next 2, bobble, sc in next 2(15)

Row 15: sc in all the stitches across

Cross side

ch 16

row 1: sc in the 2nd chain from your hook, sc in all across (15)

Row 2: sc in first 7, bobble stitch, sc in next 7(15) ch 1 and turn

Row 3: sc in every stitch across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 4: sc in the first 7 stitches, bobble, sc in last 7 stitches(15) ch 1 and turn

Row 5: sc in every stitch across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 6:sc in the first 7 stitches, bobble,
sc in last 7 stitches (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 7: sc in every stitch across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 8: sc in the first 7 stitches, bobble, sc in last 7 stitches (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 9: sc in every stitch across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 10: sc in the first 2 stitches, bobble, sc, bobble, sc, bobble, sc, bobble, sc, bobble, sc, bobble, sc in the last 2 stitches (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 11: sc in every stitch across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 12: sc in the first 7 stitches, bobble, sc in last 7 stitches (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 13: sc in every stitch across (15) ch 1 and turn

Row 14: sc in the first 7 stitches, bobble, sc in last 7 stitches(15) ch 1 and turn