Crochet Archives - Grid and Bloom

Posted on September 16, 2022 by admin

Introducing the Cotton Stripe Pillow

It’s about time for you to see the newest Chocolate Dog Studio crochet pattern: The Cotton Stripe Pillow. It finally took a respite time and incredible boredom for the next pattern to be born. No one said pattern writing was easy, but this is an incredibly easy pillow cover to crochet. There aren’t any fancy stitches or counting that you have to do after the foundation chain. Binge watch your favorite show and create this beautiful home accent.

The Cotton Stripe Pillow Pattern Release

The Cotton Stripe Pillow release happens today! Today is your day as I will refund the first five buyers of The Cotton Stripe Pillow pattern if you send me any Etsy message or leave the message at the end of the purchase receipt. This offer does have a time limit of the next five days, 9/16/2022 – 9/21/2022.

You can find the cotton stripe pillow in my Etsy shop. You can shop Here.

There is another new pattern coming out next week. The White Serape Stripe. I can’t wait it is a fun calmer version of The Serape Stripe which you can see here. It has taken even longer for this pattern to come to the shop.

Painting

Painting has been happening nearly every day. It is such a relaxing thing for me to do with no calls or preconceived ideas. I am just wandering where ever my brush takes me. Painting and crochet don’t seem to be good partners so it’s either one or the other these days.

The Cotton Stripe Pillow — Mixed media art flowers

As you can see a wide variety of art projects from drawing to abstract painting with a little mixed media also. Mixed media seems to be the biggest area of art these days.

Life

If you don’t like reading about life and how things are going feel free to skip this part. We are working on what we call the kids bathroom. Others would call it the hall bath except we really don’t have a hall or at least it’s really short. It is reaching a logical stopping point. Which we did in this case. At least we need to call in someone that knows more to give us advice.

I was remembering back this week about a story from a friend’s social media post about weird things that have happened with animals. We have had a number of weird things but this one is funny to me even now.

We were living in a new house and the living room felt really empty as Hubs was working late and abnormally quiet and all four kids under 9 were in bed. I was alone after a really long day unpacking. Have you ever noticed how noisy a quiet house can be.

I was sitting and enjoying the quiet, listening to the night noises when I hear a thump on the back of the recliner. I could feel it too, I listened and didn’t hear anything else. Did I imagine it?

Just as my heart was returning to normal it happened again.

The thumps were un-nerving.

I wait and just as I decide it was my imagination when it happens twice this time, THUMP, Thump.

I gather my wits and courage, give myself a stern talking to about how the sound was just my imagination and I peek around the edge of the chair, because I am too scared stand up – there it is a little green tree frog.

Whew, I was so relieved….. Just a little frog. We did the catch and release into the back yard.

Why do our minds always run off to the scariest thing We can think of? Surely I am not the only one has weird things happen.

Talk to you later,

Karen Marie

Posted on August 26, 2022August 26, 2022 by admin

Crochet Round-up

It’s been several years since I wrote and posted here. Here is a quick crochet round up of what has been happening in the studio.

Crochet

The crochet studio is under a buying ban in an attempt to reduce my quite sizeable yarn stash. It’s been quite unorganized as I put it all in storage as drawing become more important.

Four crochet blankets, three crochet striped pillows, and five crochet tote bags in the past 9 months seems a like a huge amount of work. There has been no pattern writing, though there have been plenty of rough drafts written. Two of the crochet blankets were WIPs (works in progress that have been finished, finally!

Thanks for your patience,

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on September 18, 2020September 15, 2020 by admin

Finding Color Inspiration or Selecting Colors

Finding color inspiration for your crochet can be tough. There are so many different crochet blankets that you can make. How do you choose a pattern that works well and then where do you choose your inspiration for the colors? When the colors and the pattern blend beautifully the crochet afghan is just beautiful.

There are so many different ways to choose your inspiration; nature, home decor/fashion, food.

