Tag: granny squares

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How I Finish Crochet Projects Quickly.

I will be honest, it seems like I finish up crochet projects super quick.I really don’t finish them up that quickly but I do have different things I do that help me finish several projects at a time.

To start with I will lay out all of the yarn within a brand on my table…or the couch or …. well you get the idea.

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I sort them into color groups like the one shown above. I am playing with the colors to figure out color combinations that work well.

I also dovetail my work and work on several projects at a time.  Usually, I have at least three  projects in process at a time. One is in the portable phase and goes with me where ever I go that I might have to wait; orthodontist/doctor appointments or music lessons are usually where they get the most work. One I will work on during the evenings when the family is watching tv. The last one to three projects might be waiting on yarn, an uninterrupted block of time when I can concentrate, or simply inspiration to finish it up.

I also use my scraps as I go…

So I love crocheting Granny square blankets. They are usually scrap busters and are always so pretty. It helps me use up bits and pieces of yarn. I simply crochet the center rounds of the granny squares or even the second row on a square until I have used up the bits of yarn to short to keep. I  stored them all in a bowl until I was ready to start on this crochet afghan. It is crocheted out of a dk weight yarn and there were others that are vanna’s choice mixed into the bunch. So I pulled out the other vanna choice and wool, and just use the dk yarn centers I have been collecting centers since January of last year.  So when I started on this blanket on Tuesday I already had all of the centers and some had a second or third row on them. When I started on Tuesday the bowl was full and it now looks like this.

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This current red bordered Granny square blanket started out as small granny square centers from left over bits and pieces of yarn.  I have used most of them but the blanket has 36 granny squares now.

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The next part of the blanket will be the longest but I am inspired by it and will keep working on it every night until it is done. It is jump started and will move along quickly and finish up before the month is over.

One other thing that I do is to… buy only a couple of brands or weights of yarn so that a majority of them go together for scrap granny blankets.

So in a nutshell.

  •  I keep several projects working at the same time.
  •  I take crochet work with me if I expect to wait anywhere for any time.
  •  I have a set time to work on my projects.  I usually work on them in the evenings. I take a break several times a week.
  •  I also work on several different size projects at a time. I tend to get discouraged working on long crochet blanket projects so I work on little fun things in between. I am still finishing up work here and there and I get to look at something else for a change of pace.
  • Just frog the things that you don’t like and don’t want to finish. Roll that yarn up in a ball and put it aside. Another day you will have fresh inspiration.

Like this blanket that has changed from this

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To this…

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and I am still not sure if I like it enough to finish it. So it is waiting until I decide!

I am crocheting as a business and I try to keep my spending on a cash basis. I refuse to spend money on yarn for a blanket with credit. I will start several different crochet blankets even if I don’t have all of the yarn I need to finish it.

(I know that our grandmothers’ and mother’s didn’t start a project unless they had all of the yarn for a project. I work mainly with synthetic fibers and have never had a problem with dye lots being different, at least in the past ten years. I think dyes and  yarns are much more stable now than they were. IF you are using natural fibers or hand dyed specialty yarns then you need to be careful to buy enough of the yarn  in the beginning as the colors among dye lots may vary. When I crochet a custom blanket I try my best to order more than enough yarn at the beginning of the project to cover any dye lot inconsistencies.)

Talk to you later…

Karen

Do you work on more than one thing at a time?

 

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Monday

Mondays seem so blah, maybe it is the combination of fun weekend rush + beginning of the week chores +left over work from the week before. Today, I am looking forward to getting to work on this little jewel. I am following a pattern that is in my queue on Ravelry. This is the pattern http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/retro-circles-blanket and it is really pretty easy to follow if I pay attention.  I am fairly far along on it and it is just flying.

The colors are cheerful and restful at the same time. I can’t wait to get it finished. I have been waiting on some yarn to come in for a custom project. I would really like to have this little baby blanket complete before I start on the other. The forest green yarn for the other custom project should be in any day now. So I am rushing to finish this one up!

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Frogging and Redoing…

I have been taking this apart (frogging) and reworking it into a better blanket. I just didn’t like the cream border around all these intense bright colors. It was going to be a larger square granny square blanket using these squares.

It just didn’t look right. It is now a rectangular granny square blanket. Here is a photo of it in its beginnings.

Here it is in all its glorious beauty!

It is crocheted out of wool yarn and is the first rectangular Granny Square afghan I have

ever made. It is a lap blanket and perfect for a chilly day.

See you later,

Karen

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Finished….Granny Square blanket

Yes! I have finished this beautiful blanket this weekend. 

 

Isn’t it lovely. Crocheted out of Fisherman’s wool and wool ease yarn. It is a lovely spot of color for a family room. Perfect for folding and keeping on the back of a chair. I love the modern and yet retro look of this crochet blanket.

I apologize for the photos but the sun keeps dodging in and out of the clouds. It has been gloomy here lately. I have been hoping for rain or snow but it is too warm for snow this week.

It is 52 inches square.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

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Wednesday!

I finished this scarf up last night. It had been laying around the studio begging to be finished  and finally it ended up this very pretty scarf. It is about 5′ long and almost 6″ wide. It has 14 granny squares in it and a pretty scalloped border. The colors are fresh and springlike.

