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What has happened lately….

It has been a busy Holiday season. Things are moving so incredibly fast. The Chocolate Dog Studio shop has been over run with shoppers…which is GREAT, and I am very thankful.  Here are some photos of the crochet beauties that rounded out the shop this year.

This is a grand total of 10 full size crochet blankets and 5 baby blankets, two with baby hats. This isn’t counting the boot cuffs and Christmas ornaments. I have been fighting burnout on the crocheting end of things and I think a little break is what is called for. So, if I can I will take a rest. I have a couple of special orders lined up to finish now and a couple for after the holidays. I won’t turn down any special orders that come my way but I think I will sort through the yarn, roll it into little balls and maybe put it up.

Chocolate Dog Studio has tons of items 45% off at http://www.chocolatedogstudio.etsy.shop

Please stop by and say hi or just browse the shop. I uploaded a bunch of photos to my ravelry page. There are a few more details about the blankets there. You can find that here: http://www.ravelry.com/people/chocolatedogyarns .

thanks so much,

Karen

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Granny Stripe Finished!

I finished this up last night after an extended tv watching session. I talked the photographer into photographing it for me. He did an awesome job!

Granny Stripe Finished

Granny Stripe Finished

Granny Stripe Finished

I love it. It is in the ChocolateDogStudio shop here:

You can find the pattern here on Etsy and here in the Chocolate Dog Studio shop.

Crocheted out of very soft 100% washable acrylic yarn from the UK. It is 62 1/2″ long x 41 1/2″ wide. The pattern is a granny stripe and the stripes run lengthwise

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Rainbow Granny Stripe

It is now almost December and I have been sadly missed posting. It has been the Thanksgiving and Christmas rush around here. I finally got my camera out and took a few snap shots of my newest favorite.

I am about three quarters of the way finished, at least I think I am. It is definitely over the halfway mark. It is a wonderful five feet long and of the softest yarn. When it is finished I will be adding it to the shop!

I have also been selling quite a bit at the Etsy shop and it has been keeping me busy. We had a wonderful visit with our oldest dear daughter (home from college) for Thanksgiving. She brought her room mate and we had a great time watching Dr. Who on netflix. Only a few more weeks and we will have her home for three weeks. I have done absolutely NO Christmas shopping. So I will have to get busy and get on with it!

See you later,

Karen

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November Already!

Yes, it is November already…am I ready?  NO! There is so much I want to finish before the end of the year. It has been a hard year and I won’t be sad to put it behind me and start with a fresh clean slate. It has been a year of changes.

  • We have moved: packed everything we own and moved it 7 hours South and unpacked it yet again…plus unpacked the boxes we hadn’t unpacked yet the first time. No, we aren’t done yet and there are still boxes left.
  • Put one kid in college (and then drove off and left her five hours away from home)! Don’t laugh that has been one of the hardest things to do and also one of great joy. She is doing fantastic, even when she thinks she isn’t…she is!
  • welcomed a son back home until the wedding so he can save money…That has also been hard and continues to be hard simply because I forget he is an adult, but he has been an incredible help and I have so enjoyed this time.
  • preparing to have a wedding….no they haven’t picked a date or have a minister yet…but there is the Dress, so things are moving forward.

Well, that is a small list but there has been some good news. I found my camera last weekend. So, I will once again be able to show off some bad photos of things I have finished unlike these that my live in photographer took last weekend.

I added up the things I have done lately and here is my list. November Already

This is the stack of afghans I have finished this year that haven’t been shipped off. That is a huge stack of crocheted blankets. It doesn’t include the two granny square blankets that I shipped last week or the custom baby blankets I have been crocheting lately. The pretty one second from the bottom is headed out tomorrow after I get a box. We did braces today and then some comforting and hanging out. I would love for all of these blankets to find a home. Some crocheting is so repetitive that I find myself praying for the person that will receive them. That it will comfort and warm them when they need it most. I have also made tons of Christmas ornaments and I am just going to share one photo of them.ÂNovember Already

I love these star ornaments. I was trying to come up with a way to use small bits of yarn and ended up crocheting  too many of these stars. Then last week, I had a great idea…so these happened. Spontaneously, and now I have about eight pairs and could easily make tons more.

November Already

Boot Cuffs! Aren’t they cute? I don’t usually wear boots. I love these cuffs. I have so many different colors now. So, that is some of what I have done. I am also in the painting mode. I am in the process of finishing a house project that has been in the unfinished stage for more years than I would care to count. I have done the prep and just need to get the motivation to finish. You know, it is painting a bathroom cabinet. The downstairs bathroom cabinet and I keep putting it off as I know that I WILL get paint all over me when I forget that I painted in there.

See you later,

Karen

P.S. You can crochet your own boot cuffs from this pattern here on Etsy and here in the Chocolate Dog Studio shop.

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Granny Stripe Ta Dah……

I know this sounds like so many other Ta dahs that you read about in the crochet blogging world. Actually, there is no other way to celebrate a wonderful finished project, aside from a party, but who goes to a finished project party?

Here you go the newly finished Granny Stripe!

I love the chocolately richness of the zig zaggy border.

This was created with soft new yarns from England. Yes, I actually ordered in enough yarn to finish this crocheted blanket. The yarn is so incredibly soft that it puts our American yarns to shame and the colors are bright and cheerful.

I love the way the granny stripes vary from one section to the next, always with the same  seven colors bordered with the chocolate brown stripe. It is big, twin bed sized.

It is 72 inches long and 45 inches wide. A perfect size for a throw at the end of the bed or couch. The yarn is 100% washable on gentle and low temps with a low temp dry. Yes, it is for sale in the Chocolate Dog Studio shop. https://www.etsy.com/listing/108330486/crochet-blanket-crochet-afghan-granny

See you later,

Karen