I am part of our church Prayer Shawl ministry. At this time, we only crochet ours. Most of the time we chain stitch around 69-73 and then we do three rows of triple crochet (stands for the Father, Son, & Holy Ghost) and then a row of singles (stands for us, the sinner) until we have the desired size.
None of us knit.
If you are asking about quilted prayer shawls, there is a book out, I believe it is by Leisure Arts also. I have seen it at Wal-Mart by the yarn and the knit and crochet books. In reality, a quilted Prayer Shawl is a bed runner only shorter.