Crochet for Babies

Baby Clothing of the 1970s

Shawls

I really like to crochet for babies. When my first child was born, I crochet a large circular white shawl. In those days, shawls were the thing. Then came bunny rugs. This shawl was so special, I wrapped my precious baby up in it and kept her warm. I still have it today. 

Crocheted Dresses

When my son came along, I made a special crocheted white dress for him for his Baptism. In those days, jumpsuits  were only just starting and were certainly not seen as clothing to wear for such a special occasion as a Baptism. He was only a few weeks old, so I'm sure I did not traumatise him by putting him in a dress. 

Jackets or Cardigans for Babies

We all know the difference between a jumper and a cardigan, right? In the mid 20th century, a cardigan for a baby was called a jacket. I don't know why, but that is just the way it was. By the time the baby got to about two years old, it was called a cardigan. I suppose today, we will still call out to a little one as we hurry out to the car, 'Have you got your jacket?'

Here is a little baby jacket. These are lovely crocheted out of 5 ply yarn. When you crochet, the resulting material becomes quite thick, much thicker than if it was knitted. They can get too thick and therefore too hot if made out of 8 ply wool. They come up beautifully with lacy designs.

A lacy design of crochet for a baby jacket

A short-sleeved jacket for a precious baby girl

A plainer design of crochet is often used for boy babies

Baby cardigans or jackets can be made in plainer designs for little boys. 

Colour

You can also introduce colour. Pastel shades are a good choice for little ones. Colour has a strong influence on our psyche. You may notice that little ones will soon show a preference for their favourite colour. In our society, pink is generally accepted for girls and blue for boys.

A baby girl's jacket in progress

Baby booties in bright colours

I do love bright colours and sometimes just have to give myself a dose of colour. I really enjoy using brightly coloured yarn, but tend to keep this for children at least one-year-old. 

More crochet yarns next time. Cheers

The Power of Red

Red Energy

Red is a very powerful colour. It has the lowest vibration in the visible colour spectrum of light. When you look at a coloured picture or painting, the first colour our eyes pick up is the colour red. 

Artist's Red

There are three primary colours from which all other colours can be made from. These are 

• red
• blue
• yellow

Secondary colours which are made from a mixture of these colours are

• red + blue = purple
  blue + yellow = green
  yellow + red = orange

Complementary colours are opposites on the colour wheel. The opposite of red is green. So when you put red and green together, they sparkle and they make each other stand out. 
  

Advertising

Red is used as an advertising colour to make things jump out at you. Think McDonald's fast food chain. Red gets you moving through quickly. 

Red attracts, but you don't want to hang around it very long.

GrumbleTumms food van

 Energy

If you are feeling down and tired, put on some red clothes. This will cheer you up and get you energized. 

When little children get agitated and irritable, if they have red clothing on, change it to blue and it will help them to calm down. 

Red in the Garden

Red flowers are very strong. Red hibiscus and red roses will grow very well in hot sunshine. Other red flowers are nasturtiums, dahlias and poppies, tulips and salvias. They bring strong colour into a garden. Generally, bees are not as attracted to red flowers. So, it you are allergic to bee stings, add some red flowers into your garden. 

Chakras

Chakras are energy centres of the body. There are 7 main energy centres and numerous minor centres. Each of these main energy centres are assigned one of the seven colours of the rainbow. The Base chakra is located at the base of the spine inside the body. The colour associated with this is red. 

Red Crystals

Red crystals are used on the red Base chakra for healing. These red crystals are a reddish brown to black colour. They are red jasper, red calcite, garnet and ruby. They balance the energy of the ares and help the blood inside our body.

Red Food

Red food is important for our body. The bright red colour has special nutrients which help us to stay healthy. Some of these foods are tomatoes, red peppers, red capsicum, beetroot, strawberries, raspberries, apples, rhubarb and cherries. 

 Graphics and designs by Therese Vahland

A Picture of Innonence

Whenever I see little babies I think of them as being so innocent. 

They have not had time in this world to become 

• deceitful, 
• sly
• cunning
• jealous or
• greedy

We could all take note of how they act, living for the moment, not living in the past or waiting for the future.

Photography

Babies give us great pleasure to watch and be around. Some are very quick to smile and make great subject for photography.

Today we can do so much with cameras and editing programs. Even Apps can contribute much to our final photographic experience. 

Many apps are free and you can get more variety if you pay. The writing on the photo above was added using Font Candy.

 

You can get apps to turn your photo into soft sepia colours ...