Nature as Color Inspiration

How do you decide which colors to use in your next afghan. The answer may be as close as looking out your window at nature for color inspiration. Look to flowers for color combinations or the landscape, for patterns to use. The cotton waves on the far right of the bottom row in the photos reminds one of ocean waves. While the blues in the granny square can come from the sky.

The brown stripe crochet blanket is full of beautiful fall colors and choosing to crochet this blanket was as easy as looking at the scrap yarn and seeing an over abundance of browns and Autumn colors. The pattern was easy to choose as maximum yarn usage was the end goal.

Fashion as Color Inspiration

The blue and yellow granny square baby blanket was crocheted as it reminded me of certain blue, white and yellow dishes that always catch my eye. The combination is restful and fun. The dots baby blanket speaks loudly of the ’80s to me. Bright bold color combinations with a graphic pattern. Black and white is another fashion color combination.

Find Color Inspiration in Fashion. These 80s clothes might lead to some bold color choices.

The ombre stripe at the top right is another fashion choice. It seems like my daughter’s closet when she was small. All blues, greens and pinks.

Food as Color Inspiration

Food can be inspiration for your color choices. Think mocha for an afghan, or ice cream colors for a sweater. Remember the bright colors in the cereal aisle of your local grocery store. Almost all of the colors go well together.

The brown, pink and off white baby afghan is inspired by Neapolitan ice cream. The color combination is perfect for a baby girl blanket. Wouldn’t mint chocolate chip make a great baby blanket as well. Picture the colors in the produce aisle they would make a great granny square blanket. The choices are endless.

Inspired to Crochet

I needed to take some time away to get my crochet mojo back. My two favorite crochet blankets that I’m working on right now is a Tutti Frutti baby blanket and a real honest to goodness temperature blanket.

FInding Color Inspiration, the Tutti Frutti baby blanket

The temperature blanket is stalled right now as I am decide whether to continue crocheting. Is it big enough for me and do I just finish it with a border and it’s a really comfortable size. What do you think I should do? I’m really tempted to just call it quits.

The storage is full to overflowing and the studio is overstocked these days. I already know what the next crochet blanket will look like and there are some Christmas Gifts on the horizon. I better get back to work or they will never get finished. What are you working on?

Talk to you later,

Karen

P.S.

You can find most of the baby blankets and the Autumn crochet blanket in the Etsy shop here!

For more about crochet and color theory

and color theory part 2

Posted on September 7, 2020September 8, 2020 by admin

Make that Blanket Bigger

Learn how to make that blanket bigger. I have been getting several people asking how to make different patterns bigger. This is a great skill to have as there are so many beautiful striped baby blankets that we wish we could increase. Here is your chance to take charge of this process.

There are a few things that you need that aren’t on the usual crocheting supply list.

Supplies

The first is a postal or food scale that weighs in grams.

How to Crochet that Blanket Bigger : this is a photo of my postal scale

A yarn label for the yarn you will be using to crochet the afghan. (Almost all yarn is measured in grams.) Stylecraft Special DK has 100 grams per skein.

A calculator for figuring the math part along with a pencil and paper. I use my afghan planner book that I made out of a composition book. You should use the worksheet.
The yarn that matches the yarn you will be using. (I will be using some stash Stylecraft Special DK for this purpose.)
A crochet hook of the correct size for your project.
Scissors
The Free PDF worksheet

Make that afghan bigger Download

Weigh the Yarn

Start by crocheting the foundation chain to the desired length in the yarn weight you will use for the crochet blanket. Then crochet the first set of color rows on the chain.

Ie: If you are creating a baby version of a granny stripe then crochet a length of chain about 36″ long. Crochet the first two rows, tie off and cut your yarn.

How to Crochet that Blanket Bigger: This is a photo of my bowl on the postal scale with the weight zeroed out.

( I apologize for how yucky and old my postal scale looks. )

Then you put a bowl on your postal scale and turn it on. It should zero out the weight of the bowl, in other words it is ignoring the weight of your bowl and will just weigh your crocheting. Add your crocheted strip to the bowl. Write down the weight of the 2 rows.

