It's OK to say "be careful".

We hear about body shaming, slut shaming, and so on. Well, let's talk about parent shaming.

I find it very annoying that many parents find articles or blogs on the internet and they think "this must be the way it's supposed to be done!" In reality, those articles and blogs including this one are opinion. Even if it was written by a psychologist, it is opinion unless it is backed up by scientific proof. (There are many different schools of thought in psychology, many of them contradicting each other.)

I was shown a blog article written by a lady who detests the phrase "be careful" and tries her darnedest to not say it to her kids. She gives her reasons, and she has good reasons... for her. But she fails to point out that these are her opinions and her reasons, and her readers should read them objectively.

Take this excerpt for example:

"I have come to realize that the reason I detest "be careful" so much is because 99% of the time it is said to make the person saying it feel better/safer about the situation!  It is usually said out of distraction, absentmindedly, out of not being truly present with our children."


In this passage she is asserting that this phrase is said [by all parents] out of distraction, absentmindedly, out of not being truly present with one's child.

I disagree. I think SHE says it because SHE is distracted, absentminded, and not being truly present with HER kids. That's why SHE says it, and that's why her mother said it (she says so in the blog) (which is likely why that is how she learned to say it and thinks it's the norm), but that is not why *I* say it.

Trust me, if I'm telling my 2.5 year old daughter to be careful, I have a reason and I am very, very aware of what she is doing at that moment. If I see her doing something dangerous, you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to be monitoring what she's doing or even put a stop to it.

Let's say she's outside playing, and she wanders over by my husband's motorcycle. It's a big beast of a machine, and she likes to touch it. It is very possible that she could go from touching to smacking, from smacking to kicking, from kicking to climbing... And that motorcycle, being held up at an angle by a very small kick stand, could fall over ON TOP OF HER. She would be flat as a pancake. She could very well lose a limb if that 600+ pound machine fell on her. A motorcycle, you see, is not a toy for a 2 year old. It is not a jungle gym. I dare say a 2 year old should not play with a motorcycle! (My opinion.)

So, in this hypothetical situation, let's say I was standing over by the fence, looking something up on my phone. I look up and see her poking the motorcycle with a stick. Do I say "be careful" and then go back to browsing the internet? Ummmm NO! Good lord! I'm saying "Be careful!" and I'm quickly going over there to monitor her VERY CLOSELY and then directing her away when it looks like she's about to get a little more aggressive with the motorcycle.

Take a sit-and-spin, for another example. Sitting, yes. Standing, no. Walking across the room and stepping on it with one foot, no no no... That thing could spin out from under her and she could fall HARD. If she's walking toward it, or she's experimenting with just stepping on it, I'm not going to say "be careful" and go back to crocheting. No, ma'am, I am going to say "Oh, honey, be very careful. If you step on it, it could spin and you could really hurt yourself!" I'm on it! And if she keeps it up, and I feel like an accident is inevitable, I'm going to direct her to play with it correctly or I'm going to put it away.

One could argue "I'm not going to tell her to be careful. I want her to be curious, and experiment with things. I don't want her to be afraid of life." That's GREAT! But, she's 2. What am I going to tell the doctor when her face is split open because I allowed her to play on exercise equipment? What will I say to the police when the doctor calls to report me for allowing her to use a 600+ lb motorcycle as a jungle gym "so she won't be afraid of life"?

"Well, officer, I did know she was climbing on the motorcycle, and while I'm very aware that it could topple on top of her and cause serious injury, I wanted her to learn that lesson herself. Even when her prosthetic leg comes in, I'm sure she'll never climb on another motorcycle!" (She'd be traumatized... great, let's do that to our kids and call it good parenting... Ha.)

I tell her to be careful when she needs to be careful. I tell her to be careful when she must be hyper aware of her body and how she's using it in relation to objects she's around. I think if I always use the term "be careful" in this sense, she will learn that it actually means she is toying with a possibly dangerous situation and should, in fact, be careful. If mom says be careful, maybe that means she should actually use caution. You know?

So, oh my goodness--just because one blogger on the internet learned the incorrect usage of the term "be careful" and detests it does not mean that it's bad parenting if you use it! Please do watch your kids, and teach them to be careful when they need to be!

