Etsy Archives - Page 2 of 13

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Karen Stewart

What Did I get done in October

Last month I listed everything I got done day byÂ day for the Christmas selling season and in preparation for the craft show. It helpedÂ me keep track of how I wasÂ doingÂ and how much I had left. I always feel that I am not doing enough. This will be like a foodÂ diary; a true picture of how much I wasÂ getting done to prepare. I still have my to do list for the month.

~~Make Menu and Grocery list~~
s~~ew buttons on cup coziesÂ~~
Stiffen Â all crochet ornaments
cut out Tardis baby bibs
cut out flannel baby bibs
sew flannel baby bibs
~~sew 37Â cup cozies now cut outÂ~~
Sew Tardis baby bibs
add ribbons to all ornaments
Crochet 4 Â men’s hats
Crochet 2Â Women’s rose hats
Crochet 5 Granny Stripe Scarves
Crochet 5 Granny Square Scarves
Crochet stars
Crochet hearts
Sew 10 superhero capes
Sew 10 aprons
Cut out 8 Â aprons
Organize my side of the maker space
Sew 6 flannel baby blankets for crochet trim
Sew pillow cases for crochet trim
sew 3 craft show aprons
~~Sew 20 burp cloths Â~~ I’ve currently sewn 16
finish owl hats that need eyes, wings and beaks
Sew tags on all the scarves and hats
Anything else I can think of!

Oct 1. Â Thursday

Sewed, topstitched and buttoned 57 cup cozies
Sewed eyes on Minion 6 minion hats, and 1 ninja turtle hat
Did the hand work on 7 heart ornaments

Oct. 2. Â Friday

20 minutes posting on Hootsuite

October 3 Saturday

Posted on Hootsuite

October 4 Sunday

took the day off and made cake!
listed 3Â items on Handmade@Amazon

October 5 Monday

Listed 24 items on Handmade @Amazon
sewed patchwork bibs yellow 6 they are ready for batting and backing!
shipped order
dropped off hat…

Tuesday

sewed 10 patchwork bibs Â (lots of work but they are really cute.)

Wed.

Crocheted 2 hats 1 teal and 1 copper

Thursday

Cut threads and finished quilting on patchwork baby bibs
Sold two adult blankets and 1 baby blanket

Friday

listed 10 baby blankets on Amazon/handmade

Saturday!Â Tons done today.

Figured out the craft show display
started painting some of the craft show display pieces
watched more of the Influence/Impact summit.
we have watched about 10 of the interviews so far and the knowledge we have gleaned is incredible. I love the fact that it is free!

Sunday

Cut and pin Burp clothes
watch Influence and Impact Symposium
Crochet head band
work on crochet triangle scarf/shawl

Monday October 12 Columbus Day

Iron and sew burp cloths
I put the tags on and cut the threads
Finished three blanket scarves
watched Dave Ramsey on Influence and Impact
Started crocheting a hat
wove in the ends on the teal hat

And THEN the week happened….

Saturday and Sunday

worked on displays and floor plan for the craft fair.
Spent time with family and enjoyed the weekend.
Date night on Friday night and went to the Vintage Market Fair, twice! Once on Friday and once on Saturday.
I had breakfast with friends, lunch with my Daughter in law and Dinner with Dale. When I told him I had eaten every meal out. He said not to get used to it, Â but we had a great date night.

It is now Monday again, the 19 of October! Â :0)

3 headbands finished
1 scarfy shawl or shawly scarf
1 sweater/poncho in reds/pinks/brown
crocheted/finished three hats, black/white, red/white, black/white, rust,
finished one owl hat

Tuesday October 20

Crocheted three hats
sewed tags on 30+ hats
took inventory of hats completed and tagged 67 hats total

Wednesday

wrote blog post
working on crochet hats
posted on hoot suite

Thursday October

Tagged and inventoried hats
put belly bands on cup cozies
sewed 10+ coffee press cozies
sewed hot pads

The guinea hens stopped by our house this morning.

Friday

Dale picked up d rings for me… they were the wrong size

Saturday October 24

cut out 10+ aprons and linings
Sewed 2 aprons
sewed 4 pot holders
cut apron straps
sewed buttons on 8 coffee press cozies

Sunday October 25

Did absolutely nothing for the business.
Switched all the kids beds around in Preparation for Thanksgiving.
Cleaned and vacuum the guest room and closet.