There are two rows of green in this afghan pattern.

Check the Width

You will need to decide how wide to create that crochet blanket. Read the pattern you are adapting and see what the measurements are. Most smaller blankets do not have the width to proportionally carry the width. Baby blankets run about 36″ wide and many adult blankets or throws vary from 45-60 inches wide depending how large you will creat the blanket.

There will need to be some rows added to the width. How are you going to do that. The crochet blanket above has a mirror effect from the center green stripe.

The beautiful cotton waves baby blanket stretched out flat showing the beautiful striping

The blankets above have a varied striping sequence and you could simply repeat the first striping sequences again until the blanket is the right size.

The Sunshine and Shadows afghan would require you to add rows in the middle sections of color. It might be as simple and crocheting each row twice which would double the size or only crochet the vibrant middle sections twice which would increase it a smaller amount. Whichever you choose to do be sure to add these rows to your stitch count as you prepare the worksheet.

Count the Rows

Count how many rows are in the blanket using each color. You can use the gauge to figure out how many rows there will be in the width that you want the blanket to be.

Using the yarn label take the weight of the yarn and divide it by the weight of the completed row of color. This will tell you the approximate number of color rows you can crochet using each skein. Next do the math for each color and figure out how many skeins you will need for the blanket.

Don’t forget to figure in yarn for the border while you are figuring out the yarn. Add the border rows to the stripe you crocheted earlier and see what it weighs in grams. Then multiply the weight by 4 to see how many skeins you will need. If there are multiple colors in the border rows simply weight before you add the next color and makes notes of the weights.

Check Your Math

(Note: If there are different stitches in it, crochet and weight each stitch row. Every stitch style uses a different amount of yarn which gives you a different weight of yarn.

Use the same yarn to do your figuring as the pattern you will be crocheting.
Be sure to check your gauge and make sure that you are crocheting at your usual tension.

Believe me, knowledge is valuable and think how free you are now! You can increase the size of any striped afghan from ripples to simple granny stripes easily using this method.

New Crochet Blankets in the Works

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on July 9, 2020July 9, 2020 by admin

A Planning Week; Time to Decide What’s Next

It’s been a planning week here at the Studio. A week filled with stats, numbers, budgets, blogging, planning and lists. There are long lists of yarn, supplies, work to be done and even a list to put us back into some routines. Routines like who has which day for laundry, what we’re having for dinner when, how we’re going to keep the house clean. It’s summer and the summer routine has been upset by home repairs and some much needed painting. Who am I kidding, our routine has been off track since January and it’s been really overwhelming me.

Crocheting What’s Next

A Planning Week includes a look back at these 2 beautiful striped custom scarves I've finished.

The scarves above look beautiful, even though there are ends to weave in. They were a custom job and are already in their new home. I’ve been crocheting on some new jobs and attempting to write a couple of new patterns during all the chaos. As you can see the scarves were some older patterns that I have crocheted longer and I will be adapting the patterns to allow you to create them either short or close to 6′ long. The patterns above are the Denver Scarf and The Sunshine Scarf. I still enjoy working on them and it was really a lovely way to spend several afternoons. The colors just flow. The beauty and calming repetitive work was really needed at the time. You can find the The Sunshine scarf and the Denver Scarf patterns here in the scarf section of the shop.

Deciding how long it will take to finish the blue striped crochet blanket is a part of a planning week.

Deciding What’s Next in New Patterns

A planning week also includes planning these new patterns for the shop. The pretty blue afghan above is a new afghan that I’ve started. It will be finished by September if all goes according to plans. I just realized that there are 4 crochet blankets started right now and I need to finish the one furthest along first. So this beauty will have to rest while I work on the others. It’s turning out quite nice as well and the colors are interesting.

There is also a couple of baby afghans that I need to write the patterns for. It all just takes time. Somehow the home repairs have just absorbed all my time. I have been worrying and it keeps me from thinking logically enough to shoot the process photos while I work. The baby blankets are now finished and I need to go back and write the patterns. It should be a quick job once I get started.