That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it!

My magnificent meatloaf!

When I was a kid, you couldn't pay me to eat meatloaf. Now, though, I love it.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe called Sweet and Sour Meatloaf. My adaptation has lower calories, more onion soup mix,  and a different cooking time.

Ingredients:
1 egg
5 tbsp ketchup, divided
2 tbsp yellow mustard
1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 lb ground beef
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup stevia
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cider vinegar

Directions:
In a large bowl, slightly beat the egg. Add beef, 2 tbsp of ketchup, the mustard, bread crumbs, onion soup mix, salt, and pepper. Mix it all together, then place it in a Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker.

Microwave for 9 minutes with the cover on.

While it's microwaving, get a small bowl. Combine the 3 remaining tbsp of ketchup, the stevia, brown sugar, and cider vinegar. Stir them up until well blended.

When the microwave goes off, drain the fat from the meatloaf. Then pour the sugary sauce over the loaf. Cover again, and microwave for 4 minutes.

Enjoy! It's the best meatloaf I've ever had!

Amamani Puzzle Balls

I bought the ebook of patterns a year or more ago, and I finally got around to making some! The race, after all, is on. I'm due to hatch this new little hatchling at the beginning of July. I remember from the last time that I couldn't really sit down and crochet until she was about a year old, so I know very well that I need to finish up my queue of crochet projects before he's born!

I've been crocheting my little fingers off... Good thing I'm enjoying myself!

Here are three Amamani Puzzle Balls I made over the last couple weeks. They're pretty cool!

You can get the pattern all over the internet, but I purchased mine here:

https://www.anniescatalog.com/detail.html?prod_id=113005

I've found it cheaper in other online places since then, but that's where I got it. :-)

Robots in Spaaaace baby blanket (FREE crochet pattern)

Hello again! I've got another great pattern for you! First I have to give 95% of the credit to a gal named Jessame. She designed and posted a free pattern for a Nautical Afghan in February of 2014. I came across her pattern sometime in early 2015 and I made it (only 16 of the squares) for my cousin's baby boy.

Well, now I'm having a[nother] baby boy of my own, and I wanted to stick with the Robots theme that I already have for my little girl's nursery (it's already blue in there... no need to redecorate!), but I kind of wanted to add some space stuff to it. So I was thinking of ideas for this little one's baby blanket.... and then I thought to myself that I should just modify the Nautical Afghan to have robots and space graphics instead of the nautical stuff.

Here's my Robots in Spaaaaaace blanket. (You have to read that with, like, an echoing, booming voice. Go back and do it. I'll wait....)

And here is the Nautical Afghan I made for my cousin's little boy, following Jessame's pattern:

So the major changes I made between the two are the following:

1. Instead of the red, white, green/blue, navy blue colors for the nautical, I changed the colors to red, white, blue, and grey. (So where there is the green/blue color in the nautical, I swapped it for grey in the robot blanket.)

2. The white cable squares call for 19 rows in Jessame's pattern. I found this to be too long, so I did 17 rows for the robot pattern.

3. I only used three different graphics in the nautical afghan (anchor x 2, life saver, sail boat x 2), but in the robot pattern I used five different graphics. (Robot, gear, star, battery, rocket ship.)

4. The stripes squares I just did my own color repetitions.

5. I always do my own border.

6. Oh, the original pattern for Jessame's nautical blanket is for a much larger blanket that could probably fit on a twin size bed. It has a total of 30 squares. I just followed the bottom left 16 squares (4x4) to make it a good size for just a little baby blanket.

7. The squares that are comprised of 4 smaller squares came out pretty small this time in comparison to the other squares, so I added a row of hdc around it in different colors.

The instructions for the various squares can be found for FREE on Jessame's blog. You can access that pattern here. If you have any questions about her instructions, she is great at responding to comments on her blog. (You can also ask me here, if you want, but I'm not looking to steal her thunder.)

Here are the graphs for the graphics that I created for my Robots in Spaaaace blanket. They are 30 squares by 30 squares. Each square represents one sc (single crochet) stitch.

Gear

I used red and blue to stitch around the edges after it was done, because I thought it looked a little plain just like this.

