Chocolatedogstudio Archives - Page 7 of 26

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Karen Stewart

Looking Back at 2014 and Looking Forward to The New Year

I get a little introspective as the New Year approaches. I have just spent the last twelve months zooming through the days to this day.

Then there are the many photos of our yard and landscape. We had snow and ice, beautiful daffodils, tulips and irises all in succession.

Then the beautiful summer flowers in the front flower bed, from gladiolus to Russian sage to Purple coneflowers and daisies.The many pictures of yarn and projects in process including the craft fair.

There are many photos of family and trips to museums and lovely memories to share but I will not bore you with all of these photos. I have been graced with a very full year. We moved one person twice and three people once, if that makes any sense. We moved our daughter home from college at the beginning of the summer. Our son and his wife moved into their new apartment. We moved two of our kids back to college and finally we moved my mom to her new apartment. So those were huge moves and took time and attention. I just cleared out the last box of sewing materials from my Mom, yesterday. I am working on cleaning up in the studio after all of the busy time this Christmas season.

Things I am looking forward to this year include the Use Your Stash Challenge, doing a craft fair or two, some time spent fluffing the inside of the house. Here is my list for the future.

Prepping for a craft fair this June
Creating some new products for both shops
De-cluttering my house and studio
Finishing up about ten works in progress
Finishing up the tree skirt. I want to add some trim to the edging and possibly a decoration or two.
Clean out Christmas decorations that we haven’t used in years
Do some dog training. We have four in the back yard right now as we are watching my brother’s dog.
Make a menu and grocery list every week
Our oldest daughter is scheduled to graduate from college this next school year. So while it she officially doesn’t graduate until 2016. I know the year will be full of getting her prepared.

This is fairly busy list. I know that we will be driving Â our daughter back to college, and also bringing her home. She has a wedding this summer to go to and we might take a vacation. I would like to work in the yard and get some things cleared up. All of this in addition to living life and home schooling our youngest. The days and years just seem to get shorter and time seems to be a more precious commodity.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Karen Stewart

Christmas is coming!

Wow, It has been almost a month since I have written anything for the blog. I have been incredibly busy and I am pretty sure that life is just going to speed up in the future.

We finally got our Christmas tree put up this past weekend.

You can’t see much about it and it looks department store pretty in this photo. The reality is that it is full of little kid made ornaments. Some from my childhood and some our kids made. Tons of glitter and glue were involved. Each year I try and make new ornaments for the tree but this year the ornament making is sparse. The kids are getting too big to create construction paper ornaments with glitter and glue. I have run out of time to sew, crochet or knit anything. Â I have been pulling Christmas ornaments off the tree every time one of the kids moves into their own home.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Karen Stewart

Washing Some Burlap

I have been procrastinating by washing some burlap bags. I have been trying to get the house cleaned up in preparation for the college kids that come to our house for Thanksgiving. It is a busy time but I love having them visit. We have spent 6 weeks or so cleaning out my Mom’s old house so she could move into a smaller place. I have tons of new (old) things that need to find a new home. So, I am unpacking and starting to think about putting them away in a more permanent home. Today, I am doing that by washing the burlap sacks that I picked up out of her garage. I am wanting to use them in some craft projects but they are dirty and smell like burlap!

My Mom and Dad used these on the farm to pick up pecans and haul things around. They are really useful but really dirty. They also got these from the feed store, ages ago and they have been lying around in the garage for years.One is a coffee sack with cool writing on it. I am getting ready wash them with bleach and then dry them, several times. I hope the bleach doesn’t take out the writing. My washer regularly washes dog beds so I am pretty sure that it can handle these with no problems.

So this is the first wash. We will see how it goes.
It is pretty linty. The lint trap was completely full and I stopped the cycle so I could wash it again.Â

It is pretty gross. Thankfully, I am going to use the lint to make some fire starters for the fire pit but the burlap really needs another wash cycle, or two.

it is starting to look better than it did and it IS softer. We will see what a total of three washing and drying will do for them. I am going to stop the dryer cycle half way through and clean out the lint trap. I am also going to shake them out outside and get rid of the little pills of lint before it goes in the dryer.

Ok there was even more dryer lint the second time Â but I think that third time is the charm! The burlap bags are much softer and smell less than they did with the first wash. I will show you how it comes out next time and also the cute projects I am wanting to try.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Karen Stewart — 1 Comment

It is my Etsy Anniversary Sale month!

