Win Or Buy My Ultimate Decadent Luxury Scarf! New Holiday Patterns! Blog Winner... New Giveaway!

A Sneak Preview Gift Holiday Pattern For You And A Chance To Win My Crocheted Doily! 

Greetings to all my fellow crocheters!! I have a special gift for you, a brand new doily pattern for Christmas 2013! It's the Christmas Candy Cane Doily. You are the first ones to hear about it, it was just published today! 

Christmas Candy Canes Doily

WIN The Design Prototype of the Christmas Candy Canes Doily!!! 

The doily described above - win the actual doily!! Paypal a donation to sheilaschnauzies@gmail.com with the word Scrappy in the notes (minimum $25). (See reason for Scrappy's fundraiser below). Winner will be drawn on Wednesday, December 18, and will receive their doily later that week in time for Christmas! 

 A New Twist On An Old Favorite! 

I crocheted up a variation of the old Magic Potholder pattern. Added what I think is a unique border using Bernat Handicrafter in their holiday variegate. I haven't published a pattern for the border yet, but here's how I did it: 

SC in border of potholder. Ch 2, go backward and SC in ch 2 space just made. SC in border where hook falls next. Super fast edging and I think the little points are cute! 

Magic Potholder With New Border Design

New 2013 Snowflake Patterns! 

I have two new Snowflake designs for you this holiday season! They are the Hexagon Snowflake and the Dancing Angels Snowflake. I hope you will enjoy them! 

Hexagon Snowflake

Dancing Angels Snowflake

Dancing Angels Snowflake in size 80 thread with crystals - for brooch

Dancing Angels Snowflake in Size 10 Gold & Silver With Crystals

November Blog Winner & December Contest!

Congratulations to JD from St. Louis, who is the winner of the November Blog Giveaway! 

For December, the contest will be to win any pattern from my Craftsy.com site plus your choice of the crocheted Hexagon Snowflake or Dancing Angels Snowflake. 

As many of you know, I donate about 95% of my crochet design patterns and publish them free online. (Here's an index!) I sell some of my patterns (see Craftsy link below) and all my handmade jewelry and crochet creations,  along with using my own money to support the vet expenses of our Miniature Schnauzer Rescue, Sheila's Schnauzies.(link below). Two of our Schnauzer fur kids, Sue and Ladybug, are rescues. Scrappy Jack is our 11 year old Miniature Schnauzer who we've had since he was a baby puppy. 

My Scrappy Jack, Battling Cellulitis & Respiratory Infection

Scrappy had to have 13 teeth removed the day before Thanksgiving and came down with a serious Cellulitis and respiratory infection that he is still battling. His dental surgery and treatment for the infection have run up a vet bill of over $600 so far (not covered by his preventive plan) and treatment is still ongoing. He will need another procedure this Friday to culture to determine what antibiotic would work best - another $80 plus more medications. 

Get My Ultimate Decadent Luxury Mobius Scarf Just $49!

To help with Scrappy's vet expenses, I'm offering a special hand crocheted item (by me!) It's my Ultimate Decadent Mobius Scarf. Guaranteed to keep you toasty warm while feeling silky soft against your skin! It is created with three different premium yarns together in your choice of color theme. I'm even offering free shipping anywhere in the US! Some examples of my scarves are attached. You will have your own unique creation that you'll enjoy for years to come in virtually any color theme! If you'd like to get your own special scarf, just email me back! I accept Paypal or any major credit card, or checks/money orders.

WIN The Ultimate Decadent Luxury Mobius Scarf!

The same scarf described above - win it!! Paypal a donation to sheilaschnauzies@gmail.com with the word Scrappy in the notes (minimum $10). Winner will be drawn on Monday, December 23! Winner will receive their scarf the first week of January. 

My friends, I am humbled to need to ask for your help to help our Scrappy - just share this link to Scrappy's GiveForward fundraiser with your friends. The well is dry. You can make a difference just by sharing! 

There are other ways you and your friends can help - if you're looking for the perfect holiday gift, check out my jewelry creations here.

Thanks so much! Holiday blessings to you and yours, 

– Sheila

New Patterns, A Contest, Personal News & More!