Rocket Ship

 I flipped this one over and had it facing the other way for the "right side" of the blanket because it just looked better that way to me. :-)

Star

 Pretty self explanatory. I considered just using white for the star instead of yellow, but then I was almost out of white.... So that sealed the deal for the yellow. Ha. I think it looks pretty good like this.

Robot

 My original plan was to stitch on a mouth after it was done, but I actually think it looks pretty good as is. No mouth needed!

Battery

And there you have it! My awesome Robots in Spaaaace baby blanket!

Thank you, Jessame, for sharing your amazing pattern for free! You were my inspiration, and you're a genius! :-)

Basic Striped Baby Blanket (free crochet pattern!)

I just finished this little blanket today!

It's 30" by 33". I didn't use a pattern, but it is so very simple for even a beginner crocheter! So I'm going to write down the pattern for free. :-)

As you can see, each stripe is a different color. The little color stripes don't use much yarn at all, so if you have lots of scrap yarn you may not even need to acquire more (for the stripes).

The main color I used is Grey Heather, from the Red Heart Super Saver brand. I used up what was left of a 10oz skein, then I had to purchase a 5oz skein and used about half of that. I'd wager it was about 8-10oz total of the grey. Then I just picked one of the colors from one of the stripes and used it for the border. This blanket is for a boy, so I went with the light blue. I followed up with two rounds of grey--one on top of the other--so that the very edge feels sturdy. 

Here are the instructions! Let me know if there are any mistakes!

Materials:

Crochet hook--size I / 5.5mm
Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Grey Heather for main color
--other scraps of Medium (4) weight yarn for stripes and edging
yarn needle (to weave in ends)


Main body:

Row 1: With grey, ch 92; dc in 3rd ch from hook and in each ch across; ch 2, turn (90 dc)
Row 2-6: (the "ch 2" does NOT count as a dc); dc in each st across, ch 2, turn (90 dc)
Row 7: dc in each st across; finish off grey.

Row 8: turn your work and attach your first color stripe (lime green for me) with a sc in the last st worked of row 7; sc in each st across; finish off. (90 sc)

Row 9: turn your work and attach grey with a sl st in the BACK LOOP ONLY of the last st worked of row 8. **Work in BLO for this whole row.** ch 2, then dc in same loop where you joined, and dc in each st across. ch 2, turn. (90 dc)

Row 10-15: continue in pattern, putting a dc in each st across.

Finish off after each grey section has 7 rows of dc stitches, then attach a color for a stripe and work it as Row 8 was worked.

After each color stripe, repeat row 9 and then continue on in pattern, working 7 rows of dc for the whole grey section.

The blanket has 6 color stripes, and seven grey block sections. There are a total of 55 rows in the main body of the blanket.

My rows went:

grey block of 7 rows dc
lime green row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
blue row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
light blue row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
red row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
orange row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc
yellow row of sc
grey block of 7 rows dc.... then finish off main body.



Now for the border:

Pick one stripe color, or even go for a light grey if you wish, and attach at a corner with a sc.

Round 1: sc again in the same corner st of your sc join (there should be two sc in this corner st); sc in each st across to the next corner; 3 sc in corner st, *sc along side of blanket placing 2 sc in each dc row, and 1 sc in each sc row* to the next corner st; 3 sc in corner st, sc across to next corner st, repeat * to *; put one last sc in the same corner st as first two st; join to first sc with a sl st.

You should have three sc stitches worked in each corner stitch of the blanket.

Round 2: ch 1, DO NOT TURN, work 3 sc in same st as join, *sc across to next corner st, 3 sc in corner st*; repeat until you reach the beginning of the round and join with a sl st to the first sc.

Round 3: ch 1, DO NOT TURN, sc in same st as join, work 3 sc in corner st, *sc across to next corner st, 3 sc in corner st*; repeat until you reach the beginning of the round and join with a sl st to the first sc.

Round 4 - 6: Continue in this pattern, working 3 sc in each corner st and joining at the end of the round, until you have completed 6 rows of light blue. Finish off.

Round 7: Attach grey yarn with a sc anywhere on round 6. Following the same pattern, sc in each sc around the edge, and place 3 sc in each corner st. Join with sl st to first sc.

