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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.Granny Square blanketsThis beautiful pink granny square baby blanket  and the aqua and purple blanket are 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 great allergy solution to wool yarns. Granny square blankets Granny square blanketsI 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.  I fixed a baby shirt a friend was having issues with. I also got all of this done this morning as well; before noon! This is the before photo.stacks of bibs I trimmed, sewed, pinned and turned right side out all of these bibs.stacks of bibsSince I seem to be accomplishing things, I am going to dash off before the coffee wears off!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

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Striped Crochet Blanket: Autumn Stripe Afghan

This striped crochet 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.Striped crochet blanket

I love the heathered Autumn colors. They reminded me of the country in the Fall. Brilliant blue skies, brown plowed fields, rusty orange trees mixed in with green cedars, and a golden harvested hay meadow.  It is a lovely blanket.

Striped crochet blanket

This is one of the first  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.Stripe Crochet Blanket

You can find this blanket for sale in the Etsy shop. The Autumn striped crochet blanket is 42″ x  66″.  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  my husband’s eyes.Stripe crochet blanket

 

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

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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.  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

 

 

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Striped Crochet Blanket

I feel like I have hardly had a chance to breathe the past month or so. Do your days get that busy? First we took vacation and then packed two of the kids for college and dropped them off. It seems as though we just keep running in and dashing back out to take care of this chore and that chore.  I came down with a migraine that has stuck around all week and tends to make me just sit and do nothing. It isn’t a bad migraine but it does make me creep around in dark rooms.

I have been working on this blanket here in my spare time. I love the colors in it and I showed you the yarn first several weeks back.

Here it is in the beginning. It is going to be a beautiful Autumn striped blanket.Crochet blanket beginnings!

Beautiful crochet stripes.

There are such beautiful stripes. I put three blankets on hold as I am waiting on more yarn. So, now I have five or six WIPS sitting around waiting on the final touches and one waiting to be frogged. I think it needs to be frogged, but I am not sure.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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New Crochet Throw

This new crochet throw has had a rough start. I frogged it several times right at the start. I tried two different greens before I settled on this one. This is new throw is a beautiful deep mossy green. It will be a beautiful throw when I get finished with the border. It will be a perfect size for a lap blanket.New Crochet throw

I have struggled to find time to crochet this week. The only time I have found to work on this new crochet throw was at night and it was difficult to match colors then.  It has been several years since I have made a throw sized blanket. Here are the last two I made. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/chocolatedogyarns/granny-square-53

 http://www.ravelry.com/projects/chocolatedogyarns/granny-square-53-4

I have been out and about this week. I got to spend some good time with my Mom. We had a great visit. We spent time laughing and remembering my Dad. He was a good man and a great father.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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for special sales and new items.

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New crochet blanket

Crocheting blankets have filled my mind lately.  I found these beautiful yarns at the store and just had to put them into a new crochet blanket. Aren’t they beautiful?

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I can ‘t decide what blanket pattern to use for them. It will be stripey, I think.

I love this one by Black Sheep Wools.  It is simply a gorgeous granny stripe blanket!

It would also look beautiful as a granny square blanket made up of solid squares like this one.

I love this blanket from Littletinbird. It makes me so happy!

I love this pattern by Laurence Meriat. It is found on Ravelry. There are incredible options for crochet blankets and I can spend hours exploring each one.

 

talk to you later,.

Karen

 

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True Confessions

True confessions: It appears that I have started so many new things that I am totally overwhelmed. The new school year has called for a complete change in routine. I seem to be the spending a  large amount of time waiting. I tend to take small projects with me until they get too big to travel well. I started several projects last week. When we were cleaning up the house this past weekend, I noticed that I have these 4 bags, just from last week!

So these are my works in progress or WIPS. You could also call them PIGS (projects in grocery bags!) Here are some up close photos of the actual projects started.

 

I am not sure what I think about three of these. The granny square, star stitch and the baby bonnet. So, I am letting them rest while I think it over and see what I think. I really don’t like the Granny square so I will probably unravel all the limey green  and start over. I’m not sure I like the grey blanket. I started the star stitch to learn a new stitch and I’m afraid that it isn’t comfortable to crochet as I have to keep counting.

This doesn’t even include the scrap blanket that is too big to travel.

True Confessions

The weather is supposed to cool off at the end of the week. Hopefully, I will find time to work on/under this blanket on the weekend. What are you working on? Do you start more than one project at a time?

Karen

Update:

I never finished the baby bonnets. They were too fussy for me and I don’t have a baby to model them for me.  They are still in the bag and it is over 2 years since I wrote this. Wow, usually I am really good at finishing what I start. I did finish the baby blanket with lavender and green. It is beautiful and sold super quick.

The scrap blanket is finished and sold! Here is the reveal post for it.

 

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Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket

I am finished with this Granny Square blanket. I am so excited. It has been a fun, quick blanket. This blanket started like this, just a mix up of various granny squares of all different sizes. It is also a scrap blanket as it used up various little balls of yarn that I had in my yarn bowl. I had many different squares left over from different crochet blankets and I added to them to get a more uniform size for the granny square blanket. The crocheting went fairly quickly as these squares are larger than I normally crochet.Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket

Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket

I love the bright yellow that is added to each square.

Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket

Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket

I used white to join each square and to give the squares a little definition.

Now here is the final unveiling!

Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket

Look at all the beautiful red, white and yellow. The squares are so cheerful. This granny square blanket was such fun to crochet.

Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket

I started the border and then ripped it all out and restarted the border. I love the new border

Ta dah! Granny Square Blanket

The border is a lightly ruffled picot edging! I am so excited to get to show it to you. You can find this blanket on etsy here.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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The New To Do List!

Here is my to do list. I’m back from vacation and we are in our Autumn back to school schedule. So, to be organized here is my to do list for the week. This is the shop to do list, not my personal to do list. I have also been running through my pinterest business pins and working on my blog.

  • Works in Progress 2014-08-24 20.47.21-2

This blanket.

IMG_5668

and this one

 

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and this one.

  • I have about ten coffee press cozies cut out
  • I have 25 felt Christmas Stockings to cut and sew for a cousin.
  • A wide variety of baby hats, blankets and a couple of new items.

So life is busy and I need to get to work!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Bright Flower Afghan

I spent the better part of 3 weeks designing the flower blocks and creating this crochet blanket from them. The blocks are a little intensive and require a tiny bit of advanced crochet skills. I have been waiting to show the blanket to you. It is gorgeous! The flower squares are great for using up small bits of yarn. So it is perfect for using up your stash yarns.

Bright Flower Afghan Bright Flower Afghan Bright Flower Afghan Bright Flower Afghan

I had some extra flower squares so I created this pillow cover as well. It matches and the black color is really super dark navy.

The back of the pillow with the lovely bright buttons that keep it closed.Bright Flower Afghan Bright Flower Afghan Bright Flower AfghanHere it is inside on our black couch. The colors still look bright and beautiful inside. I really enjoyed creating this granny square and I hope to have the directions available soon.  The blanket and pillow will both be available for purchase in the Studio. The blanket is 40 x 50″.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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