Planning Some New Painting

Planning which new projects to start and which need to sell is also filling my time. I have been painting canvases more than usual and not much of it is terribly exciting. When you start a new hobby your first few projects just aren’t that great! It feels like I am painting the same canvases over and over again.

When the photos are all put together in this gallery though, there has been more work done than I thought there was. The Blessing piano bench has just sold, as has the bench in the middle top photo. The little round table and the painted swirl table are still available while the quilt box is also sold. It is pretty exciting when I look at it this way!

Talk to you later,

Karen

P.S. You can always find my patterns at www.chocolatedogstudio/Etsy.com as well as here on the website. The painted furniture is starting to show up in the Etsy shop. Let me know if you see a piece you want to purchase. They are for sale.

Posted on June 10, 2020June 10, 2020 by admin

The Gradient Afghan

There is so much crocheting happening here. Two baby blankets, 1 regular sized afghan and another in the works. It’s going well and I hope to have it done by next week. Other than that, I have been sewing masks and cooking for the people in my house. Oh, and laundry, lest anyone think that our work is ever done. I’ve received several custom orders.

The Gradient Afghan

The Gradient Afghan is finished, not only is it finished but the pattern is actually written! Yay! It is crocheted out of LIon Brand yarn. It sure makes it easier for U.S. crocheters to find the colors. I believe that most are available in most big craft stores. The pattern is available in the Etsy shop and will be available soon in the Studio shop. It was such fun to play with the yarn gradients that I might try another afghan out of the same yarns.

Gardening

Gardening has been filling our time as we’ve been building raised garden beds and then hauling pick up truck loads of dirt by the garden cart load to fill each bed. It was nothing but seriously hard work. Keeping the dogs out of the vegetable garden has also been an issue. We resorted to a very lightweight fence of garden string and bamboo poles. I do think that this low cost method is working and I hope that the veggies revive after the visits from the big dog paws.Time is flying and our garden is looking good. It is probably the best garden that we have ever had. There has been one funny. At the beginning of the great quarantine, I was concerned about finding onions. Onions are a natural anti inflammatory and we eat a bunch of onions so I bought onions online and then they said that it would be weeks before they would be delivered. Our sweet daughter in law said that they would pick some up for us. Our daughter also thought we needed onions so she ordered and we received about 30 onions sets. I thought sure why not more onions are great. Every garden bed is full on onions and we still have one more set to be delivered this week. The laughs on us as we will “get” to eat onions at every meal. I may get to sell them door to door. Gardening has been filling our time as we’ve been building raised garden beds and then hauling pick up truck loads of dirt by the garden cart load to fill each bed. It was nothing but seriously hard work. Keeping the dogs out of the vegetable garden has also been an issue. We resorted to a very lightweight fence of garden string and bamboo poles. I do think that this low cost method is working and I hope that the veggies revive after the visits from the big dog paws.

Self Quarantining

We are still all here at home and I think we are all beginning to get on each other’s nerves. I seem to be the one that most everyone is unhappy about, while I am unhappy that the dishes never seem to be completed and the counters are never cleared off crumbs. I guess it is a matched set of issues and we are at an impasse on solving this issue. It is finals week so I am giving us all some much needed grace on these issues, providing good food and allowing us to be ok with slightly lower standards.

Painting

I am starting to paint furniture again as I recently bought 5, yes 5 matched chairs and I am over the moon excited about them. I can’t wait to bring them inside but there is no where to put them. The paint is on order and should be here in several weeks for at least one of them. Two of these lovely chairs sold straight off, which makes me smile.

Work

We keep hearing bad news on the work front for many of our friends and family. We do live in Oklahoma where oil has so much to do with everyone’s employment. I know that the job front for many people is at risk or over. I am sorry and am praying daily for everyone’s employment to kick back in strongly.

Talk to you later,

Karen

p.s. This was written before the worries about killer hornets.