Monday October 26

We are getting close to the end of this month. I am doing a bad job of documenting my work. I am getting loads of sewing and business things done.

I got Square up and running again on my phone. It allows me to accept credit cards
cut out linings forÂ aprons
cut out baby bibs
sewed 14 baby bibs
Set up Hootsuite for the week
sewed buttons on 3 coffee press cozies
received the order for d rings…. they were the wrong size
ordered more d rings online
crocheted one baby bow tie

Tuesday

top stitched 14 baby bibs
cut out baby bibs
sewed bow tie baby bibs
added snaps to baby bibs
Total number of bibs finished today (
cut out capes (
crocheted man’s hat

Wednesday

sew capes
sew aprons
cut out superhero capes

Thursday

Finished 12 capes with tags
Sew ties on aprons
Take a huge long nap followed by going to bed early and sleeping all night!

Friday the 30th of October

sew aprons
iron aprons
Compassion village
family game night with homemade pizza! The pizza was great and we started a new game. It was hugely funny or we were being silly.

October 31st

Here we are right at the end of the month. I did get more done than I thought I did. I am starting a new list for November and I will get that posted soon.

Talk to you Â later,

Karen

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Being Boss

Sometimes being self motivated and your own boss is an issue. This week I am doing a good job of being boss. I feel the craft show looming down on me. I am so worried that I won’t have enough stock that I feel like I am working overtime. Taking time off to play or be social is truly hard for me, so I tend to work all the time. Then I face burn out.

If I look at my work as play then my attitude is much better. So, this week while playing. I finished up these colorful and fun hats. I love them.

I sent my daughter in to yarntopolis (my yarn storage) to pick another color for the same style hat and she picked light blue. They are so much fun to crochet. The colors change all of the time and that makes it quick work. I have also been busy hand sewing the Â tags on a bunch of the crocheted items.

Today, I am cleaning in the makerspace and getting the next round of sewing organized. I am waiting on some supplies but I will sew pot holders and coffee press cozies today. I also need to do cut capes out so I can get them sewn. All this planning is overwhelming but I am using my Kanban board as a reminder of what needs to be done, what is in process and what remains.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Karen Stewart

The Sampler Blanket

I made time to block the sampler blanket this week. If you are following me on Instagram you will notice that I have also started putting a border around each square. Â Here are someÂ befores and afters of the blocking process. If you have never steam blocked acrylic yarns you really should try it. It does a great job of heat setting nice straight edges and giving the granny squares their final shape.

They sure look all wadded and out of shape. I started blocking them on my ironing board a few at a time.

They started looking so much better. I don’t always block my granny squares but these desperately needed it.Â I used a ton of pins and my steam iron. I was really careful not to touch the iron to the yarns as it would melt. the squares all turned out to be about five different sizes when I was finished blocking them. WhichÂ was a nice surprise. This was going to be one creamy sampler blanket with no other colors but I just couldn’t leave it alone. Here is one with the borders that I am putting on each square. It will be much easier if I end up with squares that are all about the same size.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Karen Stewart

July’s to do list

I am already writing July’s to do list. Yay, it is the first weekÂ of July and I am on a roll, actually I am on the couch resting my knee as it is not happy with me today.

I have hit a wall on being creative these days. I am tired and grumpy a lot of the time. I hate taking pain meds as they tend to drug me up. I have been up since early today and it has taken quite a bit of energy. I have spent Â huge amounts of time on Pinterest yesterday and today but I am not inspired to do much. So this to do list may be shorter than normal.

Here is what I have been working on and what I hope to finish this month.

My organization to do list. We have accomplished more than is shown on this photo. It is a much shorter list now.

My sampler blanket

I hope to finish about twelve to 20 crochet hats. I want some to look like these but I also have some new designs running around in my mind.

I am also wanting to finish my quilt before I have surgery. Â It is at this stage right now.Â

I have quite a bit of quilting left but if I work hard on it a couple of mornings I might get it finished. I have several patterns that I want to write. There is this granny square blanket pattern that I want to write. That is a ton of work for the next two weeks in July. We are still in the middle of changing around our den to a maker space.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Karen Stewart

The New To Do List

This to do list has so much marked off as I have been super productive this week. It has been good to finish up or get so much done on several of my projects. I am pretty happy about following my to do list. I started work on several super hero capes that I am working on for a show this summer. It is on the To do list as it will use up a ton of satin that I bought two or three years ago.

