Update: The Magic Knot

Sorry it's been so long again! Summer is finally here so things are only a tiny bit less hectic in our house. I'm going to enjoy every minute of it because very soon my youngest will be off to Kindergarten!
Anyway- that's not why you're here. You're probably here because you want more information about the magic knot that I used in my Rainbow Dash Blanket. I wanted to update because I had read a lot of other crocheters were having issues with the knots coming undone.
I'm happy to report that almost 2 years later (OMG!) that the blanket is still in pretty good shape. There were a couple of spots where I had to reknot the yarn-which was not fun. But all in all it was OK. My biggest gripe with the magic knot is, well- the knots. Depending on where you join the yarn and how good you are at pulling the knot tight it can get unsightly. I tried my hardest to hide the color changes but sometimes they are unavoidable. I also made a Draculaura blanket using the same technique. it was A LOT larger than Rainbow Dash and it took a long time, but it would've taken me 3x longer if I had to deal with sewing ends in.
My advice is this. practice with the technique a lot, it can be tricky to get it down at first and you don't want to be playing around with it on a commissioned project or something you want to sell down the line.
Once you practice- do it more. Seriously make a whole chain of weird ass color changes just to get a good feel for it, play around with where in the stitches you join your yarn so you can hide the knot.
Do a swatch. An actual swatch, probably 20x20 stitches with some color changes so you can you guessed it, practice some more.
Once you get the hang of it you'll be a pro. As long as you're pulling tight enough your yarn shouldn't break. There are a bunch of tutorials on YouTube to help you out as well!

Here's Draculaura so you can see how massive she was! It was over a year ago that I made her but I believe the graph was 180x100 if you zoom in you can see some of the knots.

Happy Crafting!

New England Patriots C2C Graph

Hi Everyone!!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've made a post, I try to keep active on my Facebook page, but it seems like I have less and less time for actual blog posts. I'm going to try and change that though, I miss blogging and am going to make that a goal of mine for the next few months!

So, what brings me to this blog post is my NE Pats graph. I'm a loyal NE fan and I wanted to make this to show my pride in my team. I had it for sale in my Etsy shop, but apparently the NFL didn't like my $3.00 listing so it was removed. I am not going to fight them, I used their logo as inspiration, but I did draw the graph. Since I don't have the time or the budget to fight with them over it, I am going to offer it for free here on my blog. I will not upload it to ravelry, as I have a feeling they will remove it as well.



So, here it is. You can download the PDF here. You need to cut out and tape the pages together for it to work. Just an FYI, the pattern is 100x75.

Happy Hooking and GO PATS!

Rainbow Dash Blanket and the Magic Knot

As much as I love making graphgans, I hate changing colors. Keeping tons of bobbins from getting tangled and ALL.OF.THE.SEWING. required was enough to give me pause on starting another project. Not to mention, when doing the other C2C blankets I noticed that even after extensive weaving my ends would still come lose and poke out of the blanket. Not what you want to see after all of that hard work!

Then I discovered the magic knot. What is it? Well, it's a great way to join your yarn colors together so that you have NO ENDS TO WEAVE IN. There are a bunch of videos on YouTube to show you how to make the knot but once you do, watch this video because it shows you how to incorporate the magic knot into your project.

So, with all of this in mind I decided to try my hand at another graphgan. Both of my girls chose one for their birthdays, and my little one's was first. She chose Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony. I went back and forth on choosing a particular graph but the winner was this one.

Found this on Pinterest, there are TONS more!

I started at the bottom left corner and getting to that first color change made me super anxious. That first scissor cut felt very scary, but once I got the hang of it it was pretty easy and I really enjoyed making this blanket.

Legend of Zelda Graph C2C Lap Blanket

Another project is finished! I'm so happy that it's done. My wonderful husband is a big fan of the Legend of Zelda games and I couldn't resist making him this graph.

The finished blanket measures around 40x32 inches and is more for display/lap blanket than to be practical however, I love the finished product and I'm proud of it! It took me awhile due to my struggle with the seemingly endless color changes (weaving in ends took FOREVER!). I had originally planned for a fabric backing but changed my mind once the border was on.

Here is where you can find the original graph I used. I just printed out the image and crossed off each row as I went. I also find it easier to number my rows and columns so its easier to remember what side you're working on.

Work In Progress

For the border I did this one by the crochet crowd. I did 3 rows in blue and one in black to finish it off.

All those ends!! And this is about half of them!

I used mostly Red Heart Super Saver for the colors, except for the background color, Dark grey and the black, they were all Caron One Pound in Sky Blue, Dark Grey and Black.

