crochet afghan Archives - Page 8 of 14

Posted on March 27, 2014 by admin

#90 out of 100 Items!

It has been a frustrating week and I tend to hit one of these fairly frequently. My creativity seems to hit a slump and my ability does well. I Â have been working on using up my stash and part of that was to finish a crochet blanket I started about 10 years ago. I thought I had finished it way back when. It is a lovely green, white, yellow and blue blanket that I use in the studio when I wake up too early. It was not big enough to be warm and cozy. So, I have started adding to it with my stash yarns. I finished it once and the ends were definitely not the same width by about 12 inches.This is a Â huge difference, and it looks gathered. I changed crochet hook sizes and went up to my largest hook, and it is still not even. Now I will need to count stitches and see if I have dropped stitches off the ends of the blanket. It is only about 4 inches difference now so dropping stitches might be the answer. Turns out I had dropped about ten stitches so I added those back in and the width turned out just right. I used up a bunch of little balls of yarn and some larger ones as well. It isn’t the most beautiful blanket I have ever made but it is incredibly soft which more than makes up for it’s homely appearance.

See you later,

Karen

Posted on March 17, 2014 by admin

A New Wool Blanket!

This week I drive our daughter to sewing lessons at a local sewing machine shop all week. I am going to be fighting temptation all week as this shop is located near a major fabric/craft store and also near some other fun stores that I never get to browse. The sewing class is three hours long, not quite long enough for me to drive home and get anything done. The drive is just long enough to make me think twice about the drive in addition to the spending money on gas. I do need some supplies in the worst way. While I could, should and probably will wait this week is going to be a huge test of my will power.

I am only 24 items from the end of the challenge and I am wondering if I can really make it that long without some critical supplies. I do have 6 additional items completed and four partially completed. If I add that to what I have already finished it brings me down to 14 items! I am ready for the challenge to be finished. The four partially completed include some crochet blankets, and a quilt.

I started this as an exercise in procrastination. I have several blankets started and this one just jumped out for me to work on. I don’t normally work with wool at this time of year but the large skeins of yarn were calling to me. So I started this great scrap blanket.

Â Here is the other thing I was procrastinating on, basting this quilt. I am now about 1/2 way done. Oh, and the shopping thing, today I passed with flying colors. I didn’t buy anything at all! Yeah!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on March 3, 2014 by admin

The New Blanket

The new blanket! I have been admiring this pattern around the internet. I know that Lucy of Attic 24 is making a variation of this same pattern. Her blanket is beautiful as always. Â I have posted bits and pieces of my blanket on facebook so if you follow me there then you have already seen a little of it.Â https://www.facebook.com/Chocolatedogstudio I started this blanket back around the middle of February.

Here it is at the very beginning. It is a perfect scrap afghan pattern as you can use any colors you want. I am using a complete stripes worth of each color.

It will be a great blanket as there are no holes for air to get through. It is taking me a bit to get it finished as I keep setting it down to work on other items in the 100 items in 100 days challenge! I am using my stash for this so it counts as well but the sewing machine has been calling these days.

Talk to you later,

Karen

You can see Lucy’s blanket here:Â http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2014/02/creative-happiness.html

Posted on February 25, 2014 by admin

The second challenge

I have been thinking of a second challenge. This one has to do with crocheting Â and granny squares. I have seen so many beautiful squares and I want to make them all. Did you know that the average granny square blanket uses at least 100 squares? So if I make 100 different squares I should have enough for a blanket. If I make a couple of each design I would easily have a nice sized crochet blanket. I am not going to give myself a time limit on this challenge but I am going to make 100 different granny squares and then make them into a blanket. Here is my first square. It looks a little wonky and needs to be steam blocked. Â This pattern is found in the book The crochet Motif by written by Edie Eckman.

So this is number 1 out of 100 Granny Squares!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 18, 2014 by admin

# 47 of 100 items in 100 days!

I made these pretty pot holders for my daughter. I will store them for her until she needs them. She cut them out for her quilt and they were left over. They are Â bright and colorful.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 15, 2014 by admin

Neon Rainbow Blanket #38

Remember when I showed you these yarns…

And this little beginning of a blanket.

Here is the finished blanket… in all it’s glory.

Here are the shots the photographer took.

It is 60″ Â x 45″ wide approximately.

It is for sale in my etsy shop… www.chocolatedogstudio.com

https://www.etsy.com/listing/179404749/blanket-hand-crochet-blanket-afghan

I Â love the bright neon colors combined with the black.

This blanket makes #38

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 13, 2014 by admin

New blanket

The new blanket…

These are stash yarns that I ordered before Christmas…in case you are wondering if I have given up the Challenge!

Just a little sneak peak!

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 12, 2014 by admin

100 items in 100 days: #30 – 35

We decorated the inside of these clear glass Christmas ornaments by adding crayon shavings and then melting them with a hair dryer. They were fun to make and now the box of six ornaments is gone out of my stash! We added them to the jar of sticks and hearts.

So this is # 30!

I crocheted these stars and snowflakes out of up cycled navy cotton yarn. I love the stars in the navy and they just need the hanging loops made. These would be #31-33. I would sell these in a set.

Then I tried these red and white stars. The red and white ragg cotton yarn is thicker than baker’s twine and I am not as pleased with these. This would be # 34Â

These are made out the soft cotton yarn left overs that I use to edge the receiving blankets. It is soft and the colors are beautiful! This is #35The stars are out of baby blue wool yarn and the snowflakes out of crochet cotton. I love these together but I made a ton of the snowflakes as they were so easy. I easily have 20-30 of the snowflakes. These areÂ # 36 and 37.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on February 11, 2014 by admin

Beautiful Brights!

I have been a bit under the weather but I am feeling better now. I spent the week hanging out on the couch with a blanket, yarn, crochet hook and netflix. I am working with these yarns that are from my stash and I have worked quite a bit on the 100 item challenge. I just didn’t take any photos as I felt so bad. I hope to show you some things later this week.

Here are some of the colorful yarns that I am working with this week.

It is Stylecraft Dk Special and I can’t wait to show you. It is another blanket and it is an easy one! I am working on writing up a pattern. It is looking good but I don’t want to give it away.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 30, 2014 by admin

#11, #12

Confession time

The quilt is quietly killing me. Well, not very quietly, I must admit that there is a certain amount of huffing and puffing as I haul that quilt around, between and through the sewing machine. If you add in the fact that my sewing machine isn’t quite happy to be sewing right now, then you can guess what I am going to say next. After fussing about it to ~~myself~~ anyone who will listen,Â I moved on to crocheting, and modge podging. Something that will actually allow me to complete a project. These photos are just quickie phone photos but they get the job done.

I found this pattern here and it is wonderful.

http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2011/11/crocheted-skinny-scalloped-scarf.html

I also decoupaged some tea boxes with fabric as I was needing some drawer organizers.

Here they are drying.

Talk to you later, My FIL just arrived for lunch!

Karen

p.s. I am in deep trouble. My father in law brought four more tubs of fabric from my mother in law’s stash. oh wow. He said I could make 100 more items…!