Amish Knitting Circle- Volume 4- Snowflakes

Granny Weaver knew if she brought five women together in a knitting circle, they’d be spun together, just like the wool she spins. But what she didn’t know was that her nerves would be unraveled by caring so much. She suspected Ruth had marital problems, but she never suspected abuse. Fannie’s poor body image is deeper than she thought. And what did her son do years ago to cause Lizzie such pain? But Granny smiles when Ella decided to look into foster care, coming to terms with her infertility by the help of the knitting circle. And she isn’t the only one prodding Maryann to go to the doctors for her severe fatigue and dizzy spells; the tight knit group of women all urge her, too.
In the Thanksgiving edition, lots of men are off work in Smicksburg, PA, since they work for English logging companies.  Ella makes a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to give thanks, but also so the men can have a word with Ruth’s husband. A rebuke is washed down better after a good meal. Then the women all go Black Friday shopping for their winter craft supplies and sewing materials, but this turns into a nightmare for Granny. Lots of things are uncovered that cause her to sit in her rocker that night and pray more “Casting Off Prayers”. But she smiles, knowing carrying one another’s burdens pleases her Lord.

Amish Knitting Circle is a continuing short story series about 6 women. Granny Weaver started the circle when she saw her wool was stronger when spun into yarn. So she starts a knitting circle, believing the women will be stronger as they face life together.
Volume 5 ~ Christmas Cookies
It’s Christmas in Smicksburg, PA, and Granny Weaver is excited about the knitting circle’s Christmas cookie exchange.  She’s comes to see these women as her daughters, and along with that, the fretting heart of a mom. Luke’s accepts church discipline and is making an effort to reconcile with Ruth, but her heart’s as cold as the north wind toward him. Maryann is in Lancaster “visiting relatives”, but Granny suspects it’s for other, more serious reasons. But Granny rejoices that Ella and Zach become parents, Maryann appears healthy….and Fannie finds love.

It’s been three weeks since Granny Weaver started her knitting circle to knit shawls for tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri. She had a hunch that women spun together, like her wool, would be stronger too. At the first circle, Ruth was missing and Granny knew why. Her husband, Luke, was isolating her again. Maryann didn’t come because of her ongoing fatigue. Fannie came, but Granny almost fainted when her widowed son, Roman, seemed to show interest in this twenty-one year old. Granny wanted him to notice his old sweetheart, Lizzie, but he barely gave her a passing look, all his attention went to Fannie. 
It’s Mid-November now, and wedding season is in full swing. Emotions surface in everyone as they see vows exchanged between two people in love. Some are reminiscing over their own wonderful marriages, while others are plowing through this season with dread. The happiness around them only magnifies that fact they’re in an unhappy marriage or lonely, being single. How can the women help each other as they’re spun tighter together in a knitting circle?

Amish Knitting Circle is a continuing short story series about 6 women. Granny Weaver started the circle when she saw her wool was stronger when spun into yarn. So she starts a knitting circle, believing the women will be stronger as they face life together.
Volume 6  ~ Old World Christmas
It’s STILL Christmas in Smicksburg, PA, as the Amish celebrate the season over twelve days, ending on January 6th, Old Christmas. It’s a day of fasting and reflection, remembering the arrival of the three kings who brought gifts Baby Jesus.
Granny Weaver is hoping to have a peaceful day to reflect, but she’s concerned:
~ Ruth’s resistant to reconciling with Luke.
~ Lizzie is staying in Lancaster for three more weeks.
~Her son, Roman, is looking in woodpecker holes trying to find a decade old letter.
~Maryann has to go back to the hospital after a mammogram shows a suspicious mass.
But an unexpected visitor makes them all see the visit of the three kings in a different light.

About Karen Anna Vogel:
A trusted English friend among Amish in Western PA and Western NY, my four grown children call me an ‘Amish Addict.’ My husband of thirty years shares my addiction. Our Old Order Amish friends have taken us back to a time when life was slower. Slow enough to enjoy our faith, family and friends. Slow enough to make me relax and join a knitting circle and learn to spin wool. Wanting to share what I’ve learned from these gentle people led me to write Amish fiction. I’m represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency and blog under Amish Crossings: http://karenannavogel.blogspot.com/   Member of Pittsburgh East Scribes and ACFW.          
 

