This is the time of year when we think about creating gifts for friends. (Other than their birthdays.) Here are the cute kitchen towels that I finished up yesterday for them. I have started several different projects and I am working on a custom order, but I wanted to do something a bit different from what I normally do.
There are both sets ready to be used.
Talk to you later,
Karen
I call it a giant crochet blanket but not because the blanket itself is huge but the hook and yarn are. Here is my newest ta dah! I love this blanket! It is huge, soft and dramatically striped in cream and black. The stripes run lengthwise and make a beautiful dramatic statement. It is a bit like the  huge gigantic knit blankets that are now all over the internet and Etsy. I have been dying to crochet a huge one as well. It is a work out as the yarn is heavy, the hook is huge and the bigger the blanket gets the heavier everything is.
Here is it in its beginnings. The giant hook lying next to my sewing shears.
Here is a photo to give you an idea of the scale of the crochet and the hook!
This blanket is crocheted out of acrylic yarn and not wool roving like so many of the giant blankets. It is crocheted and not knitted. This is the first wooden hook I have ever used and I am starting to like the feeling of it. The wood warms up in your hands. The thing I didn’t like is that it is thicker than a broom handle and felt clumsy in my hand. I chose a simple pattern since I wasn’t used to working with such large scale yarn or hook. Each stripe is about 1 skein of yarn. The yarn is super soft and not itchy since it is crocheted out of any acrylic. The yarn was a bit slippery and wanted to slip off the hook. Here is the blanket in all of its glory.
I love this giant crochet blanket! It was fun to crochet and I love trying something new. It will be for sale in the Etsy shop, soon. I am offering the ability to crochet this blanket in a variety of colors and sizes for a wonderful custom gift. It all depends on the availability of the yarn. I did have to pry this blanket out of the hands of my family as they thought it wonderful and soft.
Talk to you later,
Karen
Today: quite frankly I am procrastinating, I am hyper – procrastinating! I’m not even sure if that is a word. According to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary this is the definition of Hyper
Full Definition of HYPER
1Â :Â high-strung, excitable; also :Â highly excited
2Â :Â extremely active
and this is the definition of Procrastinating.
pro·cras·ti·nate
verb \prÉ™-ˈkras-tÉ™-ËŒnÄt, prÅ-\
: to be slow or late about doing something that should be done : to delay doing something until a later time because you do not want to do it, because you are lazy,
Ouch, that hurt! It is how I feel though. I am intentionally lazing around and resting. The weeks have been filled with RUN..Run… Do this and do that! I need down time, my body craves it like I used to crave quiet (when I had four little people in the house.) I have done some of the chores that were screaming for attention yesterday; laundry and some picking up. I have some unpacking to do and some dishes to do. I have yarn I bought yesterday that I can’t wait to get my hands on. I have a bunch of photography for the Etsy shops and then some Christmas gift creating to do.
I have tons of things that have to be done, some errands and so forth but I am being a procrastinator on purpose. I’m not thinking or planning or scheduling. I am not considering the clutter in my house. Well, yes I am but I am ignoring it willfully. I am doing something incredibly difficult for me to do; sitting. I know that I will have to jump up and go and do before long. Chores, errands, Â sewing, crochet and life calls, but for this little while I am going to sit and rest. I am adding white space or margin to my life. I have not had a chance to do this since our vacation in August, or at least it feels that long ago. Do you remember when I talked about margin? I have had two cups of coffee in bed and then some poking about on the internet with no specific purpose, a little thinking about this or that, and I ordered a music book for my daughter.
I have been taking stock of my life. Looking at what is truly important and while I haven’t reached any conclusions I do have some renewed purpose. I think I am back on track and headed several degrees into a better direction. You remember geometry class where you learned that a degree off of the right direction would put you miles away from your destination. Life is like that as well. So I am puttering into the right direction again. The photos are from our vacation this past summer. The last time I got to sit and just be. I am ready for a bit more of that time off.
Talk to you later,
Karen
 Well, if you want to read what I wrote about Margin you can find it here: http://www.chocolatedogstudio.com/2014/02/04/margin/
PS. It is now Friday and I wrote this on Thursday. I am still procrastinating. I guess rest is what I need to do right now in between life as wife, daughter, mom and chauffeur.
This crochet ribbon blanket contains bits of yarn too short to save and too long to throw away. The colors rise and fall through the whole color spectrum, from bright yellow-golds, through red, pink, green, blue and variegated bits of yarn to small stripes of white and black. It is glorious and bright in all its lovely ribbon stripes. I did my best to repeat colors from the beginning to the end so that it doesn’t get dull and boring at one end. The crochet ribbon blanket is available for purchase at the Chocolate Dog Studio shop on Etsy. It is beautiful and bright which makes it perfect for so many people. Use it at the end of the bed to add a bright touch of color. Throw it over the back of a couch or sofa to be handy on cold winter nights.
I have been helping a family member get their house ready for moving, so I have been in and out quickly the past several weeks. I hope to be here more in the future as today is the actual moving day. So, I must run as I get to let the movers into the new apartment and tell them where to put everything!
talk to you later,
Karen
These days it seems that I am just dashing in and dashing out. The days are overwhelmingly filled until the time I fall exhausted into bed. It is just for a short time and then life will sort itself out again into a more respectable and livable rhythm. I apologize for short and non existent blog postings. I have great peace and I am so thankful that it is NOT health matters, or personal tragedies that fill my time and life. So, all is well at our house and home. I leave you with these photos of some bibs that I had a chance to sew on this past Monday.