Hi all,

This month is the month of my Etsy Anniversary sale. The exact date is November 18 but I like to celebrate all month long! Â It has been 6 years since I opened the ChocolateDogStudio. What a lovely time it has been. I have met wonderful people, businesses and learned an incredible amount.

Etsy Anniversary Sale 20% off — https://www.etsy.com/listing/207854377/sale-crochet-blanketgiant-crochet

ChocolateDogStudio Etsy Anniversary Sale! — https://www.etsy.com/listing/205644134/sale-crochet-blanket-crochet-afghan

Etsy Anniversary Sale at ChocolateDogStudio! — https://www.etsy.com/listing/205276236/sale-crochet-blanket-afghan-autumn

The Etsy Anniversary Sale at ChocolateDogStudio — https://www.etsy.com/listing/206242819/sale-crochet-blanket-granny-square

.So, as it is also blanket weather here, cool, rainy and overcast. I am having a blanket sale. Lovely, perfect weather for cuddling up under a nice warm crocheted blanket. All of the blankets and ponchos are 20% off! They are only on sale two times a year, so shop while you have a chance! You can find them at www.ChocolateDogStudio.etsy.com. There aren’t very many and they are all one of a kinds!

Have a great week and celebrate this season of the year! We celebrated the beginning of the Thanksgiving season with a fire pit. It was great except for the smoke! :0) It was crisp and cold outside so we had warm bowls of soup and then roasted marshmallows for dessert It was a lovely time to just slow down and enjoy each other’s company. Our oldest son had helped to take down and dead tree in the yard. We had also had several branches downed in the storm last year so they were also removed. He is excited because he now has firewood for their small apartment fireplace. We are excited because the eye sore tree is now gone! It was a very spontaneous thing. Our yard needs some work and we need to fill holes in the yard as one of the dogs has gone wild with her digging.

talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Karen Stewart

The New Lab Puppy

It was a busy weekend here as I know it was busy at your house as well. Â We had a great time at my Mom’s. My brother was down visiting and we had an incredible time working together. My mom has recently moved to a smaller home in the area. She had tons of things that all needed to find a new home and we had a great big huge sale to help her get rid of them. Â We arrived on Friday afternoon and the garage was stacked with boxes of things. We all pitched in and by Saturday afternoon her garage was swept and empty. Simply an incredible afternoon was had by all. Here are a few action shots of the one thing we came home with. Kids can sure talk you into things that you were pretty sure you would never do again, like have another lab puppy in the house. They simply chew everything up for years and years. Our daughter put a collar on her before we decided she could come home with us. Her owners were ready to give her to a new home. She just wandered upÂ to the garage in the middle of the saleÂ and lay down on the dog bed that was for sale. She made herself at home and slept pretty much all day. She was tired after howling under our window most of the evening on Friday. After a bath and a visit to the vet, she is now named Daisy and seems much happier. She just needs some extra food for a little while and she should be doing great. She didn’t cry too much last night but seemed to settle down pretty quickly.So, we are adjusting to having Daisy at home, and while one of the other dogs is a bit jealous I think things will settle down pretty quickly. I am not getting much crochet done with a new furry baby in the house that seems to need constant attention. Here is a pretty picture of her face.Daisy is very content and so are we. I hope to get back into the swing of things later this week.

talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on October 20, 2014 by admin

Giant Crochet Blanket

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 Â 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

Posted on October 9, 2014 by admin

Dashing in and dashing out

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

Posted on October 6, 2014 by admin

Stacks of bibs

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 Â and the aqua and purple blanket areÂ 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 greatÂ allergy solution to wool yarns.Â 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. Â I fixed a baby shirt a friend was having issues with. I also got all of this done this morning as well; before noon!Â This is the before photo.Â 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

Posted on September 29, 2014 by admin

Striped Crochet Blanket: Autumn Stripe Afghan

This striped crochetÂ 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 treesÂ mixed in with green cedars, and a golden harvested hay meadow. Â It is a lovely blanket.

This is one of the first Â 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 Â 66″. Â 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 Â 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

Posted on September 26, 2014 by admin

Works in Progress: Crochet Blankets

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.
There is sewing that is needing to be done today. So, I will work on it this morning and hopefully finish the large stack of sewing I have all piled up. There are bibs, and press cozies waiting on the sewing.
There are also some new projects I have in mind and I just need to make time to prototype the new ideas.

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