I just have to show off the green blanket, even though it isn’t going to be in the shop. It already has a home.
It is a beautiful color and the texture is wonderful! To think, that I almost quit crocheting it early on in the project because it was a little boring to crochet all in one color. The good thing about creating a one color blanket is that you don’t have all the ends to weave in! It ended up being a gift for family and it was a joy to be able to give it.
Talk to you later,
Karen
I must start a new crochet afghan. I finished the last one a week ago and also some new baby blankets. I haven’t crocheted much since. Secretly, I am exhausted. Getting well and healing is hard work. I had my first physical therapy appointment today. Wow, I am tired. I will admit that I have lost some inches while on the crutches. I noticed this when I cinched up my belt yesterday. Crutches are just a whole body workout for the arms, upper body and abs. Not to mention, standing on one foot while doing everything that requires standing. So, over the last three months I have lost about two inches overall but, I am tired, deeply tired. I hope the tired phase passes quickly and that I never find the inches I have lost. While I am resting,  I need to start another crochet blanket. If I had my choice I would go buy some more yarn in addition to the large order I just had delivered via the USPS. It is a chunkier yarn somewhere between the Stylecraft I have been using and the Lion brand chunky of the boot cuffs. The pattern is cool and I am excited to get it kicked into high gear. I started it about four months ago, trying out a new pattern and it has this wonderful visual texture of skinny and thick stripes.
We will see how I feel later today about shopping and buying new yarn. Here is a look at what I have finished this past week.
It is gorgeous and I love the textures in it. I am really tempted to make more just like it in nice wonderful solid colors. I also stitched up some baby blankets.
This one has a nice lacy border that I was trying out.
I love the colors in this baby afghan. It is just so bright and joyous!
Here is the last one. A pretty blanket for a baby girl.
Well, I shall go off and think about which blanket pattern I want to try! I hope I get it settled pretty soon.
Talk to you later,
Karen
p.s. I’m sorry I wasn’t blogging more last week. The shenanigans in Washington D.C. had me really angry. So, while I blogged a lot to burn off some steam, I decided not to post any of it. The rest of the blogosphere was really doing a great job talking about it on their own without my 2 cents.
These have been sitting around waiting for the dressmakers dummy and the opportunity to take the photos.
talk to you later,
Karen
I finished up this Beginner Fingerless Gloves this week for our youngest son. These gloves work great for texting or using smart phones. He loves the style of these fingerless gloves. In the soft grey yarn they have a rugged, masculine look in a super easy beginner pattern.
You can find the pattern here in the Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/164527383/pattern-diy-fingerless-gloves-crochet
here on Craftsy: http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/accessory/crochet-fingerless-gloves/71157
and of course here in the shop: http://www.chocolatedogstudio.com/product/ribbed-fingerless-gloves-pattern/
They make a wonderful Christmas gift and will really fill out the Christmas stockings this year. The wool ease yarn is washable so I don’t have to worry that he will felt the Beginner Fingerless Gloves in the washer. The ribbing stretches making it easy layer another pair underneath. These gloves leave his fingers free for texting or computer use.
(I have included affiliate links in this post and I will receive a small percentage of any sales you make.)
I always have such a hard time finding crochet projects for the guys in my life that don’t require tons of work or in just plain odd.
Other easy crochet projects for men in Chocolate Dog Studio are several scarves
This Granny Stripe scarf in team colors would make a great crochet gift: http://www.chocolatedogstudio.com/product/granny-stripe-scarf/
The tassel scarf in masculine stripes would be a great gift as well: http://www.chocolatedogstudio.com/product/granny-stripe-tassel-scarf/
A different style of fingerless glove that would also create a wonderful gift :http://www.chocolatedogstudio.com/product/easy-fingerless-gloves/ Using smoother yarns would create a more sophisticated feel to the scarves and gloves. Create a matching set in the same yarns.
Talk to you later,
Karen
I have just started writing up my crochet blankets as patterns. I started with two of my newest and wrote patterns for them. It makes me nervous to write patterns that are out there in the big wide world.