Or into a modern collage. Have fun by extending your photographic experience with apps which you can install in your phone or tablet. 

Photo taken by Therese Vahland

Keeping Children Amused

Children Need to Move to be Healthy

We all know that it is not a good idea for children to sit in front of the television for hours. These days there are lots of electronic gadgets that can keep children amused but is it good for them?

Oxygen for our Brain

Scientists and doctors tell us that the more we sit, the more unhealthy we are. When we sit our heart, blood flow and breathing are not stimulated. If we go for an walk the blood is pumping through our veins at a faster rate. This gets our metabolism going. t makes us breathe faster. When we breathe we get more oxygen into our body. We need oxygen for our brain to work properly.

Walk Barefoot

The best thing for children to do is take off their shoes and socks and run barefoot on the grass, at the beach or even play around on the concrete. The important thing here is that they do this barefoot. When our feet touch the ground we are earthing ourselves. 

Electrons travel through the soles of our feet into our body getting rid of those free radicals that everyone is telling us are causing illness, inflammation and ageing. We want to keep our children healthy, so get them running barefoot on the ground. 

Children need to move. They need to be active. Give them little projects. We all feel more useful when we have something to do.

Things Children Can Do

Give them a plastic bottle of water to make patterns on the concrete. Let them run through the water on the concrete in their bare feet. 

Gardening at Easter

It was busy and yet quiet at Easter this year. Some days were very busy and others were quiet. On the quiet days I enjoyed pottering in the garden. It is Autumn time here on the south coast of Australia and the weather has been more stable. We had a week of light rain then a week of warmer weather and sunshine, just the weather to make plants grow.

I have been working on replanting a garden bed in the front yard. This bed faces south and so it gets pretty cold with icy southerly winds for six months of the year. The other six months of the year it gets baking hot. The soil gets so hard that it is impossible to get a spade into it.

I am not one to water my front garden much so the plants MUST be very hardy. There are a couple of roses that have lasted there for years, a daisy bush - can you actually kill daisy bushes? and some red valerian. That is so hardy. It has thick roots under the ground that nourish it whatever the weather.

It is a good time to plant bulbs so that they will be ready to flower in springtime. I had bought five big, plump, round hyacinth bulbs. I am looking forward to the deep purple colour and the magnificent perfume in the future.  

To get these bulbs ready for planting, I soaked them in water and homeopathic 'Plant Strengthener' for 24 hours along with a little hydrogen peroxide. These were then drained and left to sit for a couple of days. Tiny white roots started to emerge like a corona from the bottom of the bulbs. 

I took a sheet of paper towel, dampened it, and sat the bulbs on it for another couple of days while I watched the roots growing. 

Self Watering Pots

On one of the quiet days over Easter, the bulbs were planted in a self watering hanging basket. I just love self watering pots. The plant always has access to as much water as it wants yet doesn't get waterlogged. Air can still get in between the bottom of the soil and the water level. Also watering can be intermittent. They are good for the forgetful gardener.

Preparing the Soil

The soil was also especially prepared. I used the following:

• potting mix
• vermiculite
• perlite
• blood and bone
• water saving granules
• epsom salts

This was mixed up and the bulbs were layered into it. They were well watered and left to sit in a sheltered spot for a few days. They will find their new hanging space when they start popping out of the soil. 

Grooming Young Gardeners

One of the youngest members of our family, a little two year old, checks out some pots of bulbs each week when she comes to visit. She is so excited to see how they have grown each week. It's a great way to instil a love of gardening into the next generation.

Plant Strengthener is available here

Water Play for Children

Children Love Water

Children always love playing with water, whether it is playing in the baths, playing while they wash their hands, splashing their drink on the floor and playing with the spills or playing in the swimming pool. 

You can turn this favourite activity of theirs into a benefit for you. Get them to water your outside plants.

Watering the plants and learning what plants need

It doesn't matter if the children spill some of the water when they are outside. It will all dry up. Even their clothing will dry if it is a warm day.

At the same time as having fun with water, children learn something about gardening. They learn that plants need water to survive, just like we need water to drink. It's a simple, subtle way to teach them things.

Free Activity for Children

Keeping Children Amused

Little ones need something to do to keep them amused. It is always best if this is NOT in front of the television, tablet, games on phones or DS or X-box. 

Here is a simple, free, easy thing that they can do and can can keep them amused for an hour or so. 

A plastic bowl, an old paintbrush, flat concrete, some water

Expanding artistic ideas - Water painting all sorts of creations