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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

 

 

 

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Reclaiming yarn

Reclaiming yarn is an old practice; an old way of finding new to you yarn. Our grandmother’s and great-grandmothers would often frog (or deconstruct) sweaters to help save money and reclaim the yarn for a new use. I  have been wanting to get out and search in the thrift shops, resale shops and goodwill for  some lovely wool yarn in some out of style sweaters. It is too late into Spring to find wool sweaters in Oklahoma. IF people wear wool sweaters where you live then you stand a much better chance of finding wool to reclaim. Find the Goodwill or thrift store that has wealthier client donators for the better quality sweaters. So many sweaters these days are cut and sewn which doesn’t frog without a knot every row.

I did, however, find cotton sweaters with nice stripes and lovely yarn. I spent the evening taking apart (frogging) a cotton rag sweater with lovely red and white cotton yarn. It would look wonderful as a scarf or possibly as crochet edging on a baby blanket. I haven’t decided. I only have one sleeve left to unravel  (frog) and then it will be washed and dried on the line outside. Taking it apart took a bit of patience and some tv filled evenings. Once I figured it out the unravelling went quickly.

I haven’t decided what to do with them. The orange is glorious and soft. I have about four sweaters left to unravel. I paid wonderful end of season prices for them as the tag shows and it was 1/2 off the lowest red price. It wasn’t hard to reclaim the yarn but the texture of the yarn is not quite what I wanted. I’m not sure why.

Pros and Cons of Reclaiming Yarn

Cons

  • It can be odd colors, not all the time but if you wait too late.
  • It can be frustrating at times to unravel it.
  • It can  dirty to work with, if the previous owner didn’t clean the sweater before donation, at the least just dusty from years of neglect.
  • It can take longer than you want reclaiming it, washing it and letting it air dry before you use it.
  • You can have yarns that are out of style.

Pros

  • It keeps good quality yarn out of the landfill
  • It recycles it and gives it a new life.
  • it is an inexpensive way to get new yarn for low $
  • You can get colors and textures not available to the general public
  • It is sometimes a higher quality than what you can buy. I found that the reclaimed yarn had more interesting textures than what I could find in my neighborhood craft stores.

What to do

  • Stick with wool yarn in good quality sweaters
  • Read all the articles you can about reclaiming sweaters
  • Stick with colors you love and yarns you are dying to use

Reclaiming yarn

It is now 2016. I would add that the orange yarn is difficult to crochet as it is in strands and has very low twist to it. I am not sure if that is a result of the deconstruction process or just the way the yarn was spun. The red yarn has been fun to work with and is now being used as ties for my Etsy shop packages. I did use quite a bit in a couple of crocheted scarves. The blue made the most adorable, soft baby blanket. In retrospect, I would only reclaim the yarn of wool sweaters. The cotton can be more difficult to find a use for. Here are a photo of a cotton scarf created from the reclaimed yarn.

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Here I was playing with the red and white cotton rag to see what it would make up as. I like the shell stitch I used here but the edges are a little wonky. I will frog this and start over.

Talk to you later,

Karen

If this is something that you are interested in doing…here is where I learned how to reclaim the yarn from old sweaters; http://chaoticcrafter.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/reclaiming-yarn-from-a-thrift-store-sweater/

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Frogging and Redoing…

I have been taking this apart (frogging) and reworking it into a better blanket. I just didn’t like the cream border around all these intense bright colors. It was going to be a larger square granny square blanket using these squares.

It just didn’t look right. It is now a rectangular granny square blanket. Here is a photo of it in its beginnings.

Here it is in all its glorious beauty!

It is crocheted out of wool yarn and is the first rectangular Granny Square afghan I have

ever made. It is a lap blanket and perfect for a chilly day.

See you later,

Karen

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Baby Days….

I promised some new things today and I just have time to do a quick photo listing. It is Monday with a vengeance today. Here we go.

 

Ok, must run. See you all later,

Karen

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Finished….Granny Square blanket

Yes! I have finished this beautiful blanket this weekend. 

 

Isn’t it lovely. Crocheted out of Fisherman’s wool and wool ease yarn. It is a lovely spot of color for a family room. Perfect for folding and keeping on the back of a chair. I love the modern and yet retro look of this crochet blanket.

I apologize for the photos but the sun keeps dodging in and out of the clouds. It has been gloomy here lately. I have been hoping for rain or snow but it is too warm for snow this week.

It is 52 inches square.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

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Wednesday!

I finished this scarf up last night. It had been laying around the studio begging to be finished  and finally it ended up this very pretty scarf. It is about 5′ long and almost 6″ wide. It has 14 granny squares in it and a pretty scalloped border. The colors are fresh and springlike.

Just a little progress on this blanket. I am working on it and it is beautiful. I love the creamy white with the flash of color here and there. I haven’t decided what color the next row will be and I am tossing some ideas around. It will get the next color row and hopefully one more before the end of the day, but it is getting larger and that just takes time and work.

talk to you later,

Karen