Lace baby booties

Purple is my birthstone color, so when I saw the pattern for these lace baby booties, I knew they would look great in Purple.  

This is what your work should look like before you begin the instep rows.

This is what your work should look like after you completed the instep rows.

After you completed your foot sections, this is what your work should look like.  I provided the front, side and top view.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask by leaving a comment.  And, please feel free to leave a comment if you see something wrong with the pattern or just to say you like the pattern.

Happy Knitting!

Crochet Flowers

These little flowers are a nice addition to any crochet project.

I don't assume everyone knows how to crochet or the terminology.  For the life of me I can never remember what the Garter St is in knitting, so I always have to look it up before I begin a project.  I hope this step by step tutorial with pictures will help you with making these cute little flowers.

Making the slip knot

Row 1 - ch 3, sl st in 3rd chain from hook to form a circle

Row 2 - do not sl st to connect to row 1.  Do 10 sc inside the circle again, at the same time squeeze your bud together as you do your sc.  The tighter the bud the higher it will stand up from the petals

The black bub was pulled extremely tight, look how high it stands above the petals compared to the 2 other flowers that were pulled at different tightness

Row 3 - change to smaller size crochet hook, join contrasting yarn

ch 3, dc in the same st as ch 3, ch 3, sl st in the same st as ch 3

Row 4 - repeat row 3,  9 more times around your bud.  Completed flower should have 10 petals

Completed Flowers

Ribbon baby booties

As I have mentioned before knitting and crocheting is a passion of mine (oh heck, anything that is crafty or allows me to create art is a passion for me).  I found this cute "babystovler" pattern from Calista Yoo blogspot.  Not sure why the name "babystovler" was chosen for the name of this pattern, to me they look more like strips of ribbons, so I called them ribbon booties. These cute little booties were pretty easy to make and I whipped up this pair in less then an hour in a half.  The only difficulties I found was sewing the seams closed, where the strips meet in the center, they didn't quite lie flat.  Or it just could have been me being picky.  For those of you who like to crochet I have provide the link to this pattern below.  

Happy crocheting!

http://calistayoo.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-version-of-babystvler.html

Call to Knitters and Crocheters

Knitting and Crocheting has always been a passion of mine since I was knee high to a grasshopper.  So it didn't surprise me when I saw a picture of this Owl cocoon on Facebook, I had to make it.  It didn't take me long to find the pattern, pay the fees and begin to crochet away like a mad man. Of course I had to make a few minor changes to the pattern that I thought were more pleasing to my eyes.  I believe I spent about 3 days making this cocoon and it was well worth the time.  I just love the colors and the cuteness of the finished project.  My initial thought for creating this adorable owl cocoon was, I was going to use it in my photography work with babies.   I posted a picture of my completed cocoon on Facebook and within 15 minutes I was asked if it was for sale, the women insisted that she needed to have this cocoon for her unborn baby first photographs in January 2014.  Needless to say I began working on a new one to be used with my photography work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/pamelamckee/245--owl-cocoon-baby-crochet-pattern-245

Vinegar, who knew?

I learned something new about Vinegar today in an article I was reading.  Apparently the properties that make up vinegar have created an acid level within the product that will kill germs and disinfect most surfaces, and it will neutralize and eliminate most odors.

Vineger can be mixed with water and used as a cleaner on glass, tile, and ceramic surfaces, and it can keep kitchen counters, sinks, and disposals looking and smelling fresh. It can reduce lime and calcium build-up in appliances like coffeemakers and tea kettles, and adding a splash to laundry can help brighten fabric colors.

This is what really got my attention. We have a 15 week old puppy that still has accidents and always in the same spot.  I have tried every product under the sun to remove this smell and nothing seemed to work.  Then within this article it stated that vinegar can eliminate pet urine odor.  So with some trepidation I did as the article recommend.  I diluted 1 cup of vinegar with 3 cups of water and sprayed  the area with this mixture, the vinegar actually absorbed the odor! The article also suggested putting a small bowl with vinegar in the room to help eliminate the odor in the air. Then I thought this would work great for that stinking diaper pale we all keep in the baby room or bathroom.

Puppies, we all love them!

 

 

Beyond questioning, the royal family of the sight hound world is the Borzoi, (aka, Russian Wolf Hound).  Borzois are tall, curvy, elegant, and have a coat of silky hair that just seems to flow in the wind and this is why they continue to be featured in art and fashion magazines. They were originally developed to hunt hare and wolves in the harsh Russian climate and like most sight hounds, they love to run and chase things. Their desire to chase things is very likely to override any amount of training your dog has had, so a fenced area to run and play is a must. Borzoi are almost silent, barking only very rarely, they are not a territorial breed, so watch dog-behavior is out of the question. It can be a challenge to train them beyond the basic commands of no jumping, don't eat the couch or don't chase after the cat. These gentle giants are highly sensitive and do not cope well in environments of raised voices or harsh punishment. They have a natural respect for humans and will be aloof with strangers, their desire is to be with their owner(s), As adults they are decorative couch potatoes with remarkably gracious house manners and a joy to cuddle with.

 

 

Meet Loki, our 8 week old Borzoi puppy. There are many Borzoi breeders out there and after researching we selected Enchante Borzoi kennel located in Westchester, Ill, owned and operated by Scott Sumeracki and Mary Sue Marcyn. We flew into Chicago and met with Scott and Sue for several hours.  Our intentions were to return back home with one of the caramel colored puppies and as you can see from Loki's picture, he is not caramel colored (the pictures we reviewed of him before arriving in Chicago did not do him justice).  Personality was the number one factor with us because he had to fit in with the pack of dogs we already have.  Not only did Sue and Scott do a wonderful job taking care of Loki's health (formerly known as Dimples) and beginning to socializing him, I think we did a wonderful job with picking Loki as the latest addition to our family, we now have 2 couch potatoes, Neeko (our adult male) and Loki the puppy.

If you have any questions about this breed don't hesitate to leave me a comment and if I can't answer your question I'm sure Sue or Scott will be happy to.  

https://www.facebook.com/msmarcyn

http://www.theborzoifiles.net/details.php?id=106887

  

Diapers May Hinder Walking in Babies?? 

What do you Think?

 

Most babies wear diapers and now they are saying that these diapers trap more than just waste, they may also be confining your baby’s ability to walk.


This is the information from the actual study that was conducted.

Scientists compared the walking gaits of 60 babies who were either naked, wore a thin disposable diaper or a thick cloth diaper. Half the babies were 13-month old novice walkers and the other half 19-month old experienced walkers.

When the 30 13-month olds walked naked only 10 fell, but while wearing the cloth diaper 21 of them fell, and while wearing the disposable 17 of them fell. Among the 19-month olds only 4 fell while naked or wearing disposables, while 8 fell when wearing cloth diapers. But both age groups took wider and shorter steps while wearing diapers as opposed to walking naked. The research is in the journal Developmental Science. [Whitney G. Cole, Jesse M. Lingeman and Karen E. Adolph, Go naked: diapers affect infant walking]

Because the effects were immediate, this study cannot predict if wearing diapers has a long-term impact. Nonetheless the researchers believe walking naked would speed up walking development. But then we are left with the issue of covering the entire house in plastic and relying heavily on the child’s ability to communicate his or her elimination intentions.


So, I guess my question is, do we run out and buy tons of plastic to lay on our floors? Or, do we avoid the emergency room because our baby slipped on the plastic and hit his/her head on the coffee table and now has an open wound. Or do we just accept the fact that our babies will not be walking at 1 year of age.