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The “To Do List”

Here is what I have been working on these days.

The red granny square blanket only needs 21 more squares and edging to be completed.  Let’s not forget that I will need to weave in, sew down and clip all these long threads.

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The brown granny square blanket needs  more yarn. I am almost finished with this. I lack about 10-12 more rounds and then edging. I won’t have many yarns to weave in as I carried my yarn from one row to another.

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Boot Cuffs

I have tons of yarn that I bought to crochet these. I have about eight that need to be joined and finish work.

Scarves

I have one dark green scarf that needs to be completed. It is wool and a joy to crochet. We cleaned up prior to the wedding and it was tucked away.

There is also one dark blue cotton yarn scarf that needs to be completed.

I am also wanting to crochet a bunch of granny stripe scarves for the shop. I think they would make great stocking stuffer gifts for my girls, but I think that they are overloaded on yarny things.

Patch blankets

When my kids were in scouts I started making patch blankets. This is a blanket with all of their patches sewn on so they don’t get lost. They would look a bit like this. I also sewed his favorite  t-shirt fronts to our oldest’s blanket. Needless to say, the others now want theirs finished as well.

(You can find this patch blanket here: http://www.streamwood.net/scripts/prodList.asp )

So this is my to do list at present!

What is on your to do list?

Karen

 

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Tutorial: Carrying Colors in Granny Squares

My first Tip and Trick that I want to share with you is how to carry your yarn up a row when you crochet Granny Square blankets. I have been working on this granny square blanket this week. I love crocheting Granny Square blankets, I love all the colors, the patterns, using up bits of yarn. The thing I hate about Granny Squares is  weaving the ends in after it is crocheted.

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It has grown from an idea to almost 5 ft square.  It is a simple color change pattern of two rows of a variegated yarn and one row of the cream color. I have used American crochet terminology in this brief tutorial. I decided to carry the yarn on up through the crocheting to the next row. It works like this.

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Here is my finished row of beige yarn. I am getting ready to join the end of the row to the beginning.

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I use the purple yarn to join because the next row is going to be the purple.

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I have started the chain three for the first post in the double crochet group.

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I then make each chain around the beige yarn so that it is inside the purple chain three.IMG_0021 IMG_0022

Then you simply hold the beige yarn out of the way and start your regular double crochets around the granny square. Here is the back view of the granny square with the beige yarn at the beginning of the double crochet group.IMG_0026

 

You can see the yarn a little from the back but it is much easier that tying off, weaving in ends and then sewing them down so they don’t pop out.

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That is a very close up image and it is hard to see where the yarns were carried up.I apologize for the photos, I am still in a cast healing up from surgery. It is difficult to get into proper daylight with everything I need for the tutorial as I am still keeping my foot up and on crutches. This also explains how quickly this granny blanket has come together. I do not have as many pulls on my time.

Talk to you later,

Karen

PS. Please let me know if you have any questions or don’t understand what I did. It seems pretty self explanatory from the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cleaning the studio Part 1

My studio is in  super sad shape. I haven’t really cleaned/organized it since we moved last July. There are/were things in there that could find a home in another storage area. So, with some incredible help by my family as they were my arms and leg. I did some searching on Pinterest to come up with some good ideas of craft room storage.

Here are some of the great ideas that I found.

This photo is from Pulpsushi. You can find the whole blog post here. http://pulpsushi.typepad.com/index/2013/04/guest-post-craft-room-organization-made-easy.html She has tons of great ideas on how to organize you craft space.

This photo of the pegboard is from Apartment therapy.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/wallmounted-craft-stations-100835  The pegboard looks planned not haphazard and the shelves for the cone thread are so necessary. we hung pegboard back in the Spring and it has been useful but I think it can be so much more!

http://debscountrycrafts.blogspot.com/2009/02/craft-room-inspiration.html This is just gorgeous. I like the lights under the shelves the jars of buttons and the magnet stripes under the shelves. It looks handy and easy to keep clean.

http://fancyfrugallife.com/old-headboard-to-craft-nook-my-new-craft-space/ This is from Fancy Frugal Life. I love the splash of color that she uses and the mix of patterns.

http://www.madiganmade.com/2011/08/my-colorful-ombre-basement-craft.html

Madigan did a great job transforming her basement into an easily cleaned, well organized, super pretty space. I love the labels on everything. I will need these so that the we can all find and return things to their proper places.

Here is how bad it was yesterday:

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It was out of control. This is an example of what happens when you have a craft area that four people use and no one knows where anything should get put away. I shared this room with some furniture items that are in long term storage; the kids rocking horse, the baby rocking chair, the girls tea table. We moved them to another storage area.

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That is a pretty bad photograph. I apologize for the bad photo but the kids were using my phone to take the pictures. Here is what it looks like after working on it all day yesterday.