WOW it has been a busy six weeks for me!  'm-I bad, I need to get busy blogging! Well, here I finally am with a little update on everything. I guess I'll focus on the things that have been keeping me crazy busy!

I recently found myself in a toy aisle looking at a Barbie doll and couldn't resist picking her up! She made me think of wonderful memories of my little girl and how she loved all her Barbie collection so. 

Then I remembered when I was a little girl, (When Barbie was young!) my mom would buy incredibly intricate hand crocheted or knitted Barbie outfits from an older neighbor lady down the street. I can still recall how thrilled I was when a new outfit would arrive!

I couldn't resist dressing up the Barbie! So I just published a new free pattern, it's an ensemble for Barbie! It includes a cutout neckline dress, a tote bag and a striped mobius scarf. If you know a little girl who loves Barbie, why not crochet this up for her for Christmas or a special birthday! Or... just because!

                                                    

My beloved son John's wedding was on October 12! Most of our relatives and close friends live a couple of hours away in Kansas City, but just about every single one made the trip here for the festivities! I have gained an amazing daughter, Janette, and I know these two will be about the happiest couple ever! They've been together for two years and you can never wipe the smile off my son's face. He is just that happy! Here are the bride and groom.

Here's the happy couple, Janette and John

Me with our daugher Carianne and husband Ron
 getting ready to leave for the wedding!


This was our first dress-up picture in too many years! So much fun!

Now, back to crochet news... 

I'm working on a new potholder design that will be published next week. It's called the "Perky Penguin Potholder." Keep watching for it here. 

Ladybug rocking her Pretti-Pants!

Be sure and check out my newest for-sale crochet pattern here! My "PrettiPants" doggie outfit is designed with instructions to make it custom fit your pooch exactly! It's extremely comfortable for the dog to wear, and also discourages accidents in the house! It makes a great lightweight outfit for a cool Fall day, too. Ladybug looks so happy wearing her Pretti-Pants!

BIG NEWS - FALL CONTEST!!

The winner will receive their choice of color of a set of three of my Angel Wing Scrubbies, along with their choice of a for-sale pattern from my Craftsy store!  All you need do to enter is leave a comment below!

IT'S ALL FOR SHEILA'S SCHNAUZIES! 

As you may know, all sales of my patterns and for-sale objects directly benefit the vet fund of Sheila's Schnauzies Miniature Schnauzer Rescue, a nonprofit organization in Omaha, Nebraska. 

We have worked two major dog rescues in the last few weeks. The first was Cocoa Bear, a 14 week old puppy dying with Parvovirus and abandoned. We took him in, put him in the hospital, got him well, and found him a lovely forever home in Kansas City. You can check out Cocoa's hospital fundraiser here. I'd appreciate it if you could share that link with your dog-loving friends! 

Our second rescue was Izzy, a Cairn Terrier/Schnauzer mix, who was scheduled for the "needle" in one hour at a kill shelter in eastern Iowa when we found out about her. Thanks to a lot of effort by volunteers, we got Izzy pulled out of the kill shelter and transported back here to Omaha. SO happy to say she was adopted yesterday by a fantastic dog lady whom I've known for years. She is thrilled to have Izzy as part of her fur-family! Congratulations, Izzy. You deserve it, girl. 

Well, off to crochet... happy Autumn to everyone!

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Mourning The Loss Of "Monty Rat" Schnauzer

Yesterday I had to make the very difficult decision to end the suffering of my little rescue boy, Monty Schnauzer. Monty fell suddenly ill and collapsed and at age 12+ the prognosis was very bad. My "sweet little psychopath," as I loved to call him, had suffered enough. Although as a rescuer I have counseled many people on making this hard decision, trying to figure out if it is the right time, it is very different when you're the one standing in front of the vet waiting for your decision. 

"Monty Rat" Schnauzer
2000 – 2012

In the end, I know I made the right decision... but the second guessing, the "what if's" will always be in my mind. That's just my nature, I'm afraid.  I do know I made the right decision seven years ago when I allowed Monty to stay in my rescue. Monty put me in the ER the first night he arrived after biting me on the throat! I knew at that moment he could never be placed anywhere. But there was just something about him. A day turned into a week, and at the end of that time Monty walked up to me and wanted to be picked up. That was that. From that moment on I could do anything with Monty. He had made his decision.  The little guy leaves a big hole in my home and he will be forever missed. I hope to see him again someday. 