Posted on April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 by admin — 2 Comments

Life in Quarantine Mode

Life in quarantine mode means crazy days are here. Like everyone everywhere we are doing life in quarantine mode due to the covid-19 virus. We watch the numbers climb for cases in town, the state, our country and across the world. The road in front of our home is empty of drivers as people stay home to stay safe and protect others.

All our kids’ college and cosmetology courses are now being conducted online. So far in the past three weeks, I have had a manicure, a spa day, been a model for diy sugar waxing (on my arm) and been a first haircut. It’s been fun. Last week, I was the recipient of some beautiful nail art.

Sewing Masks

This week I spent some time learning how to sew surgical masks for non-virus medical workers. I hate to say nursing staff because I’m not really sure. I broke out the sewing machine, elastic, fabrics and interfacing. It is a way to stay busy and focused. If I think too much then my mind tends to panic. It’s a horrible photo but I was focused on getting them sewn rather than taking good photos. I will make more later this week.

Yes, you do see a Star Trek mask there in the mix. I did sew some little ones for the grandkids. I’m not sure why but I did have little scraps and it worked out. ( I wrote this a week or two ago and now the stores are requiring masks if you are going in to shop.) I haven’t seen the grandkids in ages and it hurts, but precautions are being taken to protect the newest little Stewart, arriving in August.

photo of handmade virus masks on ironing board.

Crocheting New Blankets

The two baby blankets are finished and a rainbow afghan is started. My ability to concentrate is down and I’m not sure why. It feels much like waiting for major surgery. Busy hands are happy hands or at least less anxious hands. This pattern is being a problem. I’m still having difficulty writing the squares to come out right. The border is blocked and it looks beautiful. Photos of the finished product still haven’t been taken, but that will happen soon. You can see the yarn as it arrived here.

This photo shows you the dots baby blanket.

The Cotton Waves baby blanket just feels so good. I love the colors in it. The definition of the stripes is so much clearer than in an acrylic or a wool blanket. I think it will just wash softer and softer; like a good pair of jeans. It is also finished all the way to weaving in all the ends!

Photo of the partially finished cotton waves baby blanket.

Photo of the new rainbow afghan 1/2 finished.

Another rainbow blanket is in the works. Did you remember when I bought a ton of yarn in February. I am thrilled that it is getting used so quickly. This is 4 gauge yarn and it is working up quickly using an H hook. Originally I was by trying to use yarn from U.S. yarn manufacturers and translating one of my other patterns to Lion brand yarn. It didn’t work out well at all so this is an entirely different rainbow blanket. The bright colors are cheerful and help keep my spirits up. There will be a pattern up for you as soon as I finish the blanket and take the photos.

Painting in quarantine

Painting is one thing that I’m trying to do more of during this quarantine. It seems to center me and it is my mental health exercise every day. Nothing is earth shatteringly great but I’ve discovered some great tutorials and new skills to try out. I’m also painting two pieces of furniture; a piano bench and a chaise for the patio.

Life is crazy

I’m out of step or out of sync. My schedule keeps shifting all over the place and Life is crazy. I would tell you how grocery ordering is crazy but I’m sure you know all about it personally. Life in quarantine mode is not easy but you know that.

Today, I need to clean the house or at least dust and vacuum.

I’m praying for you and your family that all will stay healthy and well.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 4, 2020January 4, 2020 by admin

A Memory Afghan

The Memory Afghan planning

The only thing better than a Memory afghan is two. A friend asked and I agreed to crochet her Mother’s yarn stash into two different memory afghans. It was a huge project and the first step was to sort the yarn into two different groups. One for her daughter’s Memory afghan and one for her granddaughter’s (or her Mother’s great grand daughter’s) memory afghan. 4 generations of women, the youngest a baby, including a daughter, a mom and her mother.

We added some white to the neutrals and light colors for the daughter’s afghan. Pinks were added to the baby’s afghan. It was created adult size to get the most use out of the yarn and longest life for afghan.