Amish Knitting Circle is a continuing short story series about 6 women. Granny Weaver started the circle when she saw her wool was stronger when spun into yarn. So she starts a knitting circle, believing the women will be stronger as they face life together.
Volume 7 ~ Beauty for Ashes
It’s the end of January in Smicksburg, PA.  Granny Weaver and her knitting circle are meditating on the scripture; He gives us beauty for ashes... (Isaiah 61:3) 
~ Maryann is battling breast cancer.
~ Lizzie is starting to heal from a traumatic assault that happened eleven years ago.
~ Ruth has let Luke back home, but has little hope of having a good marriage.
~ Ella and Zach are so sleep deprived that marital bliss seems to have blown away with the January winds.
But Fannie’s smile is so warm it can melt the North Pole, because she has a wunderbar gut secret. 
A trusted English friend among many Amish in Western PA, and NY, I want to share with you about these wonderful people I admire.
Amish Knitting Circle was birthed when Trestle Press asked Suzanne Woods Fisher to write an Amish serial, and she referred them to me. Thank you Suzanne! I LOVE Trestle Press!
I write full-length novels and short story serials. I hope readers will learn a lot about Amish culture and traditions, and realize you don't have to be Amish to live a simple life.
In my Amish Knitting Circle you'll follow the lives of 6 women in a knitting circle who are knitting for charity and helping each other through life's challenges, the Amish way. An authentic Amish recipe is at the end of each edition.
Knit Together: An Amish Knitting Novel, is a complete book. Granny Weaver starts a knitting circle that's half Amish and half not. As they meet and knit and talk, they end up unifying the town made of two different cultures: Amish and English.
I'm a graduate from Seton Hill University and Andersonville Theological Seminary. In my spare time I enjoy knitting, birding, photography, watching BBC Period Drama's and spending time with family and friends.

Amish Knitting Circle is a continuing short story series about 6 women. Granny Weaver started the circle when she saw her wool was stronger when spun into yarn. So she starts a knitting circle, believing the women will be stronger as they face life together.
Volume 8 ~ Wings to Fly
It’s now a blustery February in Smicksburg, PA.  The Audubon Backyard Bird Count is underway, an annual event cherished by the Amish. Many in the knitting circle are counting birds, and learning life lessons from their feathered friends.  
~ Luke watched birds with Ruth for the first time and they observe how well finches get along.
~ Lizzie learns from Granny about waiting on God to gain strength so she can glide like an eagle.
~ Maryann is recovering from surgery and a judgmental heart, being cared for by unwed mother Lavina and Englisher Marge. Her love for others begins to soar.
~ Granny’s called to the bishop’s house to discuss her “addition” to Jane Austen novels and being too friendly toward the English.
~ Roman holds his breath as Amos comes from Lancaster to visit Lizzie.

A trusted English friend among many Amish in Western PA, and NY, I want to share with you about these wonderful people I admire.
Amish Knitting Circle was birthed when Trestle Press asked Suzanne Woods Fisher to write an Amish serial, and she referred them to me. Thank you Suzanne! I LOVE Trestle Press!
I write full-length novels and short story serials. I hope readers will learn a lot about Amish culture and traditions, and realize you don't have to be Amish to live a simple life.
In my Amish Knitting Circle you'll follow the lives of 6 women in a knitting circle who are knitting for charity and helping each other through life's challenges, the Amish way. An authentic Amish recipe is at the end of each edition.
Knit Together: An Amish Knitting Novel, is a complete book. Granny Weaver starts a knitting circle that's half Amish and half not. As they meet and knit and talk, they end up unifying the town made of two different cultures: Amish and English.
I'm a graduate from Seton Hill University and Andersonville Theological Seminary. In my spare time I enjoy knitting, birding, photography, watching BBC Period Drama's and spending time with family and friends.
 

Amish Knitting Circle is a continuing short story series about six women. Granny Weaver started the circle when she saw her wool was stronger when spun into yarn. So she starts a knitting circle, believing the women will be stronger as they face life together.
Volume 10 ~ New Beginnings 
It’s Easter in Smicksburg, PA, but will it need to be postponed due to discord among church members? Will there be harmony between Luke and Ruth? Can Ella and Zach fully accept that Lavina is going to their church? Fannie’s looks forward to her early spring wedding, but will she have to move to New York and say good-bye to her knitting friends? Lizzie and Roman also want a spring wedding but will it be too hard on Granny, as Jeb fears? Find out in this final edition of Amish Knitting Circle.
Due to the overwhelming response by readers, the Granny’s knitting circle won’t end; only expand with English (Non-Amish) friends coming. Look for Amish Friends Knitting Circle, another continuing series in 8 parts, coming soon.