These are the ones that  I listed.
and then also these two written as one pattern.
So there are the two patterns that I have released out into the world. I hope they are treated kindly.
You can find them here:
Craftsy
The Rainbow Stripe  http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/home-decor/rainbow-granny-stripe-blanket/70263
The Ripple http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/home-decor/crochet-ripple-blanket-/69935
Etsy
The Rainbow blanket https://www.etsy.com/listing/163785028/blanket-hand-crochet-blanket-pattern
The Ripple Blanket  http://www.etsy.com/listing/163532020/crochet-ripple-blanket-pattern
Talk to you later,
Karen
How to catch up on a million small home repair chores that have been neglected for years! This should be the title of this article but it presupposes that I have actually caught up. I haven’t and actually I am procrastinating by writing this article.
Let’s talk about that ugly thing called home repair procrastination. It has come and hung out like a dear old family friend. We have been rather busy in the past years raising kids, working full time, or self employed (which is more than full time work), family things to do, sports, homeschooling, schooling, and the whole slew of activities that seemed fill out our plates. The one thing that slid is home repairs…those pesky little odd jobs that just need that one little part and trip to Lowes or Home Depot or Wal-Mart. The problem with those pesky little parts is that there are thousands of them that look just alike but are really different enough on a micro scale that they aren’t interchangeable. So, then I would go and purchase…and then take back the part 10 times with four kids, and I soon got tired of repurchasing parts that didn’t fit or mysteriously disappeared when I walked in the door.
Well, the big part of that story was to tell you that I/we have been trying to get caught up on about 6 + years worth of repairs that have gone by the wayside. Why, repair them now! They are starting to bug me and the house is getting too big as the kids leave the nest. We would like to move but everything will have to be fixed and it would be nice to live with everything repaired, for a little while anyway. Plain and simple; I have a bit more band width and time to deal with it now than I did then.  I/we haven’t and actually caught up but I/we are a bit more caught up on it and here is what we have done.
You must understand a couple of things about our household before you read the rest of this.
I printed out this nice home repair manual that lists out all the things that need to be done on a regular basis for your house, like changing the filters of the heat and air system.
Here are some links to some online checklists…
http://www.myhomeideas.com/how-to/weekend-projects/home-maintenance-checklist-10000001731328/
http://www.lowes.com/cd_Home+Maintenance+Schedule+and+Checklist_1297357358_
Simply add the chore to your calendar or online calendar so that you get reminders of what needs to be done. Include the size of your filters or any part or supply that you need to purchase in order to do the job.
I have also created two lists; one of chores to be done, and one of chores finished.
I broke the chores down into tiny bite sized pieces; buy paint for room, clean room, tape room…etc. Then I put them on my list. This way I can see what exactly I need to get done. So far, I/we have repaired or replaced outlets that needed the GFC on them, painted the back of the front door, cleaned the windows, touched up the trim paint in the living room and the list goes on. It is actually working quite well. When the chore is finished I move it to the finished list so I can see that the work is actually getting done.
I also try not to drag any supplies out that would take longer than 15 minutes to clean up. When I painted the cabinet doors from our 1/2 bath which called for oil based paint I kept everything out for a week. I put a tarp on the table and painted parts of it first thing every morning and last thing at night as the paint had at least an 8 hour dry time. In a week it was done, I Â folded the tarp, cleaned the brush, put the knob back on the doors and called it completed! I also told myself that it was ok, if I took a week to get it finished. Sure enough, life intervened and it did take the whole week to complete the painting.
I have also created a Pinterest board that has home repair tips on it. I kept running across these quick tips and pro tools that would make all these home repair jobs easier so now I just pin them to make  it easier to find them.
