This pattern was an easy work with every row being the same and all done in variations of half double crochet. I love the way it turned out, so luxurious and flowing. It’s finished size is approximately 27 in. by 70 in. using three complete balls of 7 oz medium worsted weight yarn. You don’t have to make it as long as I did, but I really like the length because it is more versatile.

Here’s a closeup of how the beautiful pattern looks:

Close-up of pattern

Close-up of pattern

It was difficult to show how nice and flowing the pattern is since I didn’t have a model handy. I decided to drape it across the hobby horse. The color here shows brighter than the yarn really is. I used Dark Country Blue yarn.

Folded in half and draped on hobby horse

Here it is folded on the coffee table.

Folded and draped on coffee table

I love this pattern so much, I’m going back to purchase more colors to make others for the prayer shawl ministry. This one would be equally good to give to men or women. Sometimes it’s hard to find a pattern that isn’t too feminine. This one fits the bill perfectly!

I miss the time when I was a young girl and we went to the zoo to see all the animals and to share a picnic lunch there.

Mom and I at the St. Louis Zoo

It was remembering those special times that gave me the inspiration to invite her on a vacation to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Just the two of us. We shared stories, laughed, and listened to books on tape during our drive. We visited Dollywood and Cade’s Cove. We shopped, sampled meals at different restaurants, watched shows. And at night we sat in chairs and did needlework and talked about all the good times we’d had that day. It was Mom’s first real vacation … EVER. Two years prior to the trip, Mom had undergone a six way by-pass heart surgery. The doctors said many of her smaller arteries were still clogged but they couldn’t do any more. She revived well, lost weight and regained energy. I’ve never seen my mother’s eyes so full of joy as during our time at Dollywood. 

Mom at Dollywood

After my father passed in January 2005, I tried to convince Mom to sell her house and move to Ohio to be with us. She wasn’t ready yet to leave her home and I could understand that. She’d lived in the same place for 50 years. But I did convince her to come visit us at the end of summer. She’d never been to our house before. We always made the trip to Illinois to visit them each year. What a treasure this picture is of her with her grandchildren in September 2005. But after two weeks she was ready to go home.

Family Gathering 2005

Four years passed and mom could no longer keep up with the house. So we made plans to convert our home to accomodate her. I know how difficult the decision was for her to make. She had to leave her beloved home, family members, and her cherished cats behind. She felt her cats were too old to make the journey. This is a picture of Mom in her home holding Maggie, her special friend.

Mom and Maggie 2006

On Memorial Day week in 2009, we traveled to Illinois to get her. It was a bittersweet time. My heart ached knowing I would never be visiting my childhood home again and I know Mom’s heart was breaking. She was a trooper. The first night in her new bedroom, she was sitting on the side of the bed with her head down. When I asked her if she was all right, her response was: “I’m just thanking God for all my blessings.”

Being near her grandchildren and great grandchildren was special to her. We all lived so far away and some of her great grandchildren she’d only seen in pictures before. Mom liked to have fun. At one of the great grandkids birthday party, she put on some silly wax teeth with me and middle daughter and let her picture be taken. Though mom worried about appearances and whether people would like her, with family she was a different person.

Having fun wearing silly teeth at a birthday party

Mom made the best of her new situation. And our cats comforted her in the loss of the ones she’d left behind. Templeton adopted her. He would lay on her walker and wait for her to give him a ride. Mom got her exercise pushing him around from kitchen to bedroom and back again. To this day, we occasionally give him a ride on the walker.

Mom getting her walk with Templeton

Mom enjoyed sitting in her chair in the living room and visiting with family. On Christmas, everyone came to visit, even a son who lives in Colorado. I love this picture of her taken on Christmas 2009.

In her favorite chair Christmas 2009

Then just four days after Christmas, Mom suffered a major heart attack. On December 30, 2009, she went on to her eternal home. I miss her all the time. I’m so glad we were able to spend her last seven months on earth together and I know she’s looking down from heaven with a smile. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I love you!
 

If there is one thing I’ve learned from years in the business world, it’s that change happens not from the top down, but change happens from the bottom up. Go ahead and disagree with me, but if you have an office filled with workers who complain about everything wrong with management and decisions they make, whining and griping, negative attitudes…guess what? You’ll find a negative attitude in the seats of power, too. But what if all the workers did the job they were hired for and did it to the best of their ability, being joyful in the opportunity God has provided? Smiles and positive attitudes are catching. If people see you doing this, they want what you have! If you see an office where people are happy, smiling, working hard to achieve their goals, you’ll find a happier management willing to do more for the people who work for them.

