Favorite colors for Fall

Deaf for the Day:
Our children know sign language, however when I am around they speak all the time.  I wonder which language the children pick in an English/Spanish speaking home?

New Scarves for the Fall!!!  What??!! It's fall again already??? Yep.  And it's so pretty =)

Thank you and more to come!
Kim and Family =)

What's in a Name?

Random deaf knowledge for the day:
When Chris and I found out we were going to be parents he asked that we pick a name that was fairly easy for him to say.  Being deaf means his words are not as clear as a person who can hear.  (You need to be able to hear yourself in order to have clear speech.)  So all of our kids names are (perfect) and easy for him to say.  Which just means they are not long or phonetically hard.  His voice is his voice for me.  Not sure how much it will change after the cochlear but that's not very important to us, his family and friends.

You know what Chris has that's great??  He has the best laugh.  It's deep and loud and his face looks even better when he's laughing.  If we are giving him a hug and we laugh he can feel us laughing too!  

Crochet for the Catholic Mom:
I read somewhere (no use trying to remember where now) that when we pray the rosary to Mary (Jesus' mom if you were uncertain   who I was referring too).  It's like your own children saying your name "Mommy, mommy."  Not in the nagging sense but when you hear that tone and you know they really need something important, or they really want you to know they love you. (And not in that order always!)

Praying the rosary is something I have done pretty much throughout  my adult life.  However praying a long -er, -er prayer with children doesn't often happen.  SO!!  I came up with the {Mom Rosary}

Which only REALLY means.....I need to be able to save my place!!
It looks kinda like those pocket rosaries I used to have but it's crochet.  Of course because it's one of my favorite artistic methods!

It also became a toy to toss back and forth today, so it's good that it's soft.

It has 10 crochet puff stitches which are the Hail Mary's and 5 loops for the 5 decades.  I haven't figured out how to put a crucifix and the 3 rosaries at the beginning but usually if I get interrupted at that point it means I'm starting over from the beginning. 

So if I'm on the 3rd Hail Mary of the 2nd decade then I will place the 2nd loop over the 3rd puff stitch.  Then I will put it somewhere out of reach until I have a few more minutes.

Directions: (I have not had these directions tested so if you find something not right please let me know.)
I'm using US crochet terms. 
Stitches used: chain, single crochet, double crochet, puff stitch.
(youtube has wonderful videos if you are unsure of any of these.)


1.  chain (ch) 20, then slip stitch (sl stch) into 1st ch to make big loop
2.  ch 2
3.  20 double crochet (DC) in ch loop.  Do not join to first DC when finished.  Turn.
4.  sl stch to 2nd DC 
5.  begin first puff stitch in 2nd DC. (I've seen different directions for the puff stitch but I always end my puff stitch in the same hole I started it.)
6.  slip stitch 2 times.  (This means you skip a DC in between each puff stitch)
7.  Begin 2nd puff stitch in 4th DC.  *slip stitch 2 times, puff stitch* repeat 8 more times.  10 total puff stitches when finished.

Now the Hail Mary 'beads' are finished lets make the 5 loops.

8.  ch 45
9.  single crochet (sc) in the 10th ch.  
10.  *ch 5, skip 5 ch, sc in next ch*  repeat 4 more times.  You should now have 5 loops and a little extra chain for moving the loops around.  

Let me know what you think!
More to come, and thank you.
Kim and family =)

PS:  I wouldn't mind at all if you made these for all your family and friends but these directions are my own and protected so please don't cut and paste but rather link back to this blog.  Also these directions are posted for your own personal use I do not give permission to sell these directions or items made from them.  I feel  prayer is for anyone and everyone who wants to pray.  Thank you for respecting this right.

****Update*****
I forgot to mention that as I pray each of the 5 decades I put that loop around my finger so that I know which 'set' I'm on.  And when someone gets a boo-boo or needs a drink I simply take it off my finger and place it around the Hail Mary 'bead' I was praying until I can pick it up again.  Here's a picture to clarify.  Thanks for reading!