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You can see the carpet and there is a clear walkway through to our bedroom.2013-08-04 19.49.21

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You can see that there is still a bunch to get done, hopefully it is going to only improve with more effort. IMG_0015There is the big comfy chair and ottoman. It works well in this room as I like to sit down and put my feet up when I hand sew. You can see the carpet and the fabric is now mostly contained. I am off to do more work today, hopefully the kids will continue to help as enthusiastically as they did yesterday.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Have Yarn…Need Gifts?

Here are links to gifts you can make yourself out of yarn and a crochet hook! There are times when you want to create a special  Christmas gift. I have listed some of my favorites from the internet that have free patterns.

Here are some free pattern ideas from different blogs.

A super cute kids hat! from Revlie here:

http://revlie.typepad.com/revolution/2012/02/finally-the-rainbow-beany-for-free.html

 

A beautiful purse….

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizacorrea/29-210-44-striped-bag You can find the pattern at Ravelry!

Cute bows for hair clips and head bands or little bow ties for dogs, kids and packages.

http://abbyscrafts.blogspot.com.es/2012/02/crocheted-bow-tutorial.html

Sweet snowflakes for just about anything from jewelry, Christmas ornaments, and package ties.

http://www.seven-alive.com/2011/12/easy-crochet-snowflake-pattern.html

A gorgeous medallion scarf in any color or weight yarn would be a superb Christmas gift.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/medallion-motif-scarf

A sweet elephant toy for anyone!

http://jammadestudio.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/crochet_15.html

Super cute baby shoes…for the littlest one on the list.

http://www.holland-designs.com/product/sole-lovely-mary-janes-crochet-pattern-pdf/

A cute granny tea cozy…

http://crochethealingandraymond.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/granny-tea-cozy-tutorial-hurray/

An heirloom look lace collar….

http://www.lululoves.co.uk/item/crochet-collar-pattern.html

There are lots of beautiful crochet ideas for Christmas. Send me your favorite free pattern and I will list it as well. These aren’t my designs but I have listed the link to the site where they were found. Please give credit where credit is due and thank the pattern designers for their hard work.

see you later,

Karen

 

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Little pears

Long ago, well about seven years ago, I planted a half dead pear tree at the wrong time of year. It had been on sale at the end of the planting season so the choices were small and trees in bad condition. It was a simply a stick with two leaves. I simply planted it in hope that it would some day bear fruit. I watered it faithfully for the first summer season and then promptly forgot it. It was at the bottom of the yard and outside our backyard fence (so the dogs wouldn’t be tempted to chew it up) We had two summers of incredible heat and drought. I had forgotten that it was even there. Every once in a while I would think about it and wonder if the kids  had mowed over it or if it was still there. I could see it was getting taller and in each Spring it would have a few  more leaves. I still wondered what was happening to it and would it bear fruit or be barren. This year we have PEARS! Only about 30 or so but it is growing and looks great! 

Evidently even neglected fruit trees bear fruit. My little thought this morning is that we and our children are much like this little pear tree. There are  great character qualities growing in them and us that we have planted that we never see until it is the right time, season or condition for them to show up. Those little forgotten twigs of hope, faith, kindness, love, gentleness; are there growing and leafing out. We just need to water them and encourage them to grow. We must not loose hope or think that they haven’t taken root.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Summer Fun

I have been having some difficulties in coming up with interesting things to write. I am pretty sure that I am focused on Monday and it is just shutting down any other thoughts. I have foot surgery then, so please say a few prayers. I broke my legs in an accident almost 30 years ago and the fall out from that accident just keeps coming back to haunt me. This surgery is one that falls under the heading of repairing new damage from old breaks.

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Enough of that, on to some fun new things. I have been sewing and having fun crocheting lately. I have a need to create scarves and boot cuffs so I have been checking out patterns on Ravelry and  Pinterest. So I think that is what I will work on while I am laid up. I have also been working on some cute new pin cushion ideas. I’m sorry but I don’t have any photos of that work as I am not quite sure that I like what I have done yet!

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I made this cushion cover for the wicker chair in our room.
Today, I think I will make some floor pillows.

 

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

 

 

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Baby Chevron!

Here is the beautiful baby chevron that I completed today! It is ready to ship off to its new home. This was a wonderful custom order. She wanted the blanket to be dark grey and white with the name in red in one corner of the blanket.

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Isn’t it beautiful! Off to finish some other projects and get on with errand running.

Oh, I also shipped this beauty off today as well. It is gorgeous and purple.

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talk to you later,

 

Karen

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Tutorial: How to make a rectangular Granny Square blanket.

I have had people asking how to make a rectangular Granny Square blanket. Tutorial: How to make a rectangular Granny Square blanket.