Here is a painting I did years ago called "Schnauzie Crossing The Bridge." I am hoping a kindly dog rescuer, along with all of Monty's friends – Sheina Marie, Sparky Lynn, Harry, Casey Anne, Koby and more will be waiting to greet him. 

You can read Monty's Memorial story here. 

Playin' In The Flowers!

My crochet work has been a lot of fun so far this Spring and now Summer. I've been in a "flower" phase. First it was lilies, then daisies, marigolds, and now roses. But not just any roses! Although that "same old rose" (you thread crocheters know what I'm talking about) is wonderful, I wanted something new. So I started playing around and studying them, eventually turning to my garden photos. Luckily for many years I've photographed virtually every major flower that has bloomed in my yard. It's just a matter of finding what I wanted. I finally did, and with that, inspiration. I found a pic of a beautiful  lavender rose I'd grown years ago and that was the one I wanted to emulate.  (Oh and if you look closely, the rose has a tiny buzzing visitor!)

It took me about a week of testing ideas (and ripping them out) but it finally hit me how I wanted to do it. The design came together quickly after that and it is now published as a free pattern for a limited time. Eventually it will be "promoted" to my for-sale patterns. It's called the "Backward Rose" and you'll see why when you check out the pattern!

I'm finishing my newest rose design, an individual rosebud, right now. You can find that pattern here. After that I plan to do a Hemerocallis (Daylily) modeled after a beautiful daylily called "Pandora's Box." I can't wait to work on it!

In furkid news, I'm babysitting Macie and Winnie, my doggie granddaughters, while their mama is away on a trip to North Carolina for a week. Macie is an incredibly sweet 6 month old pure white German Shepherd Dog puppy, and Winnie is a 4-year-old Miniature Schnauzer. Then add rescue kids Bailey and Monty, and my used-to-be rescues Sue-Sue and Ladybug, and we have a little Schnauzer rodeo! It's been terribly hot here for well over a week and another week to come, so their outside time is limited. We are fortunate to have a big covered patio in back where they can laze on cool concrete or rugs in the shade. But even still, it's too danged hot.  Tomorrow I'm planning "Doggie Spa Day," will give as many baths and haircuts as I can until I get worn out!

Macie and Winnie on lookout. Macie seems to think she's
the same size as Winnie!

It's been a struggle keeping all the flowers and plants going in this heat with a sprinkle of rain just every few days. One of my favorite things is to photograph gardens right after (or as!) I'm watering them. Here is the garden adjacent to my front stairs. I'm really proud of that Gerbera Daisy (near top center). I overwintered that plant and it nearly croaked but is now all happy and this was its first bloom this year. The big leafy thing at left top is my baby Chocolate Mimosa Tree, which will soon be moved elsewhere. The Stargazers are very pretty this year. The red flowers are just little petunias.

In "me" news, some of you know that I struggle with being a very brittle diabetic and hypoglycemic. In all honesty I haven't been eating correctly for quite awhile. After a couple of very scary hypoglycemic episodes last weekend, I'm trying something completely different. Not the veggie stew I did relentlessly for two years  to lose and keep off 70 pounds. I can't stand the idea of soup right now for some reason. What I'm trying to do is learn about the Glycemic Index and try to eat in a different manner to see if it stabilizes my blood sugar.

Not Christmas, But Sure Feels Like It!

Ever had a day where you wake up and feel like it's Christmas morning and you're running to the tree to collect your gifts? This is one of those days for me! I just knew there would be good news in my email (there was) and some great opportunity looms on the horizon.  LOVE days like this! I am very excited to start work on a brand new crochet design today. It's a SECRET!!  It's something I've had a couple of requests to do, and something I've meant to make for years. Something everybody in the whole world needs, too! So, wish me luck, I hope it turns out as well as I'm imagining!

Kind of disappeared a little for awhile, Koby's passing really threw me. (If you haven't read my prior posts, Koby was one of my rescue schnauzers who battled diabetes and finally lost. You can read about him here).  Anyway, here is a photo of Koby in much happier times. He adored his "swimmie pool," I always kept it for him every summer. I miss the little guy terribly. 

