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.

God's Gift

There is nothing more anticipated than a new baby. There is nothing more precious! My neighbors Tanya and Justin are expecting their second little girl in a few weeks. The entire neighborhood came together for a baby shower for Tanya. This blanket was so much fun to knit. It is done in organic cotton by Blue Sky Alpaca in four different colors. The darker bands of color are variegated wool. The pattern comes from one of the clients at my favorite store, The Shabby Sheep, in Dallas. This was easy and fun to make - it is amazing how the points on the chevron appear through the knitting process and reminds me of Psalm 139: 13-14:

You created every part of me, knitting me in my mother's womb.
For such handiwork, I praise you.
Awesome this great wonder.

Two Precious Children

Proverbs 20:7: The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.

After knitting Chris and Stewart hats for their New York trip, I was asked to knit hats for Stewart's girls. I used Yummy Yarn from my favorite store, The Shabby Sheep. The pattern is from Weezie Wear Designs #WWD51. The sizes range from Children's X-small to Adult Large. You can e-mail them at weeziewear1@yahoo.com.

This pattern is a great way to use stash yarn. I am now working on hats for all the nieces. It is a fun and easy project.

Grace Notes

The music in church this morning was awesome! Amazing Grace, old and new versions, How Great Thou Art - so beautiful to sing and think about. The lesson was on grace and God's grace to us. Grace is the one thing that sets Christianity apart from every other religion (C. S. Lewis). I am graced by my children- often I feel undeserving of having them. And the grace note is the extra - the friendship - I have with all three.

The girls and I had lunch together Saturday - Cay is showing off her new muff. She loves muffs, and this one is knit with from a pattern from www.knitty.com. The yarn is from my very favorite shop: The Shabby Sheep. It is very soft boucle - a matching hat is on the needles right now! The patterns on this website are amazing, fun and generally easy to follow. Here is a tip, for knitting or any time instructions need to be followed: I put the printed pattern inside a plastic notebook sleeve. Then any notes I need to make I do in erasable marker on the plastic.

A Picture of Grace

Last Sunday's sermon was on the Prodigal Son. The pastor made the point that this story is not so much the story of the rebellious son as it is the story of the grace of the father. (Luke 15:11-32). We have a Father just like that - God. Grace is the undeserved mercy and love of our Father. It is also what we can show a world that is hungry for love and acceptance.

Any talk of a son brings to mind my son - who is not rebellious or prodigal! He is funny, smart, and an extremely talented photographer. The other day he was getting ready for a trip to New York (it is February) - and he hates cold weather. So he asked me to knit him something to stay warm. (The shock is that I have been knitting for several years and he once said that there was nothing I could ever knit that he would ever wear! Now he wants something. . .) I had a pattern for a quick chunky knitted hat and this is a picture of Chris in New York in his hat. Here is the pattern:

For an adult male hat: 100 gm ball Chunky Yarn - I use Lion Brand chunky wool
US size 15 needles (round and straight)

CO 8 stitches
Row 1: Purl across Row 2: kfb into each stitch across (16 stitches)
Row 3: Purl across Row 4: (k1, kfb) across (24 stitches)
Row 5: Purl across Row 6: (k2, kfb) across (32 stitches)
Row 7: Purl across Row 8:(k3, kfb) across (40 stitches)
Row 9: Purl across Row 10: (k4, kfb) across (48 stitches)
Row 11: Purl across Work even in stockinette stitch for 5". Work one more inch in 2x2 ribbing. Bind Off.

On this hat, I used up some stash yarn, hence the two color stripes. It is a great stash pattern.
Because I am not comfortable seaming knitted pieces, I use a circular needle and when I get to 48 stitches I join and knit the rest in the round. To finish I only have a small seam near the crown to stitch together. Enjoy!