You can see in the photo above that the extra rows were added in blue.  I crocheted my Granny square as a square for 15 rows. I then crocheted back and forth on one end and added three more rows. I continued on around the square to the opposite end and crocheted 5 extra rows. It is important to add odd rows so that you are ending on the opposite side that you started the short rows.

Tutorial: How to make a rectangular Granny Square blanket.

Keep your crocheting continuing in the same direction that you started. Re

I hope that you aren’t thoroughly confused, if you are please leave a comment and I will see if I can write up a pattern instead of just showing you all of the photos.

 

Thanks,

Karen

 

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How I Finish Crochet Projects Quickly.

I will be honest, it seems like I finish up crochet projects super quick.I really don’t finish them up that quickly but I do have different things I do that help me finish several projects at a time.

To start with I will lay out all of the yarn within a brand on my table…or the couch or …. well you get the idea.

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I sort them into color groups like the one shown above. I am playing with the colors to figure out color combinations that work well.

I also dovetail my work and work on several projects at a time.  Usually, I have at least three  projects in process at a time. One is in the portable phase and goes with me where ever I go that I might have to wait; orthodontist/doctor appointments or music lessons are usually where they get the most work. One I will work on during the evenings when the family is watching tv. The last one to three projects might be waiting on yarn, an uninterrupted block of time when I can concentrate, or simply inspiration to finish it up.

I also use my scraps as I go…

So I love crocheting Granny square blankets. They are usually scrap busters and are always so pretty. It helps me use up bits and pieces of yarn. I simply crochet the center rounds of the granny squares or even the second row on a square until I have used up the bits of yarn to short to keep. I  stored them all in a bowl until I was ready to start on this crochet afghan. It is crocheted out of a dk weight yarn and there were others that are vanna’s choice mixed into the bunch. So I pulled out the other vanna choice and wool, and just use the dk yarn centers I have been collecting centers since January of last year.  So when I started on this blanket on Tuesday I already had all of the centers and some had a second or third row on them. When I started on Tuesday the bowl was full and it now looks like this.

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This current red bordered Granny square blanket started out as small granny square centers from left over bits and pieces of yarn.  I have used most of them but the blanket has 36 granny squares now.

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The next part of the blanket will be the longest but I am inspired by it and will keep working on it every night until it is done. It is jump started and will move along quickly and finish up before the month is over.

One other thing that I do is to… buy only a couple of brands or weights of yarn so that a majority of them go together for scrap granny blankets.

So in a nutshell.

  •  I keep several projects working at the same time.
  •  I take crochet work with me if I expect to wait anywhere for any time.
  •  I have a set time to work on my projects.  I usually work on them in the evenings. I take a break several times a week.
  •  I also work on several different size projects at a time. I tend to get discouraged working on long crochet blanket projects so I work on little fun things in between. I am still finishing up work here and there and I get to look at something else for a change of pace.
  • Just frog the things that you don’t like and don’t want to finish. Roll that yarn up in a ball and put it aside. Another day you will have fresh inspiration.

Like this blanket that has changed from this

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To this…

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and I am still not sure if I like it enough to finish it. So it is waiting until I decide!

I am crocheting as a business and I try to keep my spending on a cash basis. I refuse to spend money on yarn for a blanket with credit. I will start several different crochet blankets even if I don’t have all of the yarn I need to finish it.

(I know that our grandmothers’ and mother’s didn’t start a project unless they had all of the yarn for a project. I work mainly with synthetic fibers and have never had a problem with dye lots being different, at least in the past ten years. I think dyes and  yarns are much more stable now than they were. IF you are using natural fibers or hand dyed specialty yarns then you need to be careful to buy enough of the yarn  in the beginning as the colors among dye lots may vary. When I crochet a custom blanket I try my best to order more than enough yarn at the beginning of the project to cover any dye lot inconsistencies.)

Talk to you later…

Karen

Do you work on more than one thing at a time?

 

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Pricing crochet blankets…

I just read a fascinating post on how much hand made children’s clothing costs. Super mommy  states it so well : http://supermommyornot.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-is-it-so-expensive.html

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Here is the reason crochet blankets cost as much as they do.

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15+ skeins of acrylic yarn for an adult sized blanket at $5-7 a skein. Yes, I use higher quality yarns. Yes, natural fibers can easily be double this cost. After all, why take all that time crocheting a handmade blanket and have it turn out scratchy.

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15-25 hours of handwork at $12 hour because I have invested years in gaining experience and practicing my craft. I should make more than minimum wage.

So we will say the yarns costs $6 x 15 = 90

hourly wage $10 at 22 hours = $220

Total: supplies and labor = $354

That is already $354 for an acrylic adult sized crochet blanket, plus you add in advertising, tags, etsy fees etc… and you could add another $5 on to the price.

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I just love working with all of the colors so I keep at it. I hope you like the blankets. I know that I do.

 

Talk to you later,

 

Karen