I also finished these little Valentine envelopes that I crocheted for a friend. She has a booth at a craft/antique mall. So, it was a whole sale order for her booth. These are a perfect size for gift cards.

I finished up this shawl/scarf. The colors are wonderful. I am pleased that it is finished as it only lacked about three rows and the red border.

I have added 8 inches to this blanket and will probably finish it up later this week.

I am pleased that it is working up so quickly.

I still need to work on these items as I haven’t gotten to them yet.

Finish the quilt (there is probably only 2-3 more hours of work.)
Sew 3 coffee press cozies
Sew 20 coffee cup sleeves
sew 3 bibs (already cut just need to be sewn)
sew up 4 flannel blankets (already cut just need to be sewn)
sew 10 more paper pieced quilt squares

If I break this list down into easy to accomplish steps. I would rewrite the list like this.

~~Â Iron flannel blankets and pin~~
~~Iron satin~~
~~Iron quilt cottons~~
arrange sewing by color thread
sew items by thread color: blue, white, red, black and pink thread
cut out capes
~~cut out quilt cottons~~
Press all seams and completed projects for photography

I hope all of this helps. I tend to be easily discouraged by the mountain of work standing in front of me. I am still wishing for some snow. It would be nice to be snowed in for a day or two.

talk to you later,

Karen

You can visit my shop here:Â https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChocolateDogStudio

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Karen Stewart

Pink is finished!! #3 in the Use Your Stash – 2015

I finished Pink (the crochet afghan) this weekend. I am so pleased with it. It looks so cuddly and warm. I found some lovely yarn at the shop. It was soft and washable. It is variegated with a long color change in the yarn. It was really similar to a Lion Brand wool yarn that I love to use. It is primarily pink and red and the colors called to me.

I started it in the Linen stitch but it turned out horribly stiff and thick. It looked lovely.Â I was also having some problems seeing where to put the stitches. I may need new glasses. I have named this blanket Pink but you can see the other beautiful colors in the yarn. I love working with variegated yarn. You never have to change or sew in many ends. It makes a nice change from Granny Squares that change color every row.

I love the bobbleÂ border. It adds a little whimsy to the whole blanket. I added a nice gray border on either edge of the bobbles. It adds some definition to the edges. Pink is a bit larger afghan than I normally crochet. It is 51 x 62 inches long. The stripes run lengthwise. I think it will make a great Valentine’s Day gift to someone special. It is available in the ChocolateDogStudio shop!

I am also adding this to the Use Your Stash Challenge – 2015! This is #3 for me to have finished this week. It is a huge project and I spent a bunch of time on it. I am really pleased with the finished product. I just knew that yarn would make a beautiful blanket.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Karen Stewart

4 Blocks a Week – Week 2

Here are my four blocks for this week.

This one desperately needs blocking.

Â Here we go with number three. I am using a different book for the squares this week. Leonie Morgan does a great job showing the different rows in different colors. I hope they look great in one shade of yarn.

This one also needs blocking. I will have to steam block them and see if they improve.

The week is proving to be a challenge in many ways. I keep skipping around on different projects and it seems like my progress on one any of them is slow. I have a Minion hat to get out in the mail and then two or three projects that I seem to be working on more seriously than the others. I hope to get them finished pretty quickly as well. Â I am also working on some organizing.I have been sorting through Christmas ornaments and decorations. It appears that we have a bunch that are old and not used. The cleaning and organizing progress in the studio has also slowed down as I am waiting on some parts for some shelving. The parts should come in the mail this week. Then I can get more work done. My studio is up under the eaves and I am putting up shelving so that I can stack my tubs on them. I think it will help me get to them more easily.

The quilting class that I am taking with friends is starting in March instead of this week. I am going to try to get the fabrics gathered together for that class this week. We are making a log cabin quilt and I hope to sew it entirely out of stash fabrics. I also start my Use My Stash Challenge next Monday. I have been thinking about different projects to start and WIPS that need to be finished up. These will all be part of the Use Your Stash Challenge. I am also thinking about my rules for the challenge.

Our daughter heads back to school this week and the rest of us will try to get into a schedule of sorts. I just feel really scattered in my thinking and that time to think is in extremely short supply.