They all started at this point. A wide assortment of yarns from a Great Grandmother’s yarn stash. She crocheted with worsted weight and has a variety of yarns here from Red Heart to Caron and others. The colors were a bit blah so we added a huge skein of white and then also 3 skeins of pink plus a skein of teal to widen the range and create a more girly blanket as one of the blankets is for an infant.

The Farmhouse Style Memory Afghan

The farmhouse style was crocheted for the Granddaughter who is now a Mom. A more sophisticated selection of neutral colors was chosen. Using up the beige, off white, yellow, powder blue, and grey yarns plus a few of other shades. The squares are all sewn together to create a softer look. The afghan is surrounded with a lovely scalloped chocolate brown border. The crochet blanket is 5’x 6′ before the border was applied.

The Memory Afghan for the Grand daughter's created out of her Grandmother's yarn stash.

The Floral Afghan

The Floral Memory Blanket is crocheted using the same basic floral square. Crocheting the whole blanket in the 3-d Flower Garden Pattern was our first idea. Weight was going to be a huge problem with a blanket out of all of the 3-d flowers. It would have weighed 10+ pounds, too much for an infant, too much for me! Such a huge crochet blanket would be a problem. Suggesting instead that we use a few squares of an adapted 3-d flower and then filling in with squares that were the same design as the one above. They look similar but are different enough to add in personality and age differences. The crochet blanket is

The Great Grand daughter's Memory afghan created out of her Great Grandmother's yarn stash.

Another photo of the Memory afghan for the Great Granddaughter.

So much fun to crochet and so many memories are tied up in these Christmas gifts. I have waited 6 months to show them to you. What a great gift idea and way to use up yarn stash!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas, and are working on a Happy New Year.

talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 by Karen Stewart

Crochet and Painting

The weeks have been speeding by and much has happened here at the Studio; painting and more painting, and also tons of crochet. Sharing my painting is more uncomfortable for me as it is so much more personal. Only recently has it been that I’ve felt that what has been painted is good enough to share. That not good enough feeling keeps so many of us creatives down. The painting is such an outpouring of the joy in my heart these days that I can’t not paint.

Painting

Painting has been taking over my life and I couldn’t be happier. It is a good thing and keeps me moving around and busy. If you follow chocodogstudio on instagram then you have seen these pieces in process. It seems like time has flown by and it has. At least 5-6 pieces have been painted since the first of the year with several others in a partially painted state. The studio is so full with furniture that it can be hard to move around and open the curtains.

Hand Painted curio shelving unit with each shelf smaller than the other. The shelf supports are turned wood and painted in a variety of very bright colors and finished to a high gloss. Each shelf is painted in a different rainbow color with patterns painted on each shelf. — This shelf unit is also a custom piece and is already home.

A brightly painted patterned table about the right size for an entry hall. It has a piecrust edge and is oval in shape with six legs. — This table isn’t quite finished but it’s getting close to the end.

This photo shows an oblong octagon shaped table with 3 legs next to a brown leather couch. The table is hand painted in a variety of patterns and colors. — Here you can see how pretty and practical the painted table is in a living room. The glass top protects the table from hard use.

This little occasional table was a custom painted piece. These are the legs to the table shown above.

Crochet

The newest project is this cute granny square that I’m sharing with you. It’s will be used in a memory afghan using my client’s Mother’s yarn stash. Isn’t that a sweet idea and such a good one. There will be two blankets coming out of this yarn stash. Blocking the squares will get rid of the wonky squares and ease the slight difference in them. Since this is crocheted out of varying brands of yarns the difference in the gauge of the yarns is affecting the size of the squares slightly.

Floral Memories Granny Square Tutorial

Center

Using an infinity ring, CH2 and HDC into the ring 11 times, for 12 total stitches. Pull the center tight to close the center of the flower. Weave in all ends as you go.

2nd round

Ch 3 HDC in next space chain 1,* HDC in next space chain1, Repeat from * around the circle. Slip stitch to join. There should be 12 CH 1. ch1

3 round (petal round)

*Crochet 4 DC into the next CH1 space from the previous round. CH 1 into the next space. Repeat from * around the circle. SS to join to the first ch1.