We had quite the adventure when we took five dogs in for vaccinations at the local low-cost vax clinic for area rescues. I'd never been to one before, and our budget demanded we give it a try! It was a snowy, windy day, about 18º outside, ice everywhere to walk on... my worst nightmare with two new hips!) But I didn't fall, we managed not to freeze to death, and all the furkids have their shots. Whew. Ron really was a huge help moving the dogs around.  Here they are playing in the snow during the huge snowstorm earlier this month. 

Got out my jewelry stuff to play in and had a great time with my friend Heidi the other night. I had orders for two of the Rainbow Bridge Memorial Gemstone Bracelets. I selected the stones and then turned Heidi loose on laying them out in her preferred design. I think they turned out really pretty, don't you agree?

I really need to start playing jewelry again. I tend to put it aside for long periods of time and then go back to it. 

I spent a lot of time this month sorting out my own costume jewelry and getting rid of the stuff I don't wear or like anymore. 

I'm not sure what it is about rainbows, they just make me happy! The person gets to pick their focal (standout) stone to memorialize an occasion of a particular month. People really seem to appreciate them.  The first one is an October focal that I designed using blue Peruvian opal, white opals, a pink Peruvian opal, and Opalite. 

Here's something new I've been doing the last month or so. There is this site called Listia.com. It works a lot like eBay with auctions, but you GIVE away your items! People bid points which you collect and then use to buy stuff from other people's auctions. It's beautifully simple, really. A very common auction on there is a "stuffed purse." Here is my first stuffed purse auction. It's a blue Coach bag stuffed with various goodies. I'm hoping to get lots of points from this one! Anyway, if you have a lot of stuff you don't want anymore, this is a great place to get rid of it! 

Well, I need to get busy crocheting on that secret project now! Hugs to the world - Sheila

On the Way to Week 5...

Well, here it is Saturday already! In two more days I'll have achieved post-op week 5. Good, because I did NOT like week 4! I just overdid it, a lot, and I spent the week paying for it. Do I ever learn? Nah...

I'm getting excited about resuming water therapy, as soon as the surgeon clears me to do it. I started it a few weeks before the hip surgery to build up strength in my other new right hip, so it could support me better. I absolutely fell in love with it. To make things even better, the therapy pool is part of the hospital complex 2 minutes up the street from my house! Yup, definitely excited. It kind of amuses me too, the idea of watching it snow outside the big glass walls while I'm in the nice heated pool indoors!

I've been trying to figure out what the he** is going on with my weight lately. Some of you may know I've lost 70 pounds over a two-year period. Actually, I've only been maintaining for at least the last six months. But somehow I think everything's rearranging, because my measurements keep going down. Now, what's up with THAT!  If only I could get the scale to move down 3 little pounds, I'd stop yapping... it's just a "magic number" i want to reach.  Here is me in my attempt at Old Navy Rockstar Jeggings. Hmmm.

They were too big, but I still like 'em!

Very excited that on my Squidoo site I was awarded "Giant Squid-25" status! I worked hard for it. You have to have 25 very good, well put together lenses (what they call web pages). They do a review of all your writing. It was kind of a neat feeling of validation for me. Right before that, I was named as a "Squid Angel." Angels go around blessing lenses (which gives them a bump in rating).  Here is a photo for one of my new recipe lenses, Chicken Wraps.

Sheila's Grilled Chicken & Veggie Wraps

So was being invited to write an article for Squidoo's "Winter Holiday" issue of their online magazine! I'm working furiously toward a Tuesday deadline on that. Years ago, I wrote a lot for "butyoudontlooksick.com" and really enjoyed it. What can I say, I love to yap!

On the crocheting side, I'm working on a scarf for a friend, a new afghan design, and finishing up a doily design. Busy, busy. No being bored here!

"A Different Rose" Doily - almost complete

The first square of a new afghan design.
More in the "Decadent Indulgence" series. 

I thought this photo was so cute! Ladybug is jumping up for her "Daddy time" that she has to have every time he comes home. Winnie and SueSu have already had their quality time, and off to nap. 

Well, I'm off to do something - hugs to you all!