Round 8: ch 1, sc again into the stitches in round 6. This means you are essentially working your stitches in this round AROUND the stitches made in round 7. Insert your hook down into that same blue stitch that you crocheted into while working the previous round, and finish your stitch. You'll need to pull it up a little taller. When you get to the corners, work just TWO sc into the corner stitch of round 6. Do this all the way around, then join with sl st to the first sc of this round. Finish off....

Make sure you weave in all your ends... and you're done!



****Do not copy this pattern and pass it off as your own. You can definitely sell finished items made from this pattern.****


Check out my other patterns here on Etsy, or here on Ravelry! I'd also love your feedback on this or any of my other patterns. :-)

Robot Crochet

I love robots, and I love to crochet, so it just makes sense that I'm crocheting robots. I began by following a pattern for a robot, and then I branched out and created my own. And holy cow, it appears I've got quite a knack for this whole robot-crochet-design thing!

Here are some pictures of the robots I've designed, and links to where you can purchase the patterns! If you do purchase a pattern and find anything confusing or wrong in it, please contact me here or via etsy or ravelry and let me know!! And I would *LOVE* to see pictures of your finished products!

The Happy Little Robot

This was the first little guy I created on my own... and by little I mean 20" from foot to antenna. He is just so stinkin' cute! You can find him here on Etsy, or you can find him here on Ravelry.

The Kyra-bot

This was designed for my friend's granddaughter, Kyra. She's one of my fav's, for sure! She's got a skirt and everything! I love this robot. I should probably make her again for my little girl. You can find the Kyra-bot here on Etsy, or here on Ravelry.

Caleb's Robot

I couldn't think of a name for this guy, and I made him for my cousin's baby boy (Caleb), so Caleb's Robot seemed fitting. :-) He's got a pretty sweet antenna on his noggin', and the sides of his head were crazy awesome to make. I'm pretty proud of it! Caleb loves him, too. You can find Caleb's Robot here on Etsy, or here on Ravelry.

 Mr. Banks

This is Mr. Banks. I was inspired by my little girl's "piggy" bank, which is actually a robot, and naturally we call him Mr. Banks when we say goodnight to him. I'm writing a children's book about Mr. Banks as well! You can get the pattern for him here on Etsy, or here on Ravelry.

Robot Pacifier/Toy Holder

OK this little fella doesn't have a name, but he is pretty useful! He's got a loop on his head, as well as a loop on each hand, and you mom's and dad's can attach toys and such to the loops. Or you could attach this guy to your baby's play yard, stroller, or carseat. You can get the pattern here on Etsy, or here on Ravelry.

Robot Toddler Tunic

Gah! Check this out!! I had just finished making a custom Tardigrade for a customer in the reddish color, and I had a bunch of yarn left. I wanted to use it up (I didn't even come close) and I had this idea for a darling little tunic for my little lady. So this is what I came up with! Seriously, who says robots are just for boys? Pshhhhht. You can get the pattern for this here on Etsy, or here on Ravelry. This is my latest and so-far-last robot creation, but I've got ideas for others!

Cute Crochet Robot, Mr. Banks!

I've done it again... I've crocheted a handsome fellow all by myself. I mean, I always do it all by myself, but what I mean is that I created him and the pattern literally all by myself!

I did have inspiration, though! My little lady's nursery is all decorated in robots. When I see stuff with robots, like shirts or tights or "piggy" banks, I just can't help myself--it winds up in our little robot shrine. It's really cute in there, honestly.

Ramona likes to say goodnight to her robots. We say goodnight to "Stan," and "Lois," and "Boris," (framed prints on the wall), then Mr. Banks, and Gregory! (Gregory is a *reallyreally* awesome lamp that my husband's BFF, Greg, gave us after she was born. It just seemed like the right name to give it.)

So, sometimes I find myself sitting there in her room, rocking her or just sitting while she destroys the order of everything *ahem*, and I think to myself "hey, self, you should make a crochet robot similar to that one!" And so, I bring you... Mr. Banks!!

I've also written a children's book about Mr. Banks... hopefully to be published in the near future. :-)


Follow this link to buy the pattern and make your very own Mr. Banks!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/254193183/crochet-pattern-robot-mr-banks