Giveaways

I have been absolutely overwhelmed at the response to my 100th post giveaway, and there is still time to enter! Thank you so much.  As I write this there are 91 entries so there could be 100 or more when it closes on Saturday. The comments are all so encouraging and wonderful and in some cases humorous (StringyDogs).  It is also good to hear from people who know or remember this part of the world (Robert Kent). Those new to tatting who have found "Tat's Heaven", and even those who have not even picked up a tatting shuttle yet! - can you be encouraged to do so? Last but not least to read the comments from those who I have got to know through this blog and are now my "tatting friends".  I wish you could all win, but there are not enough shuttles and boxes to go round for that to happen! Sorry.

For those of you who are unfamiliar on how to purchase the shuttles that "I'm in the Garage" makes, this is what happens. When they are made they are put into my sister Jane's Etsy shop. This happened this morning and they were all sold in less than 24 hrs!  However, next time Jane said she would release them later on in the day to give those on different time zones a fairer chance. Sadly we have found it impossible to make them to order as so many people want the shuttles at the moment and there really is not enough time to make them that quickly and we do not want to keep people waiting for their shuttles for months on end.  Jane will announce when the next batch of shuttles are going to be put in her shop. Different woods are being added all the time so there will be a wide variety of choice, you just have to be patient!

To prove that people do win "giveaways" this is a picture of what Gina sent me when I won her giveaway which was to celebrate the 4th July, my birthday - oh sorry American Independence Day.  Thank you Gina for your generosity particularly as I was only expecting a bookmark!

I will announce the winner of my 100th Anniversary Giveaway on Sunday in the meanwhile please keep your fingers and toes crossed!

100th Blog Anniversary

To celebrate my 100th post and to thank all of you out there who have been so supportive to me and "I'm in the garage" over the past 17 months, we are giving away two prizes, each comprising of a hand made tatting shuttle.  One will be a Pop-A-bobbin shuttle and the other will be a post shuttle.  So there will be two winners.  The shuttles will be put in one of these specially decorated boxes.

It is good to win something you really want, and some of you prefer using a post shuttle rather than a shuttle with a bobbin.  So in order for that to happen you have the option to choose which type of shuttle you would like and which box.  So when you comment please put either "Post" for Post shuttle or "Pop" for Pop-A-bobbin shuttle.  However, if you don't mind which shuttle, you will have a double chance to win, as your entry will be put in for both, so in that case please do not put a preference.

As for the box, if you have a preference for the colour then just put either pink, blue, turquoise or yellow beside your comment, again if you ae not that bothered then there is no need to put down a colour.

Now the only choice you will not have is the type of wood the shuttles are made out of, otherwise this would get so complicated and it would not be easy to please everyone either!  Both shuttles are made out of cedar taken from this tree.  This is the tree that the Rev Awdry famous author of the "Thomas the Tank Engine" books more than likely played around when he was a child, especially as his father was vicar of the church, which stands next to it.

I am giving you until Saturday 31st July, and will not accept any entries after that date.  So good luck and please don't forget to come back to this post to see who has won, just in case it is yew, oh sorry I mean you!

The Yew is Ready - Are You Ready?

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The yew tree wood is ready! This is the first Pop-A-bobbin shuttle to be made from it, only please don’t all rush to order one because Jane will be putting it, and any future shuttles in her Etsy shop soon. There are so many different woods that “I’m in the Garage” now makes into shuttles that it has got too complicated (for the time being), to send in personnel requests, do hope everyone understands. Jane and I will review the situation in the future when perhaps we both have more time and energy!

 

It is commonly known that yew trees have been traditionally planted beside churches. However, in some cases it seems that very old yew trees may have already been growing on a site before the earliest church building was erected there. I have no idea how long this particular tree has been standing next to the church in our village, especially as parts of the church date back to Saxon times. Last year a few branches had to be taken down as they were hanging over some gravestones. So the Archdeacon, who lives quite near to this particular church, got his chain saw out and cut some of the branches off. As soon as I learnt that this had happened, I was quickly up the hill and removed some of the thicker bits of wood, knowing that they would make lovely shuttles. Judging from the picture above I am sure you will agree. Yew is a slow-growing tree, it has a tight-grained wood, tough and resilient.

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However, some of you warned me of the dangers of working with yew. Apparently the entire tree is poisonous - wood, bark, needles and seed. The only part, which isn’t, is the fleshy part of the seed. Our ancestors revered the Yew above all other trees. It has always been held sacred and understood as a link with death and rebirth. It was used by early man for making weapons, tools of death, especially in the Middle Ages when long-bows were fashioned from it. Today instead of an instrument of death a beautiful shuttle has been made from it, and more are sure to follow.


So are you Ready? In the next post there will be details of my 100th Blog Anniversary Give Away. .......... Are you Ready?

Pop-A-Bobbin News

First of all to all those who have been enquiring about the Pop-A-bobbin shuttles, due to family commitments which have taken us away from home over the last month, production has slowed down, but it will hopefully get up to speed soon. As soon as more are made they will be put in Jane’s Etsy shop so that everyone has a chance to see and buy, although you will have to be quick!    I can report though that in the little time that "I'm in the garage" has had to make shuttles, he managed to make me a few as he didn't like the fact that I had only one for myself!   So as not to make you green with envy I will post a picture of them another time! He has been experimenting with some new woods and they are fabulous.

                                     

The dangles are Jane’s pattern and with all the various thread and beads available each one can be unique. The dangle on the far left has a glittery bead in the middle, Jane and I visited a very special bead shop and purchased some of these, amongst others! One of the threads and also the small orange beads in this particular dangle came in a parcel that Fox sent me, and the blue one has some thread Sue Anna sent me.

These are the goodies Fox so kindly sent and in it are a bag of shells, last year I made the necklace below using shells, my friend saw it so I gave it to her. There is also a packet of wooden beads that look like chips of wood, “chip off the old block” may be!

This is my 98th post so my 100th bloganniversary is very close and in it there will be a giveaway in which you will have a choice of what you want if you win!