The flowers were blooming at our house! The daffodils bloomed a month ago and it seemed too early.
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The tulips and the lilacs bloomed last week, we had Easter and Prom, next is Graduation, Mother’s Day and then the year will be half over!
Let’s talk about scrap afghans. What exactly makes a successful scrap afghan? One that takes your breath away and looks cohesive. It is more than just using up all of the yarn in one blanket. You do need to have a plan. I like to use a neutral to tie the whole blanket together nicely, even if I need to buy one.
(This post contains affiliate links, which helps me fund my yarn habit.)
There are several different ways to use neutrals to tie scrap afghans together. Neutral colors are supremely useful in creating scrap afghans that make your friends say, “Oooh!” Continue reading Scrap Afghans, Color Choices, Plus the Beachy Baby Afghan
Last week, we talked more about color theory in yarn. Then it hit me: we haven’t even touched on the neutrals! So, here we have Even More About Color Theory in Yarn: The neutrals. Just saying that brings to mind minimalist apartments full of chrome, glass, and black and white decor; sophistication, Art Deco, and lovely Hollywood glamour. It also brings to mind the 70s, with their overwhelming browns and oranges.
Continue reading Even More About Color Theory in Yarn: The Neutrals
This week we are talking more about color theory and yarn. This is still a really hard topic to write about. I’ll say it again. Color is complicated. Color theory is making advances and changing. Computer drawing, printing, and photography have really changed how we see color. Adding simple filters on your phone camera (or within the editing platform after you take the photo) can warm up or cool down the pictures. This has made us more aware of how we can cause changes in color. The traditional color theory described in this post is tried and true over time. These are traditional color schemes as taught to most interior design and art students.
This post is titled Understanding Color Theory in Yarn, but the original title was Finding Your Passion. It was long. And wordy. Overall, boring. Already there were three strikes against it! Then I read over it again and realized there was no mention of crochet in it at all. What was I thinking?! Lately, I have been reading some really great, uplifting posts by some of my favorite blog authors and it resulted in me trying to be someone I’m not. Enough of the boring stuff; onto the crochet stuff! Well, yarn at least, and specifically, color theory in yarn. Continue reading Understanding Color Theory in Yarn
Here is a look back at the year 2016. Yup, it’s the year in pictures of what happened over the past 365 days at Chocolate Dog Studio. Enjoy!
This is actually just a sampling — there are so many other things that have happened this year! We added grandkids to the family, did some deep cleaning and some home repairs, spent lots of time together as a family, and graduated one from college. We have laughed more than cried; crocheted more than torn out; loved more than ever. It’s been a good year!
May your New Year be better than last year and full of love, joy, and laughter.
Happy New Year,
Karen
I have been thinking about having a giveaway for a long time. My biggest question is always: What should it be?
Yarn?
Patterns?
Supplies?
Finally, I ran across these little gems on Etsy — they are so perfect. They fit in beautifully with the fingerless glove patterns I have been writing recently.
Aren’t they adorable?!
They remind me very much of Shaun the Sheep and the Wallace and Gromit videos that my children grew up with. They are handmade, simply cute, and fun! I asked the lovely Anita to convert them to lobster claw from rings so that they would work great with crochet. (We just need different tools with crochet.)
I have gone years without stitch markers but these take the cake.
I am offering you two sets of these lovely sheep stitch markers, one to keep and one to give to a friend. Or, you can give both of them away. They make fabulous Christmas gifts!
The video above was created by T. Stewart and D. Stewart. They did a great job, don’t you think? It’s so fun to finally see it all come together for this giveaway!
The giveaway runs from Nov. 18-25, 2016. Sign up for the email list, and follow me on social media for your entries. I can’t wait to discover who the winner is and share the name with you!
Talk to you later,
Karen
Being an online business owner has its ups and downs. Often, there are “slack times” when it isn’t quite time to release a new product, yet our creativity has taken a nosedive. Since your business won’t run itself, I’ve come up with 30 things you can do to improve your online business beyond making more items to sell.
(This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small percentage of the sale. Your cost is not affected by this, and I truly appreciate your business.)
There you have it: 30 things to improve your business! Do them during a down time, or, better yet, complete one item a day for a month. At the end of the month start over again. Add new items to the bottom of your list as you cross off completed items from the top. Keep your list constantly rotating as you work your business, and you’ll soon find your business is working for you.
Talk to you later,
Karen
It is raining here in Oklahoma, and the weather has been so warm–it is supposed to be Autumn. At least today the weather is cooperating (with the season) by being drearily wet. The temperatures lately are reminding us that, while it is late September, it still has the capacity to be in the eighties. While I would love to be out and doing things during the day, IÂ have been fighting a nasty cold this past week. I have spent an inordinate amount of time crocheting and binge-watching Netflix.
There is the all-too-common refrain of “too much to do and not enough energy” floating around in my head. My work-in-progress list is a mile long, and my to-do list is longer. So, I procrastinate and think of things I would do if it were January.
Maybe I can call it planning and drop some good ideas into the mix and see if I can indeed get something accomplished. But, there is a distinct lack of purpose and drive. Baking sounds fun–but it would mess up the whole kitchen. Cleaning would get me ahead for the week–but it doesn’t sound exciting. Even Pinterest has lost its glitter. I can’t even decorate the house for Autumn because there would need to be cleaning done first…{heavy sigh}.
Being bored correctly is an art form. It can be a cauldron that ferments creativity or simply a cement mixer that jostles out ideas every once in awhile. Some ideas are good, and some are bad. I will probably resort to cleaning up the studio which is a very, very good thing for me to do while bored. It results in new creative ideas which distract me, so I don’t have to finish cleaning! Â It often also results in a clean studio. Or maybe I’ll just take a day off and mess around in my kitchen; take a vacation, of sorts.
I wrote that a couple of weeks ago at the beginning of Autumn, but once again it is a dreary rainy day.
It’s probably just the Autumn rain; I can’t help but think of how little is getting done and how broken up my time is. I know, in a few short years, I will have huge unbroken blocks of time–and that thought, in itself, almost overwhelms me.
Yesterday I was out and about. Do you know what I did? I bought more yarn….for another crocheted afghan! I must be crazy. My husband is pretty sure it is an illness of some kind. He just smiles now.
Remember to always shop your stash! Do as I say, not as I did today!
Talk to you later,
Karen
People often ask me how I plan the color schemes in my crochet blankets. Previously, I wrote about four different methods designers use to plan their blankets.  In this YouTube video, I get a little more personal and tell you about two methods that I use frequently. (I  have wanted to share this method with you for months!) These are, quite frankly, two of the easiest ways I have found to plan the color scheme for any crochet blanket.
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Life seems to be moving at light speed around here. The early morning temperatures are getting cooler, and we have more pleasant weather coming this week. Here and there a few trees are starting to turn colors — and leaves have begun to fall. Family gathering plans are in the making for October, November, and Thanksgiving. But, the biggest news is that I am gearing up for an anniversary giveaway. My very first giveaway! Stay tuned for details — I am so excited about the great opportunities you will have to win. It’s going to be easy and fun to share this giveaway with your crocheting friends, and I hope you will!
Talk to you later,
Karen