4th round

Chain 4, ss to join to 3 DC in petal. CH 3, DC to the SS from the previous row. *Chain 3, ss to join to the 3rd DC in the petal. Continue from * around the flower. SS to join CH 4.

5th Round

CH 2, HDC 2 into same CH 4 group. *HDC 3 times into next CH 3 group.
Create 1st Corner in the next CH 3 group, HDC 1, DC 1, CH1, DC 1 HDC1. HDC3 times into next CH3 group,

Continue from * around the block creating three more corners. SS to join to 1st HDC group.

6th Round

CH 2, HDC in each stitch until corner. At corner, HDC 2 times, CH 2 times, and HDC 2 times. Continue crocheting HDC in each stitch. Treat the other three corners the same as above, SS to join, Tie off and cut yarn.

This pattern is short on photos but this blog post doesn’t post today it might be months before you see anything!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on December 8, 2018January 9, 2020 by Karen Stewart

Christmas Chains, Yarn and Crochet

Christmas chains, yarn and crochet; there isn’t much painting this week. The studio is full of soft goods right now, quilts for small grandkids, yarn from Black Friday shopping, products to ship and projects to finish. Are you ready for a small breather in your hectic schedule? I know that we are. Some time off doing what we love, maybe a little home repair, a little deep cleaning, a ton of family time, church time and time to reflect. Like you, we live a rather normal life; well, as normal as it can get. Family time has been a little more intense the past several months. It is good to see that some crochet is starting to happen again. It fills a deep need to create and is more portable than painting and it keeps me balanced.

Yarn Shopping

This post contains affiliate links

Crochet has been filling my time more since Black Friday shopping. My crochet momentum is back, finally! The family knew when the soft squishy packages started arriving that Black Friday shopping had been a serious occupation for the Studio. Good thing that some of these projects have used up a little of the yarn. Hopefully, the projects planned for the yarn will work up quickly and fill the Etsy shop. A few photos of the beautiful colors soon to be coming your way with new patterns (hopefully) or remakes of older patterns in new colors.

Crochet

Here is a little of what I have been working on these days.

The Baby Hexi which seemed to take all summer.

A new take on the Ruby Red with Lion Brand Landscapes “Twilight” (Amazon link) just to give folks another viewpoint of the Ruby Red in colors other than pink/red.

I also worked on a cute crocheted paper chain style garland for the Christmas tree. Super simple to crochet. I used all of the silvery yarn on hand and created two separate chains. The instructions are included below. Here they are in process. These chains were fairly quick and I crocheted a bunch in one color and then joined them with the other color. Super fast and easy, great for beginners or children for learning to crochet. Also great for using up small bits of scrap yarn!

Here they are on the tree.

A few more more links will be added when there is a little more time. They were crocheted out of silvery grey and red Stylecraft Special DK but they would be beautiful out of bright cotton yarns or all white, even tropical colors would be beautiful. Crochet them any color and it will still add a fun look to your Christmas tree.

Christmas Chains Garland Pattern

Supplies

DK weight yarn in Red and silvery grey,
Size G crochet hook
Scissors
Large eye needle for sewing links.

Link:

Chain 25,

First row: HDC in the third chain from hook and HDC across the chain, keeping the chain untwisted.

Second row: chain 2 HDC in each stitch across the the previous row. Tie off and cut with a long tail.

Sew one end to the other using whip stitch.

Finished one chain. Continue creating links being sure when sewing to link the chains together to create a Christmas Garland.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everyone. All online shops are open this year for the next several weeks. We have family visiting and hubs in off work for weeks between December 17 and January 1st. Should you need any help on any crocheting or orders, please bear this in mind. I will be stopping by to check on things but not as often. The last day to order from Etsy and Amazon for Christmas delivery is Tuesday Dec. 11th.

Merry Christmas and Talk to you later,

Karen