Finally, the PIF!

It is the middle of April. Normally here in South East North Dakota, the grass is greening up, the ground is warming and drying enough that farmguy is busy working up the fields and planting wheat.  I'm planning the garden and starting the tomato, cabbage and other seeds in the basement. 

 This year for a birthday present, mother nature decided that we are not done with winter.  My birthday was Sunday the 14th. It was a snow storm.  This is what greeted me when I got up on the morning of the 15th.

Another 10" of snow, on top of the snow that hadn't melted yet.  Over night the wind went down so the snow clung to everything.  It was very heavy and wet.

This is Shep wading through the snow in the yard.  

Those with good long memories may remember that I won a pair of very pretty earrings from Umi & Tsuru about a year ago.
One of the rules for the giveaway is that you hold one too.

It took me the longest time to figure out what to give.  I changed my mind several times.  When I ran into these cute little tins

They are not empty, but I am not showing what is in them.  You will have to win to find out.

These are made with Yarnplayers Pansy in size 50 with doodads and beads from FireMountain Gems and the findings are from eebeads.com.

These look a bit lopsided for some reason, but they are not.

These are tatted with LadyshuttleMakers Rainforest in size 50.  The doodads are from FireMountainGems and the beads are some that I was give.  I was remiss in not writing the giver on the bag, while I am pretty sure who gave them to me, I am not totally sure so won't say.  The findings are from Gale Marshall of TatsAll in Canada.

And the 3rd pair are tatted from Ladyshuttlemakers Wildflowers in size 50.  The doodads are again from FireMountain, the beads are Mill Hill Seed beads and the findings from Gale Marshall.

So, here are the rules.  I will keep the give away open until the 23rd. That is 1 week. In your comment, Please let me know your chose of earring .,..  Pansy, Rainforest or Wildflowers.  At the end of the week, I will use a random number generator to chose the 3 winners.  If more then 1 choose the same color earring, I will use draw for who gets their choice, the other will receive the 3rd pair of earrings.

UPDATE: PIF means Pay It Forward. If you win, you need to hold a give away of your own at some point showcasing your craft. 

Impromptu thread give away

I have a ball of thread that needs a different home.
It is a pretty variegated colorway, a deep burgandy with lavendar and soft pink.

It is made by Omega and is a size 50.

I like the colorway, but not the thread, it is a softer thread, and I have trouble with it.  I can see others have not problems, but for me it is just frustration and I choose to let it go.

I was working on a bookmark this weekend.

the pattern is mine, and will be written up and posted later when it has been re-worked.

The thread on the bottom side is the one I wish to give away. I gave up,  it has been so long that I have had to give up on a project that I can't remember the last time.  I have always been able to salvage things, but not this time.  Maybe I am getting older and less patient.... I don't know. 

Anyway....  I will hold this open until the evening of the 10th.  Then enter all comments on both blogs  in a random number generator and choose the lucky person.

Please be sure that I can find your email address in your blog profile, or include it in your comment.  

Here are a couple more pictures.

The ball of Olive Lizabeth is new and included in the picture only to show the size of the ball of Omega

Shanny wanted to say "Hi" to all his fans.  (He is not one bit camera shy.)

I thought I had a green colorway in this thread too, but can't locate it, so if I do, there will be another give away for that ball.

I was gone this past weekend camping with my BFF.  We started Thursday eve and broke camp Sunday night. Barb and I used their camper for the outing except for Saturday night when farmguy and I used our new tent.  Our husbands came out for Saturday and Sunday suppers. We enjoyed the break in routine.  Some nice walks, some soaking up the sun, some sitting in the shade reading or tatting.  A lot of quiet was enjoyed by both of us.

Next week I will spend it babysitting grandkids.  I have a 3yr old grandson who has epilepsy.  He has an apt with doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN.  I will be staying with his older siblings.  Prayers for good results would be much appreciated.

100th post

Here is my 100th post. As I mentioned previously, I have something for you because it is a milestone. But first, I want to show you the shrug that I mentioned I was working on.

I found the pattern on Etsy.com from Rensfiberart and received it by email which was really great as I didn't have to wait for it to arrive.

The yarn is from yarnmarket.com it is a cotton blend of 50% cotton, 45% viscose and 5% silk in a very pretty sage combination. I can't call this a ombre colorway or a varigated colorway either as 2 strands are a lighter sage and 2 strands are more of a silver sage. the 4 strands are twisted together to give a heather appearance when worked.

The shrug pattern worked up very easily but of course, I couldn't just leave it alone. I made the sleeves longer and so had to adjust the body area as well. I have been wearing it at work for the last several days and it has helped with the when the air conditioner is on.


Some time ago, I bought a shuttle on ebay. from a gentleman located in eastern europe. I like to support new artists and since I prefer bobbin shuttles I thought I would give this a try.

It is very nicely constructed and came in it's own handmade box,


It is too big to be comfortable in my hand. I have tatted with it, but keep running into my left hand. So I am going to give this away to a random commenter to this post.

You will receive everything you see here. The shuttle, with hook protector, the handmade box, a small screwdriver and a bobbin winder ( the small dowel).
I will draw for the winner after the 15th of September 2009.
Simply leave a comment to this post. Only 1 comment per reader please.
Thanks