Talk to you later,

karen

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Karen Stewart

Looking Back at 2014 and Looking Forward to The New Year

I get a little introspective as the New Year approaches. I have just spent the last twelve months zooming through the days to this day.

Then there are the many photos of our yard and landscape. We had snow and ice, beautiful daffodils, tulips and irises all in succession.

Then the beautiful summer flowers in the front flower bed, from gladiolus to Russian sage to Purple coneflowers and daisies.The many pictures of yarn and projects in process including the craft fair.

There are many photos of family and trips to museums and lovely memories to share but I will not bore you with all of these photos. I have been graced with a very full year. We moved one person twice and three people once, if that makes any sense. We moved our daughter home from college at the beginning of the summer. Our son and his wife moved into their new apartment. We moved two of our kids back to college and finally we moved my mom to her new apartment. So those were huge moves and took time and attention. I just cleared out the last box of sewing materials from my Mom, yesterday. I am working on cleaning up in the studio after all of the busy time this Christmas season.

Things I am looking forward to this year include the Use Your Stash Challenge, doing a craft fair or two, some time spent fluffing the inside of the house. Here is my list for the future.

Prepping for a craft fair this June
Creating some new products for both shops
De-cluttering my house and studio
Finishing up about ten works in progress
Finishing up the tree skirt. I want to add some trim to the edging and possibly a decoration or two.
Clean out Christmas decorations that we haven’t used in years
Do some dog training. We have four in the back yard right now as we are watching my brother’s dog.
Make a menu and grocery list every week
Our oldest daughter is scheduled to graduate from college this next school year. So while it she officially doesn’t graduate until 2016. I know the year will be full of getting her prepared.

This is fairly busy list. I know that we will be driving Â our daughter back to college, and also bringing her home. She has a wedding this summer to go to and we might take a vacation. I would like to work in the yard and get some things cleared up. All of this in addition to living life and home schooling our youngest. The days and years just seem to get shorter and time seems to be a more precious commodity.

Talk to you later,

Karen

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Karen Stewart

Incredibly Huge, Clearance Sale in the Shop!

It is the end of year Clearance sale in the shop. It is my time to clean some things up and you get a huge savings. I do not price the blankets much lower than this, ever! So stock up on cup cozies as awesome teacher gifts. Buy some blankets for the wedding season coming up and they also make great housewarming gifts! Be sure to buy it when you see it as the items in this clearance sale will go fast!

There are cup cozies marked down.

Christmas ornaments are marked down.

Infinity scarves are marked down.

Ponchos are marked down. Â Crocheted blankets are even marked down 25%.

Pretty much everything is 25% off in this clearance sale!

Talk to you later,

Karen

P.S. Here is the link to my shop! www.etsy.com/shop/chocolatedogstudio

Posted on October 20, 2014 by admin

Giant Crochet Blanket

I call it a giant crochet blanket but not because the blanket itself is huge but the hook and yarn are. Here is my newest ta dah! I love this blanket! It is huge, soft and dramatically striped in cream and black. The stripes run lengthwise and make a beautiful dramatic statement. It is a bit like the Â huge gigantic knit blankets that are now all over the internet and Etsy. I have been dying to crochet a huge one as well. It is a work out as the yarn is heavy, the hook is huge and the bigger the blanket gets the heavier everything is.

Here is it in its beginnings. The giant hook lying next to my sewing shears.

Here is a photo to give you an idea of the scale of the crochet and the hook!

This blanket is crocheted out of acrylic yarn and not wool roving like so many of the giant blankets. It is crocheted and not knitted. This is the first wooden hook I have ever used and I am starting to like the feeling of it. The wood warms up in your hands. The thing I didn’t like is that it is thicker than a broom handle and felt clumsy in my hand. I chose a simple pattern since I wasn’t used to working with such large scale yarn or hook. Each stripe is about 1 skein of yarn. The yarn is super soft and not itchy since it is crocheted out of any acrylic. The yarn was a bit slippery and wanted to slip off the hook. Here is the blanket in all of its glory.

I love this giant crochet blanket! It was fun to crochet and I love trying something new. It will be for sale in the Etsy shop, soon. I am offering the ability to crochet this blanket in a variety of colors and sizes for a wonderful custom gift. It all depends on the availability of the yarn. I did have to pry this blanket out of the hands of my family as they thought it wonderful and soft.

Talk to you later,

Karen