Just a little progress on this blanket. I am working on it and it is beautiful. I love the creamy white with the flash of color here and there. I haven’t decided what color the next row will be and I am tossing some ideas around. It will get the next color row and hopefully one more before the end of the day, but it is getting larger and that just takes time and work.

talk to you later,

Karen

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The Crochet line-up

During that post holiday creative slump, I started several crochet projects knowing full well, that they would be abandoned when the yarn shipments would arrive!

Here is what I started during that time and since the yarn shipment came in.

 

a bright and cheery granny square blanket

a black and melon granny ripple…

a beautiful big granny square blanket of brilliant colored wool with cream borders

and then this beautiful granny square blanket also out of deliciously warm wool.

I know it seems as though I should finish one before I start the next. My Mom and Grandma’s would agree but, I work best this way. I have two totes with several projects in them that are traveling size. I take these with me to places where I have to sit and wait and work on my projects while waiting. When they reach a point where they are too big to travel, I work on them at night while watching movies. If I reach a point where I have lost inspiration or run out of supplies then I simply put it aside and continue working on the other projects at hand. This system is working as it keeps the shop on a cash basis and I am not buying supplies on credit.

How do you work best?

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

 

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Granny Stripe Finished!

I finished this up last night after an extended tv watching session. I talked the photographer into photographing it for me. He did an awesome job!

Granny Stripe Finished

Granny Stripe Finished

Granny Stripe Finished

I love it. It is in the ChocolateDogStudio shop here:

You can find the pattern here on Etsy and here in the Chocolate Dog Studio shop.

Crocheted out of very soft 100% washable acrylic yarn from the UK. It is 62 1/2″ long x 41 1/2″ wide. The pattern is a granny stripe and the stripes run lengthwise

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Rainbow Granny Stripe

It is now almost December and I have been sadly missed posting. It has been the Thanksgiving and Christmas rush around here. I finally got my camera out and took a few snap shots of my newest favorite.

I am about three quarters of the way finished, at least I think I am. It is definitely over the halfway mark. It is a wonderful five feet long and of the softest yarn. When it is finished I will be adding it to the shop!

I have also been selling quite a bit at the Etsy shop and it has been keeping me busy. We had a wonderful visit with our oldest dear daughter (home from college) for Thanksgiving. She brought her room mate and we had a great time watching Dr. Who on netflix. Only a few more weeks and we will have her home for three weeks. I have done absolutely NO Christmas shopping. So I will have to get busy and get on with it!

See you later,

Karen

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November Already!

Yes, it is November already…am I ready?  NO! There is so much I want to finish before the end of the year. It has been a hard year and I won’t be sad to put it behind me and start with a fresh clean slate. It has been a year of changes.

  • We have moved: packed everything we own and moved it 7 hours South and unpacked it yet again…plus unpacked the boxes we hadn’t unpacked yet the first time. No, we aren’t done yet and there are still boxes left.
  • Put one kid in college (and then drove off and left her five hours away from home)! Don’t laugh that has been one of the hardest things to do and also one of great joy. She is doing fantastic, even when she thinks she isn’t…she is!
  • welcomed a son back home until the wedding so he can save money…That has also been hard and continues to be hard simply because I forget he is an adult, but he has been an incredible help and I have so enjoyed this time.
  • preparing to have a wedding….no they haven’t picked a date or have a minister yet…but there is the Dress, so things are moving forward.

Well, that is a small list but there has been some good news. I found my camera last weekend. So, I will once again be able to show off some bad photos of things I have finished unlike these that my live in photographer took last weekend.

I added up the things I have done lately and here is my list. November Already

This is the stack of afghans I have finished this year that haven’t been shipped off. That is a huge stack of crocheted blankets. It doesn’t include the two granny square blankets that I shipped last week or the custom baby blankets I have been crocheting lately. The pretty one second from the bottom is headed out tomorrow after I get a box. We did braces today and then some comforting and hanging out. I would love for all of these blankets to find a home. Some crocheting is so repetitive that I find myself praying for the person that will receive them. That it will comfort and warm them when they need it most. I have also made tons of Christmas ornaments and I am just going to share one photo of them.ÂNovember Already

I love these star ornaments. I was trying to come up with a way to use small bits of yarn and ended up crocheting  too many of these stars. Then last week, I had a great idea…so these happened. Spontaneously, and now I have about eight pairs and could easily make tons more.

November Already

Boot Cuffs! Aren’t they cute? I don’t usually wear boots. I love these cuffs. I have so many different colors now. So, that is some of what I have done. I am also in the painting mode. I am in the process of finishing a house project that has been in the unfinished stage for more years than I would care to count. I have done the prep and just need to get the motivation to finish. You know, it is painting a bathroom cabinet. The downstairs bathroom cabinet and I keep putting it off as I know that I WILL get paint all over me when I forget that I painted in there.

See you later,

Karen

P.S. You can crochet your own boot cuffs from this pattern here on Etsy and here in the Chocolate Dog Studio shop.

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Blue baby blanket

Who needs anymore stress on Monday? So here are some beautiful photos of a blue baby blanket that I just finished and shipped off on Saturday!

Blue baby blanket

Blue baby blanket

I simply love the beautiful colors and it is wonderfully soft. It is 36″ square.  It was a custom order and started from these beautiful yarns. It was a super quick crochet job as I started it on Sunday and shipped on Saturday!

Blue baby blanket

I am working on another custom order now and it is huge. I believe it is going to take 150 crocheted granny squares. Yes, 150! Yikes, I have a plan though and it is happening pretty quickly. I have about 80 centers worked now. I will show you more at a later this week.

See you on Tuesday!

Karen