A little over a year ago, my friend Christy and her family helped our nation with the greatest gift: Husband and father Rick went to Iraq to serve in the medical corps. Since Christy and I no longer live in the same city, there was very little that I could offer in the way of assistance - no running meals over to her house; no offers to babysit the beautiful grandchild; no moments to have coffee and talk or take a walk.

So I knit. Christy is wearing the shawl that I turned into a prayer project. As I worked, I would pray for Christy, her family, Rick, anything concerning them. All was recorded in a small journal which Christy received with the shawl.

There are still service men and women overseas. Don't forget to continue to pray for them, for our country, and for the coming elections.

Of course, the yarn came from Shabby Sheep and was a hand painted shades of blue yarn. The pattern is from www.knitty.com and is called "Cozy." Here is a trick I learned: Because the pattern changed every other row, I wrote the instructions for each row on a 3x5 index card and secured them with a ring clasp. I never lost my place. Happy knitting.