Amish Knitting Circle is a continuing short story series about six women. Granny Weaver started the circle when she saw her wool was stronger when spun into yarn. So she starts a knitting circle, believing the women will be stronger as they face life together.
Volume 9 ~ Spun Together
It’s March now in Smicksburg, PA, and three weeks until Easter. The women in the knitting circle know unity among church member must exist before this holy day, when they partake of communion and wash each other’s feet. But emotions are running high…
~Ruth sees reconciliation dinners all around her, while she eats daily with Luke, struggling to forgive.
~Granny feels sick when her grandson is taken with Lavina, while Jeb encourages the match.
~Fannie’s planning her wedding, but Melvin tells her news that will change everything.
~Roman and Lizzie go kite flying and find their love soaring. Will their hopes crash, just like their kite?
~Ella’s finds her heart anxious when the mother of her twins moves to Smicksburg and is welcomed into her church.
This is the next to the last episode of the Amish Knitting Circle. All loose ends will be tied up in Volume 10; that will be out soon.  
A trusted English friend among many Amish in Western PA, and NY, I want to share with you about these wonderful people I admire.
Amish Knitting Circle was birthed when Trestle Press asked Suzanne Woods Fisher to write an Amish serial, and she referred them to me. Thank you Suzanne! I LOVE Trestle Press!
I write full-length novels and short story serials. I hope readers will learn a lot about Amish culture and traditions, and realize you don't have to be Amish to live a simple life.
In my Amish Knitting Circle you'll follow the lives of 6 women in a knitting circle who are knitting for charity and helping each other through life's challenges, the Amish way. An authentic Amish recipe is at the end of each edition.
Knit Together: An Amish Knitting Novel, is a complete book. Granny Weaver starts a knitting circle that's half Amish and half not. As they meet and knit and talk, they end up unifying the town made of two different cultures: Amish and English.
I'm a graduate from Seton Hill University and Andersonville Theological Seminary. In my spare time I enjoy knitting, birding, photography, watching BBC Period Drama's and spending time with family and friends.

Granny Weaver is praying for five women in her Old Order Amish community in Smicksburg, PA., but nothing seems to be happening. Spinning wool one day she ponders the fact that fibers wrapped around each other make a yarn that’s hard to break. Maybe the women she sees unraveling need to be spun together so they don’t break.
So Granny starts a knitting circle to make items for tornado victims in Joplin, MO. She invites Maryann who looks too tired and needs a break from her eight children. Ella seems mighty down since a doctor told her she can’t have children. Emma feels she’ll never get married because of her weight. Ruth has been depressed since the day she got married and won’t tell anyone why. Elizabeth never married to take care of her handicapped father, but others suspects she has a broken heart over a broken courtship.
Over the course of a year these women open up at the knitting circle. Their hearts are encouraged, being knit together in love as they face trials and troubles…together.”
About Karen Anna Vogel:
A trusted English friend among Amish in Western PA and Western NY, my four grown children call me an ‘Amish Addict.’ My husband of thirty years shares my addiction. Our Old Order Amish friends have taken us back to a time when life was slower. Slow enough to enjoy our faith, family and friends. Slow enough to make me relax and join a knitting circle and learn to spin wool. Wanting to share what I’ve learned from these gentle people led me to write Amish fiction.

Raven Meadows was raised on the Allegheny Indian Reservation in New York but placed in foster care after the death of her grandparents. Moving from one foster home to another, she’s had two constants in life: knitting and her ragdoll.
Now at 24, she works as a social worker in a foster home for boys. To her surprise, Amish families from Cherry Creek, NY apply to be foster parents. She quickly bonds with one Amish woman, Susanna Yoder, a knitter waiting for a kidney transplant. Susanna shows Raven her prayer shawl, and seeing what comfort it brings, Raven eagerly knits prayer shawls and eventually helps start a knitting circle.
Over time, Raven discovers her ragdoll is really an Amish doll that unravels the mystery of her birth. This revelation leads her to a new found faith, forgiveness, and an Amish love.
Karen Anna Vogel is a trusted English friend to many Amish in Western Pennsylvania and New York. She’s the author of Amish Knitting Circle, Knit Together, and The Amish Doll. She has a worldwide audience at her popular blog, Amish Crossings.
She has a B.A. in psychology and a Masters in Biblical Counseling and loves mentoring young women. Karen and her husband of 31 years, Tim, enjoy living in rural PA and have four grown children. You can visit her at www.karenannavogel.com or Amish Literature Fans on Facebook.
What Some Are Already Saying About “The Amish Doll”:
The Amish Doll follows the struggle of Raven, a character some of us may relate strongly with. When confronted with issues of her faith, the hurt from past relationships threaten to harden her heart. But her journey of self-discovery and God's love are what give this book the realism and heartfelt sentiment which is Vogel's style.  ~  Karen Malena author of Son of Mine

Karen Anna Vogel does a great job of portraying the struggles and the joys of foster care. Excellent story!  Karen Berkey ~ Social Worker