My happy Autumn crocheted pumpkins.
Some color inspiration for a blanket for the future. Such a beautiful aqua and orange and this would make a wonderful blanket.
Some lovely warm infinity scarves that I crocheted the past few nights. What are you working on these days?
Talk to you later,
Karen
Today, I am getting stacks of bibs sewn so they can be available in ChocolatesBabyShop.etsy.com. I can’t wait to get to the photography part. I am adding a bit more to the geeky line of bibs and I actually found some Dr. Who Tardis fabric. I have so much to share that this post should really be two posts but I am short on time these days to condense this down any smaller. I will start with the blankets that I listed for sale this past week. These granny square blankets will be in both shops. This green and lavender granny square is throw sized. It is perfect for keeping on the end of the bed or back of the chair for quick warmth. Crocheted of soft, warm and washable acrylic yarns it is infinitely useful. It is 42 inches square.
This beautiful pink granny square baby blanket  and the aqua and purple blanket are both be available in ChocolatesBabyShop. The pink blanket is 32 inches square and the aqua blanket is 27 inches square. They are both crocheted out of soft acrylic yarns. These washable yarns a great allergy solution to wool yarns. 
I have spent a huge amount of time with family the past several weeks. It is just that stage of life, I guess. My Mom is is downsizing into an apartment from her house and is moving to town. I am excited as we will get to spend more time together. I have been adding her stash to mine and the sewing room is even more chaotic than normal. I feel a bit sleep deprived and I have been low on energy to sew so waking up this morning to a blast of energy is beyond my understanding. It has been one of those days. A day when I get huge amounts done.  I fixed a baby shirt a friend was having issues with. I also got all of this done this morning as well; before noon! This is the before photo.
 I trimmed, sewed, pinned and turned right side out all of these bibs.
Since I seem to be accomplishing things, I am going to dash off before the coffee wears off!
Talk to you later,
Karen
This striped crochet blanket started on a whim. The yarns called to me from the bins at the store. I haven’t bought this brand of yarn in months but I couldn’t resist it.
I love the heathered Autumn colors. They reminded me of the country in the Fall. Brilliant blue skies, brown plowed fields, rusty orange trees mixed in with green cedars, and a golden harvested hay meadow.  It is a lovely blanket.
This is one of the first  photos that showed how it was going together. This is a super easy pattern. There was no counting, no tricky parts, no worries about increasing or decreasing just the lovely flowing color row after row. It was soft and warm, almost too warm to work on in September in Oklahoma. Thankfully, we have had a lovely cool September.
You can find this blanket for sale in the Etsy shop. The Autumn striped crochet blanket is 42″ x  66″.  The stripes run vertically and the yarn is super soft. It looks incredibly masculine with its beautiful stripes. It is soft, striped and it has no “holes” all of which make it a superior crochet blanket in  my husband’s eyes.
It is a great size to lay over the back of the couch, or use with a recliner.
I have already started on my next crochet blanket and I can’t wait to show it to you, I need to get a bit more crocheting done before I start in earnest and frankly, I am giving my hands a bit a of break this week. I finished up five crochet blankets this past week and I am tired of crocheting. I never thought I would say that but it is true.
Talk to you later,
Karen
The works in progress list of crochet blankets is getting smaller. I was waiting on several yarn orders before I could finish the crochet afghans I had started the past month. Here is the current list of projects in progress.
So I have finished the three granny square blankets in the past four days. I just needed to have a moment to figure out the size and then add the border. I did get to crochet for a long time yesterday on the purple and aqua baby blanket. I managed to get the border on and some sweet little flower embellishments. I think this needs a little beanie or baby bonnet to go with it. Â I am exceedingly close on the ribbon stripe and the Autumn stripe. Currently, I am working on the Autumn stripe as the photographer is scheduled to come by this weekend.
I have been having issues with the blog and I needed some help to get it all straightened out. I apologize for that.
Talk to you later,
Karen
I feel like I have hardly had a chance to breathe the past month or so. Do your days get that busy? First we took vacation and then packed two of the kids for college and dropped them off. It seems as though we just keep running in and dashing back out to take care of this chore and that chore. Â I came down with a migraine that has stuck around all week and tends to make me just sit and do nothing. It isn’t a bad migraine but it does make me creep around in dark rooms.
I have been working on this blanket here in my spare time. I love the colors in it and I showed you the yarn first several weeks back.
Here it is in the beginning. It is going to be a beautiful Autumn striped blanket.
There are such beautiful stripes. I put three blankets on hold as I am waiting on more yarn. So, now I have five or six WIPS sitting around waiting on the final touches and one waiting to be frogged. I think it needs to be frogged, but I am not sure.
Talk to you later,
Karen
This new crochet throw has had a rough start. I frogged it several times right at the start. I tried two different greens before I settled on this one. This is new throw is a beautiful deep mossy green. It will be a beautiful throw when I get finished with the border. It will be a perfect size for a lap blanket.
I have struggled to find time to crochet this week. The only time I have found to work on this new crochet throw was at night and it was difficult to match colors then.  It has been several years since I have made a throw sized blanket. Here are the last two I made. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/chocolatedogyarns/granny-square-53
 http://www.ravelry.com/projects/chocolatedogyarns/granny-square-53-4
I have been out and about this week. I got to spend some good time with my Mom. We had a great visit. We spent time laughing and remembering my Dad. He was a good man and a great father.
Talk to you later,
Karen
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