I have gone through all of the paint that we own and made paint chip cards with a paint sample on it and the info off of the lid on one side and the area that is painted that color on the other side. I keep it all in a binder that is simply labeled home repair info. I also have receipts in it from different home repairs we have done and business cards from professional repair guys that we have used. I also pitched paint that no longer is a part of the house. I used this really cool stuff to do it with…Â http://www.lowes.com/pd_16598-34228-CR.WPH35.U.06_0__Â I didn’t find any recycling places close to our house, which is also a great option but this particular paint had rusted on the inside of the can and was un-usable.
Here it all is in a bullet list for the organized folks….
That’s it in a nutshell and I am off to seal the grout in the kids bath tub. I also gave myself a week to do that and it  needs the final coat and today is only day 4 so I am ahead of schedule.
Talk to you later,
Karen
How do you plan your home repairs out? What do you do to make sure all these little things get done?
Hi all,
I finally released a new pattern out into the world. Rather, it is an old pattern that is simply written down for you. It is for sale in my Etsy shop. www.chocolatedogstudio.etsy.com
Here  are the photos of the crochet blankets you can make with this pattern.
It is a great pattern that teaches you how to make your own blanket. You can take this pattern and make it any size you would like.  Use up your leftover scrap yarns and  have a beautiful blanket at the end of your project.
Here is a direct link to Etsy and Craftsy:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/163532020/crochet-ripple-blanket-pattern
http://www.craftsy.com/user/340454/pattern-store
The price is the same at either shop!
See you later,
I must run as I feel that I am really late today!
Karen
Ok, I recently read this article that was on my facebook feed. I am a bit ambivalent about this article after all it hits pretty close to home, cough…cough. I miss the dates on being born in the 70’s by just a bit. So, some of it applies to my generation.
Here is a direct quote from the article and the article links in case you would like to know why a large proportion of us are unhappy!
It’s pretty straightforward — when the reality of someone’s life is better than they had expected, they’re happy. When reality turns out to be worse than the expectations, they’re unhappy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/generation-y-unhappy_b_3930620.html
I get this article, really I do. It states (unless I misunderstood it) that generations of people born after 1970 expect to have life easy. They expect to not have to work as hard to achieve their ideal job. I kind of agree. I was born right on the end of that baby boom wave in 1966. So I received some of the self esteem training in school that later blossomed into everyone deserves an award no matter how they do. I remember when only the truly gifted or truly athletic received an award. We have four kids and have sat through multiple awards assemblies where kids received awards from being the brightest to being the best with the pencil sharpener…or something similar. I digress…my point is this. How does this attitude affect or infect your small business? It is a rather entitlement attitude that the first time you do anything should be  met with great applause and recognition.
A family quilt from the depression generation. Use up waste not, want not was their motto.
How was your first creation received? I mean the one you created for pay that was not a custom order, not family or a friend.. Honestly, what did it look like? Was it worth the price you were asking someone to pay? Would you buy it…if you couldn’t make it…..Would you buy it? Would I have bought my first listing? Not so much, it was well made but not in my taste? Why was I making things that I didn’t like? Who knows? I really have no idea, except that I thought that they would sell. They were well made and with quality materials, so there was no reason they shouldn’t have sold. looking back now Why didn’t they sell….because of the photos, tags, descriptions and not enough items in my shop, my SEO was crummy and the whole shop was incredibly hard to find with only five items.
One of my first sales and listings and crummy photograph…
I admit I was naive and thought that simply posting it on Etsy was good enough. The world would beat a path to my door. Instead, I found myself on Regretsy for some of my photos (Another don’t ask and I won’t shock you with the really bad photos). I still struggle with photography. I pay for photos for my Etsy shop. Many people don’t but I have an in with the photographer… he is our son. I pay and feed him for his work.
He does an incredible job.
What I am trying to say is that a business….any business is HARD work. It will take time for it to grow and provide income. My business has been around for five years. I have wanted to throw in the towel and quit at least once a year for the past five years and five years is not a very long time in the scheme of things. Most small businesses fail in the first five years. I have learned a bunch and I am still learning. Some of it is this entitlement attitude that I am overcoming and some of it is just the plain ole learning curve (as my husband calls it.) It just takes TIME to get a business off the ground and to start making $$. I make mistakes and learn from them and sometimes they are expensive mistakes (like the time I shipped a card to Malaysia for $35, don’t ask why) and sometimes they aren’t.
