crochet blanket Archives - Page 9 of 14

Posted on January 17, 2014 by admin

The Modern Ripple

This Modern Ripple has been a challenge. It started as Â remake of a popular style blanket and then took on a life of its own. The ripple stripes were so much fun to create and the striping pattern so unexpected. I love it’s unexpected stripes. The colors were also a bit off the beaten track of what I normally create with. Originally, I crocheted a good third of it and then (frogged) took it apart it back to the first 10 rows and started over with different color combinations. Here it is!

The lovely fold over binding that kept me from having to weave in all those yarn ends and keeps it nice and neat.

It is 50″ x 60″ long measured from a peak on one end to a valley on the other. The stripes go side to side. Â It ends and begins with a deep dark navy that looks almost black. This blanket is for sale in the shop, ready to take ship. I am also creating the pattern and it will be available via Craftsy, Zibbet and Etsy. This is an easy pattern to crochet, there are just so many color changes that you need to be comfortable changing colors and weaving in ends.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 15, 2014 by admin

Yarn-aholic

There are different kinds of Â people out there.Â There are the knitters, non-knitters, knitter and crocheters, loom knitters, and non-crocheters. The kind of people I am going to talk about today are the different kinds of yarn people out there.

There are the Yarn Elite, Yarn Fanatic, Yarn Specific, Yarn Thrifters and the Just Give Me SomeYarn folks.

You know the Yarn Elite. They shop at the little specialty shops in your area called Ewe Need It, The Knit Shoppe, Happy Needles (not to be confused with people on the corner selling drugs) and the Hooker’s Happy Nook (also not to be confused with other people on the corner.) Yarn from these shops often comes in it’s own little plastic or paper sack. It will have the name printed on the outside and a business card on the inside. IF the Yarn Elite has been a card carrying member for very long then they SPIN their own yarn and buy fleece and roving, which is a completely different ball game.

The Yarn Fanatic, often confused with and can be seen leaving the same shops as the Yarn Elite. There is a huge difference between the two. While the Yarn Elite shops the specialty shop the Yarn Fanatic shops the specialty shops and online. Their mail carrier can tell you that they are in fact a Yarn Fanatic. Â They receive regular installments of large plastic shipping bags or boxes of yarn from completely different continents. They are known to even deconstruct sweaters to be able to use the yarn in a different project.

The Yarn Specific knitter or crocheter only works with a specific brand of yarn. They may in fact only work with Elite yarns or Yarn Fanatic yarns, or super big skeins from the neighborhood department store, or just simply a particular fiber such as wool. People that are Yarn Specific can tell you exactly why their yarn is SO much better than other yarns. In fact they might also be a Yarn Elitist or Yarn Fanatic.

Yarn Thrifters are also a great group of knitters to get to know. IF you ever need to make a granny square scrap blanket, or the sock yarn Â blanketÂ http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sock-yarn-blanket, they are the people to know. They will have saved every single piece of yarn from every project they have ever made. They will in fact have saved every piece of yarn too short to save and have it squirreled away in case of the world wide yarn shortage. They will also buy every ball of yarn they ever come across that is on sale, in a yard or garage sale, or in a thrift shop. They may hate the color but they have it ….just in case and it is after all a really good value.

You must not confuse the Yarn Thrifter with the Just Give me Some Yarn people. The Just Give Me Some Yarn will shop anywhere at any time. The prime difference being that they will actually finish their projects and actually be needing some more. They often start scrap yarn projects in an effort to use up their current stash. They often run out of yarn five inches or 10 squares from being completed, and they will not have enough yarn to finish the scrap project. So they will often HAVE to BUY more. You can find them roaming their house in search of yarn, “Just give me some Yarn!” they say. They may in fact post about needing specific yarns on the internet. They will spend their time scouring the internet for that particular yarn on E-bay, Amazon, Etsy and Ravelry.

There you go the four different types of yarn a holics! Which am I most certainly the last one and probably also Yarn Specific at this point in time. I have also been the Yarn Thrifter. I would love to be the Yarn Elitist but due to budget constraints will probably never make it there for very long. Which are you?

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 9, 2014 by admin

Crochet Project Life Cycles

This is meant to be funny but often times hits closer to home than I intended it to. I hope you can enjoy the spirit in which it is meant.

The life cycle of a large crochet project.

Personal experience tells me that there are at least 5 distinct phases of a project. There is the Â dream phase, the beginning phase, the please let me finish this phase or Mount Everest, the I can’t wait to finish this or the downhill phase/ dreaming of a new project, and finally the I can’t believe that it is finished phase and I can’t wait to start the new project.