I am going to be trying a new technique known as the Magic Knot for any future projects with lots of color changes. NO ends to weave in.  Click the link for a video tutorial!

I hope you enjoyed this project, I really did and will be trying out more soon!

Happy Crafting!

Before the border

Emoji Blanket- It's finished!

After I had my time-out with the blanket I decided the best way to join the squares was to keep with the white and whip-stitch them together. It went pretty quickly and I was happy to get it done, Once I attached all of them I did a simple border of just single crochet around in white yellow and black. It's not a very large blanket but I really did enjoy making the different squares and watching it come together. Now that I've finished the blanket I'm happy to say I will definitely be attempting more c2c graphgans in the future!

If you are looking for the graphs you can find them here.

Stay tuned, there will be a GIVEAWAY on the blog very soon for my 100th post!

Crochet C2C Emoji Squares

I have to be honest here. I have not finished this blanket. I started it weeks ago. The squares are done, but every time I try to border/join them I hate how they look and rip them out. It is going to sit in my office for awhile and I will do some other projects until I feel like picking it up again.

But for now here are what the 9 squares look like, I got the graphs (there are written patterns too) from Sarah at Repeat Crafter Me. Hers looks great all done.

2016 Temperature Blanket

Hi Everyone!! I'm sure you've seen the tons of posts on Pinterest and Facebook about making a temperature blanket!

*Not my work ©ChocolateDogStudio on Etsy

I've tried making one of these before and lost my interest so I never finished it. BUT this year I think I'm really going to do it.

One example of your yarn choices.

This year is special, why you ask? because it's a LEAP YEAR, which means this year has an even number of days! Perfect for a Corner to Corner blanket!! What my plan is is to use the chart below (I'm using Red Heart Super Saver and I liked that there is a wider range of colors in this chart) and create my blanket, Increasing from now until June, and then decreasing for the rest of the year.
I am also not great with doing *1 row a day* type projects, so I'm keeping a Temperature log in my datebook as a reference, noting the sky conditions (sunny, cloudy, rain, snow) the temperature and also the yarn color. I was originally wanting to make a C2C square for each month and join them at the end of the year, but because the months are all not equal with days they wouldn't be the same size and I thought it would look weird. So. That's my plan! I'm going to purchase some of the wintery colors now and get started!

This is the chart I'm using! (i will add stitches of rain and snow instead of the whole row)

Not into the idea of a Temperature blanket? How about a mood blanket? You could use the same principle ( a row a day) and use a different color based on your mood for the day. No matter what project you choose it should be a fun way to work on your crochet for the whole year!

http://crochetime.net/2013/12/30/crochet-mood-blanket-2014/

If you decide to make one please feel free to share it with me!

Happy Crafting!

Camera Graph Pattern

Here is another graph pattern that I've made!

I really like this one, it's simple and has a vintage look to it!

This graph measures 59x65 and will make a pretty decent sized blanket.

To purchase the pattern you can find it on either Etsy or Ravelry

Ariel Silhouette Graph

I am in so love with this blanket, the original pattern that I purchased was 150x150. I didn't realize how large a 150x150 c2c blanket would be and I had a deadline to meet so  I decided to try my hand at making it into a 55x55 graph for a C2C blanket.
it was my very first C2C (Corner to Corner) blanket and I'm very proud of the way it turned out. This graph was originally supposed to be a single crochet stitch blanket. The

Disclaimer: **I did not alter the original graph, I found the original source image and created the graph from there.**


I am listing my version of the graph for sale on Etsy.

My pattern graph

Ariel Graph Pattern

Hi everyone!!!
It's been a long time since my last post! Family life has been busy and things have gotten in the way, BUT, it is a new(ish) month and I'm recommitting myself to this blog!

SO, it seems like graphgans, pixel blankets and the graph corner to corner (C2C) and bobble stitch blankets are very popular now, so with that in mind I am introducing my very first paid pattern. I'm super excited about it (it's listed for sale on both Etsy and Ravelry)

It's a very simple pattern and it even gives you the guide for the yarn colors.

This graph can be adjusted to use for different types of blankets. I'm using the C2C method because I'm impatient and don't like to take forever on a project.
I use a 6.0mm hook with my C2C blankets and if you want you can use a chunky blanket and a larger hook.
If you would like to make this a large blanket you can use the pixel method like Sarah at Repeat Crafter Me. She does small tight granny squares and sews them together.

This particular graph is 45x65


I will be adding more graphs to my collection! Stay tuned!

Enjoy!