Tag: crochet

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#90 out of 100 Items!

2014-03-26 12.36.59It 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  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  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

 

 

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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.

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2014-03-16 12.32.56  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

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60 Items and Counting

I never thought that I would reach this number quite so quickly. I wondered if I would be able to create even 50 items. Here I am sitting at 60. Here is a quick look at them all.

I am glad that I challenged myself to the 100 items in 100 days Challenge. I have used quite a few supplies. I am also a little staggered at how much I still have. While I have run out of a few key elements like the batting I use in the coffee cozies, pot holders, and cup sleeves. I have used up three spools of white thread and quite a few buttons. I have given to a teacher friend my rubber stamps, stamp pads and card stock for use in her classroom. I removed several vintage tea towels to use in my kitchen. I still have an excess of supplies sitting in my studio. I am wondering if I could continue the challenge to use up even more supplies in my shop. I would need to buy the batting I need though, I would NOT need to buy any yarn for quite awhile. I have enough yarn to last until June, August or even October, barring any flights of creativity.

I have been challenged to think outside the box and to use what I already have rather than rush out the store when I am low on creativity. While, I do pin ideas to my Pinterest boards, I try to use those ideas as a spring board for my own creativity. I have three or four  several things in the works for the next couple of weeks.

  • I still need to baste and quilt the quilt top
  • I have at least two or three crochet blankets in the works
  • I have three or four crochet patterns that I need to write up and publish
  • I have the supplies to create another weekender bag and the pattern free from the internet
  • I can crochet a ton of fingerless gloves, scarves and maybe hats! I am not fond of hats as everyone’s head is a very different size.
  • I have some small sewing ideas floating around in my head as well.

We will see what happens as I will have a full house next week as it is Spring Break for the college girl and she is bringing her room mates home for the week. The other kids also have Spring break at the same time so it will be a  busy week full of food, fun and laughter. I hope the weather cooperates as a hot dog roast/marshmallow toasting are in the works, along with some trips to museums in the area and of course bargain shopping! May you have a great week! It is icy and snowing here today as I write this, but by the time you read this it should be warm and sunny.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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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.  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. https://www.facebook.com/Chocolatedogstudio I started this blanket back around the middle of February.

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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.

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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: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2014/02/creative-happiness.html

 

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The second challenge

I have been thinking of a second challenge. This one has to do with crocheting  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.  This pattern is found in the book The crochet Motif by written by Edie Eckman.

2014-02-24 14.41.15So this is number 1 out of 100 Granny Squares!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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The Overnight bag #48 out of 100

I love these overnight bags or weekender bags as they are called. I really needed one as I travel  more frequently for overnight stays rather than week long trips. The wheeled suitcase that we used when adopting our youngest is OLD and huge. In fact hubs and I can both use it for a weekend or longer! I had this fabric in my stash.

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Here is another photo of the main fabric I chose.

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I had the zipper, piping, lining and inner liner all there sitting in my stash. I drew up my own pattern and the sewing and then ripping out commenced! I found that it is easiest to baste by hand the parts you are sewing together.

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Here is the finished bag and I am happy with it.

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There are a few things I would change next time. I would buy a pattern that comes complete with instructions. I would baste everything from the beginning by hand. I do like the way it turned out and I even put some pockets on the inside. I would also buy the metal feet that fit on the bottom and keep it off the ground.

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You can just see them inside here. There are three and they are nice and deep. My laptop will fit with my clothes. The cords will slide into those deep pockets. The handles of the bag are long enough to fit over my shoulder but not so long that the bag drags the floor when I carry it by hand (which can be a problem when you are short!) I found a pattern for another weekender bag that is for free and I think I am going to try to make another one in different fabric!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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# 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  bright and colorful.

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Talk to you later,

Karen

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Neon Rainbow Blanket #38

Remember when I showed you these yarns…

IMG_1400And this little beginning of a blanket.

IMG_1554Here is the finished blanket… in all it’s glory.

Here are the shots the photographer took.

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It is 60″   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  love the bright neon colors combined with the black.

This blanket makes #38

 

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

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New blanket

The new blanket…

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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

 

 

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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!

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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.IMG_1550

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 # 34 IMG_1551

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 #35IMG_1552The 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 are # 36 and 37.

Talk to you later,

Karen