The dream phase is incredible fun. I tend to surf the internet looking for patterns, styles, colors or just plain inspiration. I will pull out all of my yarns and make a huge mess while I play with it. I have been known to start and stop, frogging the trial swatch several times before I hit on the perfect project. Pinterest is huge fun at this point. Dreaming about all of the projects, colors, styles and incredible possibilities. Â I am full of enthusiasm, excitement, and a bit obsessive.

The dream phase has enough enthusiasm and excitement to carry me through the beginning phases of a project. I am thrilled and happy. I am brilliant person for picking that particular color combination or pattern. How wonderful it is to be working on this project. Look the colors just sing! This Â phase is accompanied by Â stretching out the blanket and showing how beautiful all the colors are and much required admiring remarks from the family. This all sounds like bliss, until we hit the dreaded middle of the project or Mount Everest.

Mount Everest is the middle of the project where you aren’t quite half way. I have committed a fortune to the supplies for this monster. Yes, monster of a project and I am just not- Going- To – Quit. This is often muttered under your breath while your family sits on the opposite side of the room and says things like “Would you like chocolate while you work on this? Would you like to watch a movie and eat chocolate? How about some chocolate? Yes, frequently chocolate does help, but the bigger the project the larger and longer this Mount Everest feels. Quite frequently this is also where a project can become a WIP (work in progress) or PIG (project in grocery bag) and quietly put aside. My final thoughts on a big project are “please,please, just let me finish this before I die.” Which is silly since I am not on the brink of death and I will finish this project. Great background music is Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia (the original production). Followed by the Ava Maria as you pass over the middle of the project and slide down the back half of the project.

The last half of the project or down hill from Mount Everest is filled with anticipation of the next project. My thought processes are filled with dreamy thoughts about how wonderfully the next project will go and how happy I will be to complete it. Â It will go so quickly and be so completely fabulous that I will finish it in no time…etc… Â I may even order the yarn or spend time flirting with the yarn stores on line by putting items in my shopping cart one day and removing them the next or even a week later. Finally, good sense will take hold and the $30 per skein specialty yarn will get evicted from the shopping cart and I will decide to work with what I have on hand already. My husband will give me the look by which he means… “You already have five laundry baskets of yarn downstairs and two upstairs and you mean to say that you can’t use what you already have?” All the while I crochet happily away thinking and saying to myself “I am SO DONE with this project. Why did I pick such a large size blanket? What was I thinking about making so many color changes and look at all the ends I am going to have to weave in at the end?” Â About 25 rows from the end I start estimating how many rows it will take to finish it and how many more nights I am going to spend crocheting. It looks like this.Â “Ohhhh, look I only have 15 rows left, surely I can get this done tonight. Surely I can just crochet faster and get it done by 9 tonight.”

My Husband finally looks over at me after ten and says… “Aren’t you going to sleep tonight”. Â So I grudgingly put it away and finally finish it up the next night.

The next night will show me doing a happy dance. As I show off the beautiful finished creation full of beauty and Â of course loose ends that aren’t completely woven in. So, I sit down for the next two or three nights weaving in the ends of the project as I struggle to really finish it off right! Enthusiasm for the next project might shorten this weaving in phase or it might eclipse it altogether as I head off in the blissful beginnings of a new crochet blanket, or the middle of Mount Everest. Which is exactly where I am right now on this project.

Happy and obsessed is the crocheter that never runs out of yarn, because there is always a little bit left over to crochet with!

talk to you later,

Karen

So sorry about the bad photo at the end but I am a bit obsessed with finishing this one. I have another project on my mind that I already have yarn for, and the yarn for the project after this one is on it’s way in the mail! :0)

Posted on January 8, 2014 by admin

Basket Liner Tutorial

This isn’t a step by step How-To with pattern pieces. I will show you how to measure your basket to get some approximate measurements so you can make a basket liner for your baskets at home.

I have a large wicker basket that I dearly love. It holds my yarn quite nicely. It holds a bunch of yarn and then fits under my coffee table, but it snags my yarn. I received my Michael’s sales flier by e-mail today and noticed the lovely things for organizing your home. It is January and I do have the organizing bug. So, making use of what I have and improving something I already own is a huge money saver.IÂ have some beautiful fabric that my Mom gave me. In fact I recovered my ironing board with it. I love it. It is bright and cheerful without being in your face.

I cut this pattern from a left over piece of wrapping paper. I put the basket down and drew around it. This is the bottom.

Then I placed the base of the basket liner in the bottom of the basket and did some trimming to make it fit a little better.Â

Here you can see that it fits better but seems to not be the same shape. So I folded the bottom in half and trimmed the extra off.

Here you can see that I am getting ready to cut out the base piece out of fabric. I left 1/4 inch seam allowance all the way around the base.