I also believe that change must happen in our homes first. If we have a Bible in our home, if we have prayer in our home, if we have respect in our home, then we will pass that on to others. It’s catching. Change must happen in the streets before it can ever reach our politicians.

Jonah 3:5 “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.”

The people believed God! Then what happened?

Jonah 3:6 “Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.”

Can you picture this? Can you picture our political leaders abandoning their bashing of each other, and clamoring for higher positions through lies and avoidance? Hard to do, right? But close your eyes and picture it! Picture them turning aside from political agendas and turning to God. Picture them admitting their sins and asking for a “God plan” instead of a “stimulus plan.”

We’ll never know unless we begin to make the change within ourselves and within our own homes. You want respect? Teach it in your own home. When you go out on the street today and see someone who doesn’t meet your personal criteria of the right kind of person, treat them with respect. God loves everyone! He doesn’t love just the people we love, just the people we want to associate with, just people like us.

We are to be like Jesus.

Changes happen in small increments. Change doesn’t happen overnight. But with God all things are possible! If God is with us, who can be against us?

I used Bernat Baby Coordinates in Candy Baby. Because of the multi colors the picture of the whole blanket didn’t turn out as good as I hoped. But the close ups should give better perspective to the design and colors.

There is enough yarn left to make the adorable teddy bear pattern in the back of the book. I’ll attempt that later.

Closeup of the border

Closeup of the "V" stitch pattern

The whole blanket

This is the first baby shawl crocheted to add to the Prayer Shawl Ministry at church. This one was made using Simply Soft by Caron and the pattern was found in the Annie’s Attic Prayer Shawls 2. I didn’t like the way the edging looked worked by the actual pattern instructions, so I changed it slightly. Instead of half double crochets I used double crochets and it lays much nicer.

Some members of our group are working on crocheted and knitted animals for the younger children. Our ministry continues to grow and bless so many people.

by Dora Hiers

Four books completed. Two published. One under contract. One more under consideration.

What’s next?
What do you do when a blank, white page stares back at you from the computer screen?

Where do I turn for ideas and inspiration?
Not where. Who.
God.

I start by chatting with God. Praising Him. Worshiping at His feet. Marveling at His handiwork: the spectacular colors of a sunrise or sunset, swaying trees in a gentle breeze, animals like a giraffe with that long crane for a neck. God has such an imagination and a sense of humor. I ask Him for a spark, just a speck of sand from His creative well. Then I leave it up to Him and open my mind ot His possibilities.

God used a newspaper article to plant the seed for Journey’s End, and a television newscast for Journey’s Edge. For both books, I asked “what if?” until the idea for the books no longer resembled the original story. Journey’s Embrace started as a dream. Yep. I see you shaking your head. No kidding. The dream actually became the opening scene.

So, where do I find my ideas, my inspiration for an entertaining, action-packed, heart racing, God-gracing romance? I…
Scour newspapers and magazines
Soak up my favorite television shows
Browse through internet and local news sites
Wade through files and notes, research online
Consider life experiences: weddings, funerals, jobs, family issues, hobbies, etc.

Evenutally a story event or character takes hold of my head and captures my heart.

Once I have them, what do I do with them?
Some writers like to keep a pen and paper handy to joy down ideas. I use a voice recorder app on my smartphone.
OK, you can call me lazy, but it’s actually faster than typing, and I always have my phone on hand.

I store potential newspaper articles and possible character pictures in a folder. For fleshing out my characters and organizing my story, I use Microsoft One Note. Each book becomes a Notebook, and every character has their own page, complete with bio and pictures.

Are you staring at a blank screen?
Where do you dig for ideas?

Where do you get your inspiration?

 *****

A Routine Audit? Hardly.

Red flags—including some goon who’s following her—raise McKinley Frasier’s suspicions that numbers don’t add up at the insurance firm. When someone tries to snatch McKinley’s daughter from school, she turns to police officer and ex-fiance, Renner Crossman—the cop who walked out on her a month before their wedding. But Renner’s not the same guy who broke her heart ten years ago. He calls himself a “new man.” She trusts the new Renner with her daughter’s safety…but what about her heart?

Bio:

After a successful auditing career, Dora left the corporate world to be a stay-at-home mom to her two sons. When her youngest son didn’t want her hanging out at school with him anymore, Dora started writing heart racing, God-gracing books. Dora belongs to the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the Carolina Christian Writers. Dora and her husband make their home in North Carolina. When she’s not writing, Dora enjoys reading and family gatherings. She despises traffic, technological meltdowns, and a sad ending to a book. Her books always end with happily-ever-after’s.