What advice would you give a new online shop? What mistakes have made that you learned from? What would you do different?
Talk to you later,
Karen
p.s.
I am going to step off my soap box and say this about that article. I don’t think that many kids born between 1990 and present have had it quite as easy as the article states. Many have seen their parents loose their jobs, homes, cars and possessions. I think many of them have learned to work hard and that hard work pays. I have great hope for the future generations as I see our kids and their friends work hard to achieve what they want in life. I do not see the entitlement attitude as much as I did in my post college years. We expected to have everything all at once. I see them starting savings accounts and waiting to buy what they want. So, maybe they did learn from our mistakes. If they did then it was almost worth it.
Here it is, The Rainbow Crochet blanket!At the beginning… Not far from the beginning…. 
 In the middle…. 
 I apologize for this photo. I took it with my phone and it just isn’t very good. Here it is in all it’s glory. 
 
and now a whole blanket shot! 
 These whole blanket shots are always a bit tricky. It is a wonderful arrangement of beautiful colors. All in all it took me a week to crochet it, and that is a record for me. I don’t think I could do it again. It kept me busy while I was laid up recovering from surgery. It is now available in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/162914101/blanket-hand-crochet-blanket-afghan. If  you want to make your own Rainbow blanket you can also purchase the pattern here on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/168162461/blanket-hand-crochet-blanket-pattern or Here on craftsy: http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/home-decor/rainbow-granny-stripe-blanket/70263
talk to you later,
Karen
So, yesterday I asked if you are afraid. What I was really asking was  “Am I afraid?” Yes, incredibly, horribly afraid. I am afraid that I write to a black hole, that people will laugh, and the big one that NO ONE will buy any of the blankets I make. Does it really matter if no one buys any of these blankets? Will I stop crocheting them if no one buys them?
No, I have this compulsion. It makes it easier because I love crocheting them. The activity of creating, the anticipation of the moment when I will be able to sit down and work on them. The choices of the yarns and fibers for the finished product. The moment when they are approaching the finish line. The Ta Da moment when I lay it out in front of one of the few whose opinion I greatly value; my cheerleaders , my family and…. boy, are they biased and I love it! Then I approach you; my internet friends and post it on the blog, facebook, ravelry and then at last on the final judgment stand; the marketplace. I love all the feedback but mostly  I love the feel of the yarn, the colors, how it comes together and winds up being something warm and cozy. I like to think about who will use it and to pray that they have great memories while using the blanket. The prayers woven into each and every blanket are for peace, for love, for the normal allotment of sorrows and joys, for friends to comfort and to celebrate, for brief moments of pain without which we wouldn’t know the mountain tops of joy and achievements. Prayers that the blankets will cover tiny toes and laps for naps and stories, hugs and kisses. There is a whole lot of joy to get out of a simple crochet blanket.
I was a lot like Linus when I was little and I still feel a little like Linus from Peanuts. I guess I have never grown out of the need for a special blanket! I send my kids off to college or out into the world with one of a kind blankets. Sturdy ones that can handle the dorm washer and dryers, that can take abuse and dish out warmth, comfort and love. One that is a hug from me any time they need it. One that is bright and colorful to bring happiness and a touch of home to the dull dorm rooms.
So why should I be afraid of continuing to do what I love to do. Fear should have no place in this equation but it does because I am human. I hate being judged and found lacking. I fear because such a great part of my heart ends up being in each and every blanket I make.
Why do I sell the blankets that I make? Well, I have to admit that a family can only use a certain amount of blankets and why should I keep the joy as not everyone can crochet.
What are your reasons for crocheting or knitting? Why do you do what you do for a hobby or is it a business?
Talk to you later,
Karen