I laid the basket on its side and rolled it from one side to the other as I drew the pattern of the side.Â

Then I placed it up against the inside of the basket. I left extra at either end but trimmed the side a little bit.

I cut the fold over cuff. I didn’t measure and I didn’t have a pattern piece for this part. I did lay one piece on top of the other and cut the three of them all the same size. I know that I probably won’t need that much extra but you never know.

I sewed one side seam of the basket sides and then matched up the sides to the bottom part of the liner. I sewed them right sides together.

I placed the liner in the basket to see if it fit. It does

There is a pleat at one of the ends of the basket liner and I left one side seam unsewn.Â I then folded the cuff in two and sewed two of the pieces together. I then matched up the edges and sewed the sides of the basket and the cuff together. It wasn’t too difficult and yes, I did not use pins!

When I was finished one side seam of the basket liner wasn’t completed. I placed the liner in the basket to see if it would fit. It didn’t quite fit. It needs another two to three inches. So, I added a Gusset!

Here is the definition of a gusset from the free online dictionary.

gusÂ·setÂ Â (gst)

1.Â A triangular insert, as in the seam of a garment, for added strength or expansion.

2.Â A triangular metal bracket used to strengthen a joist.

3.Â A piece of mail or plate armor protecting the joints in a suit of armor.

[Middle English, from Old FrenchÂ gousset, perhaps diminutive ofÂ gousse,Â pod, husk.]

I could see that I would need to add a triangular piece of fabric into the side or gusset and that it needed to have the cuff on the top as well.

I added the gusset in and the basket liner fits pretty good.

The photo directly above shows you the gusset.Â I like it and it works great! Â I saved money and used what I had on hand to improve my organization in my house. Actually, to make it easier to crochet or knit. The basket holds about 20 balls of yarn and fits under my coffee table which makes it easier for people to walk around when I am not using the yarn (which is hardly ever)!

Thanks,

Karen

Posted on January 7, 2014 by admin

January 7, 2014

The weather was bitterly cold for our part of the world. Oklahoma is not known for the temperatures in the teens. The snow is pretty but under the snow is a nice coating of ice.

This is the view off of my front porch.

Here is the back deck and yard. The ice isn’t as bad as it was last time but it is colder.

I stayed in and thought about goals, deadlines, chores and menus. Then I thought of this!

Yes, I am procrastinating on my cleaning! A basket liner for my favorite large yarn basket. It has turned out better than I thought. Â Why is it that the New Year starts and we all get the organizing bug! Anyway this isn’t much of a tutorial more of a how to do it Â yourself for your basket. The tutorial will come tomorrow.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on December 29, 2013 by admin

2013 in Review

Looking back at 2013 so many things were accomplished and marked off my list. I feel so incredibly productive. I keep a running list on my computer of what has been completed and what is left to finish. The list is enormous, but here are some photos of the year.

These are some of the blankets that I crocheted this year. Some are not in the collage and the other items from the shop are not shown at all.

We drove to our daughter’s college in Texas and back – 5 times. We had one trip to Kansas, and one trip to Houston, Tx, and one trip to the Waco, Tx area.

We had one wedding, one wedding shower, one major surgery, 3 months in a boot or cast, one set of wisdom teeth removed, and all the love and laughter that comes from living in a family of six.

It has been a spectacular year and I have loved almost every moment of it. There were some hard times but there are always some hard times in every year.

Thanks for sharing it with me,

Karen

Posted on December 6, 2013 by admin

Tutorial: Scalloped Edging

I use this scalloped edging all the time on different crochet projects. It adds a nice finished edging. It also works well with Granny Squares as I think it is a variation. You will need a granny square stitch project either a granny stripe Â or granny square blanket.

Supplies

yarn
granny square
hook to match yarn

The Sides

I am starting with 1 granny square. It has five holes on each side counting the corner holes.

Join your yarn to a corner.

*Crochet a double crochet from the joining stitch to the open space between the groups of Â Â Â double crochet.

Crochet 5 or 6 double crochet into the space. Here I crocheted five because the yellow yarn is worsted weight and the square is a dk weight yarn.

With the last double crochet stretch it over to the next space and join with a chain.

Repeat from * across your square or squares until you reach the corner.

There are two corner options.

Corner Option #1

Join just as you have and then turn the square.

Do the next set of five (or six) double crochet just as you have. The corner will look like this.

and this when you finish two sides.

Corner Option #2

join just as you would and then double crochet into the corner space and chain two.

Do another double crochet followed by a chain.

It will look like this when you round the corner and finish another side.

This adds a nice finish to the edging. It will look great on a blanket or scarf.

The trick to this edging is that you need an odd number of spaces to finish evenly.