 Readers can connect with Dora:

Website: http://www.dorahiers.com/

Autographed copy and blog: http://dorahiers.blogspot.com/

Facebook: Dora Hiers Author
Twitter: @DoraHiers

Allie Pleiter Author Bio:

An avid knitter, coffee junkie, and devoted chocoholic, Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction. The enthusiastic but slightly untidy mother of two, Allie spends her days writing books, buying yarn, and finding new ways to avoid housework. Allie hails from Connecticut, moved to the midwest to attend Northwestern University, and currently lives outside Chicago, Illinois. The “dare from a friend” to begin writing has produced two parenting books, fourteen novels, and various national speaking engagements on faith, women’s issues, and writing. Visit her website at www.alliepleiter.com or her knitting blog at www.DestiKNITions.blogspot.com

Allie Pleiter

Why knitting?

If you know me, the answer is obvious–I love knitting.  I love it so much I even have a whole blog (DestiKNITions.blogspot.com) devoted to it.  That’d be a lovely reason if I were writing for only me or my knitting buddies (which are legion, I assure you!), but that’s not enough to sustain a book.  I needed to be a little less objective in my choice of plot device.Knitting actually makes a great deal of sense in this romance.  It’s the last thing arrogant  Army captain John Gallows thinks he ought to be doing.  Even if boys need to knit to meet the demand for Red Cross socks for soldiers, he’s a decorated hero, not a grandmother.  Still, he needs something from the Army, so he submits to what they need from him: to play up the heroic nature of knitting.  Rest assured, he’ll put his own spin on this “bad bargain” and make sure he comes out the victor.

Nurse Leanne Sample, on the other hand, takes her yarn and needles very seriously.  As a new nurse, she’s discovering her worth in the world.  The roles of women changed dramatically during WWI, and Leanne is on the crest of that wave.  Leanne learns that she is stronger than she thinks, and she’ll give this mouthy captain “what for” until he toes the line–or turns the heel, in this case.  Knitting is no longer “women’s work.”  The socks become their battleground.

And a great battleground it is!  Knitting forces John and Leanne to talk, to touch, and to learn how to deal with each other.  It puts them at odds but in close quarters–and that’s a recipe for flying sparks!  John must learn to value what Leanne feels is important, and Leanne must learn why John’s pain runs so deep.  Both of them learn that it’s not really about the socks, but God’s perfect partner for them as he “knits” their souls together through a life-and-death crisis.

 Because, after all, socks come in pairs.

Allie Pleiter
Homefront Hero
Love Inspired Historical
May 2012
#978-0-373-82916-3 

Back cover copy:

Dashing and valiantly wounded, Captain John Gallows could have stepped straight out of an army recruitment poster. Leanne Sample can’t help being impressed—although the lovely Red Cross nurse tries to hide it. She knows better than to get attached to the daring captain who is only home to heal and help rally support for the war’s final push. As soon as he’s well enough, he’ll rush back to Europe, back to war—and far away from South Carolina and Leanne. But when an epidemic strikes close to home, John comes to realize what it truly means to be a hero—Leanne’s hero.

Templeton in the empty laundry basket

He even allows the clothes to be piled on top of him!

"What do you mean? There's room for me, too!"

He remains in the basket as I carry it up and down two flights of stairs. This cat is NOT afraid of anything…not even the vacuum. In fact, the other day I put the curtain attachment on and brushed him. He didn’t even blink an eye. He’s not afraid of electric tools, including saws. He’s just full of curiosity and needs to be part of every experience.

I love this cat!

With just a few touches, a room can look completely redecorated and revived.

I found some perfect curtains and while I was browsing, I ran across some gorgeous throw pillows which perfectly complimented the colors in the room. Next my eyes were drawn to a nice throw rug which would look great at the bottom of the stairs. With just a few touches, our family room looks great.

Close Up of Pillow

Sofa with pillows

Not a very clear picture, but this is the rug

I’m mailing the prayer shawl today, but I did take a picture of it last night.

(This is the front view)

(This is the back view)

(This is a close-up view of the lacey border)

The pattern is from the Leisure Arts “The Prayer Shawl Ministry” pattern book. Although it calls for Lion Brand Homespun Yarn, I wanted something a little less bulky since this person lives in a warm climate. I have made it before using the Homespun yarn and it does make a beautiful shawl.