Have fun with this edging and share some photos with me on my facebook page of your projects with the pretty scalloped edging.

https://www.facebook.com/Chocolatedogstudio

It is a snow day here and I have a ton of things to get finished. This tutorial was one of them.

See you later,

Karen

Posted on December 4, 2013 by admin

Resilient, Robust or Anti-Fragile?

The great thing about having facebook is the links that people post are often interesting. This one really spoke to me, in fact it spoke so much that I have asked for the book for Christmas. It talks about the opposite of being fragile or Antifragile. The book is Antifragile:Things that Gain from DisorderÂ is written Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I am taking my understanding of Taleb’s book from this website; http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/12/03/beyond-sissy-resilience-on-becoming-antifragile/

The article discusses the opposite of fragile. They discuss the fact that the opposite of fragile isn’t robust or resilient. As being Anti-fragile should put you ahead of where you started before the bad time happened. Instead of breaking during stressful personal or business times we should become stronger.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/113298492/inspirational-quote-coastal-art-surf

I have come through a time recently when I felt very fragile and I am continuing to feel fragile. So this concept is very attractive to me from a personal standpoint and as a small business owner.

The article touches on how large often equals fragile due to red tape, an inability to swiftly react to market changes, or icebergs in the case of the Titanic. Â It talks about being optimized to make use of every resource. In my case it would be a calendar with no extra time for the daily life occurrences that happen ie a flat tire, a sick child, medical emergencies that all play havoc with our calendar, budget and life. Â People try to reduce this randomness in life by planning it out. An example of this in real life are parents that try to keep their children from experiencing small hurts like Johnny doesn’t want to play with Jimmy. The author states that stress strengthens us and removing stresses from our children’s lives weakens them.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/113650600/inspirational-quote-though-she-be-but

Resilience or the ability to bounce back while a great ability to have is useless if you do not grow from your experience. Growing means that you have moved beyond randomness or become anti fragile.

The great news is that Taleb feels that being small is great for being antifragile! Small business are more able to change direction.

You really should read the rest of it and gather some great insight but here are some insights that I gathered from this article.

1. What doesn’t kill your small business should make it stronger. Will you learn from your mistakes? Change your focus if it is needed!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123845997/i-refuse-to-sink-nautical-anchor-art

2. Have a back up plan!Â Having more than one critical piece of equipment isn’t a bad thing, for my business this would be to have more than one sewing machine that works well.

3. Add some stress to your life! Â You can do this by changing your work schedule, or how you do things. See if there is a new way to do what you have always done. Stress strengthens you as it forces you to change.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/159592978/rough-days-inspirational-quote-print

4. Play it safe and also take risks. In a small retail business this might be continuing to sell your best selling items while you learn a new skill or sell something else just to see how it goes.

5. Don’t take advice from someone that doesn’t also do what you do.Why would you take advice from someone that doesn’t also run a small business?

6. Reduce the negatives. Remove things that are detracting from your business or life. Do you have bad habits or debt? Get rid of the debt and work on the bad habits.

7. Keep your options open. So,keep some money in the bank for the slow times. If your best selling item stops selling then stop making it and move on.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/163272244/custom-inspirational-quote-print-she

I am excited to get to read this book as it reinforces what I have always known; What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger! We just have to decide that we are going to grow from what has happened and move forward or in a completely different direction.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/157913517/typography-art-print-life-is-like-a

This poster just says it all! I’m off to change my focus, add some stress, and finish some things up!

See you later!

Karen

Posted on December 3, 2013 by admin

Movies and Crocheting!

I have to admit that I love to watch movies while I crochet. It can be documentaries, sci fi, classics or even cake boss. It just seems to help the time pass. A cup of coffee makes it much better as does a really long movie or series of movies. I am working on a custom blanket right now and it is going well. Â Here are some photos of some past work.

I’m thinking about making another one of these Granny Square blankets in the Spring! I will certainly have enough scraps to do so!

and maybe another one of these! I have had some inspiration hit the last couple months and I am ready to create some new crochet patterns! I just need to get this beautiful custom blanket out of the way. So, off I go to crochet and watch more movies!

What do you do while you are creating?

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on November 24, 2013 by admin

Aqua Granny Square Blanket!

I have finally finished the aqua granny square blanket and the photos were just taken today. You have seen it since the very start. I frogged three rows and started over in the plain Granny Square stitch. I like it much better and it isn’t ruffly like it was starting to be.

42″ square of luscious soft granny square blanket. It is wonderfully soft! I love the soft washable variegated yarn. It changes from a moss green to a lovely aqua and hits almost every shade of blue green in between. It is finished with a plain racetrack border. It is available in the shop ready to ship! Â https://www.etsy.com/listing/170542725/crochet-blanket-granny-square-blanket

Thanks,

Karen