A big thanks to A Sheherd’s Tale, the blog of the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm, for being a sponsor on this site. I’ve talked previously about the farm and how amazing it is that Susan can keep an amazing blog considering how very, very much she does. I’m truly in awe of her, the business, and how much goodness she brings into the world. If you don’t already follow her adventures I highly encourage you to do so, she gives such a generous window into her world. And if you are looking for an incredible gift for a knitter or spinner, I suggest again a share in the fiber CSA would be perfect.

Say hello to the cuteness:

A big thanks to MirrorMate Frames for being a sponsor for this site. I’ve talked about their custom sized and easy to install frames for mirrors previously, but I didn’t get a chance to go into how much I appreciate their attention to detail. I have a huge mirror, 39 x 63 inches, that I inherited with this house. It’s incredibly heavy and the edges are chipped. When I was first reading about MirrorMate Frames I figured they wouldn’t work for my huge mirror because it sits on the floor and I thought the frames would need clearance around the outside of the mirror. Turns out, the MirrorMate people had already considered that and can make frames to clear when a mirror is up against a wall or counter. They’ve also taken into consideration if a mirror is held up with those clear plastic clips and can build the frames so that the clips don’t interfere with the frames sitting flush against the surface of your mirror. They even have a video on their website that shows all the steps of assembling and placing the frame, which is made as easy for you as possible and includes temporary placement corners as guides.

More reasons to like them: they are doing everything they can to be a green company, their frames are build here in the USA, they are woman created and owned and the entire idea was started when Lisa Huntting needed a solution for the mirrors in her bathroom and decided that if she couldn’t find it she would make one.

I’d like to thank my third sponsor, Delight.com. Delight is a shopping site that picks out wonderful things and puts a new one up for sale each 24 hours at a very nice price. They also keep a shop of some of the favorites and organize them most conveniently into categories for recipients (like graduation, hostess, the traveler, newborns), as well as by price, guest editor picks and staff favorites. And of course, Tracey’s picks are always wonderful. I’m constantly charmed by what they have to offer. In particular I love their selection of eco-friendly bags, water bottles and cleaning products. Delight carries the lines of my two favorite types of reusable shopping bags, Envirosax and RuMe, both of which I use every day and suspect I’ve talked about a bit too much on this site.

One of the newest lines that Delight is offering is the Alice Supply Co. line of bright and cheerful home goods including a dustpan and brush, plunger and these cute and functional tool boxes, I really dig the wood grain and the bright stripes. If I had one of those I might be able to keep my tools in someplace more visible than the closet underneath our stairs.

To celebrate being a sponsor Delight.com would like to hold a giveaway for three lucky readers, thank you Delight! They are giving away three Lappers, multi-functional dining trays. From the site: “Lappers are made of a very durable melamine, have indentations for the dishes that are fitted with anti slip silicone mats, both the tray and mats are completely dishwasher safe, they nest into each other, and have large comfortable handles for guys or gals. You can even use the silicone mats as trivets, hot pads, even jar openers!” These sound perfect for what I like to think of as the Let’s Go Outside And Eat Dinner On The Deck season. And, I’ll admit it, when Scott is away for the evening and I’m dining alone I usually do plop myself down in the couch in front of the tv, this tray would make getting there a bit more stylish.

If you’d like to win a Lapper tray simply leave a comment with this post, and so you have something to say mention which style you’d like if you win (Green Trellis, Basketweave, Black & White, Chocolate & Turquoise, and Super Dots) and what you would use the tray for (breakfast in bed perhaps?). You have until Wednesday morning, June 10th at 10 a.m. PST. The winners will be chosen by the cold, unfeeling Random Number Generator, and the usual fine print applies.

Good luck!

A huge thanks to Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm for being a sponsor again this month. I’ve already talked about what the farm does and that they had the first ever Yarn CSA (great gift for a knitter, with an option for raw fleece for that spinner in your life, just saying).

If you haven’t checked out Susan’s blog, A Shepherd’s Tale, I’d like to take a moment to encourage, no insist, that you do so. It’s an amazing insight into just how much work and how much joy goes into keeping a huge flock (is that the right word) of sheep and goats and everything else she does for her business. In the last month she has documented how the farm has had a whole bunch of little ones born, this one, Alabama, is so darn cute, just look at this happy face, had a birthday (happy belated birthday!), shown us Arno’s Big Adventure, showed off some new yarn, such a great color, let us watch the chicken hunt, has the annual Shearing Day festivities complete with food and music and demonstrations of spinning (hello, excellent reason to be a shareholder!), shown off happy sheep and goats (I love the picture of one perched on top of the rock).

Then Susan went to Texas where she held a dyeing demonstration, got some darn good cowboy boots and visited the cowgirl hall of fame, announced some fabulous shareholder benefits, announced Shepherding Camp, and then travelled off to PEI to drop her annual load of fleece off to get it all spun.

People, this is more than I do in a year and she managed to keep a blog. I’m flabbergasted.

Susan also has frequent giveaways, and even if you aren’t a knitter her posts on things she thought we might like are full of incredible stuff to explore. As always you can watch the lamb cam and see pictures from the farm of goings on around the farm and recent births. A Shepherd’s Tale is an awful lot of fun to keep up with.

A big thanks to my second sponsor, MirrorMate Frames. They create custom sized frames that fit around a mirror creating a more polished look. When you order the frames they cut them perfectly to size, and you assemble and apply the frames yourself. They also take into account if the mirror has clips that hold it to the wall and if the mirror is snugged up against another surface, like a countertop or backsplash. The MirrorMate site has very clear instructions on how to measure and how to install the frames, they also have helpful videos for both. You can order a free sample of any frame. Everything they carry is made in the USA and they are doing their best to be a green company. I love that this company was created by somebody who couldn’t find an easy way to frame a large mirror. MirrorMate frames certainly are a simple solution to making a bathroom mirror look a bit more polished, or if you need to do a bit of staging in preparation to sell your house.

I’d like to thank Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm for being my first big sponsor. If you’re not already familiar with this amazing venture please allow me to introduce you. Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm is the first yarn and fiber CSA, giving knitters and spinners the chance to buy a share in the fleece the farm’s well cared for animals will produce each year. The farm was started by Susan Gibbs and Patrick Manning after they fell in love and decided to make some big changes to their lives. You can read more here and get acquainted with the animals on the farm with Who’s Who at the Fiber Farm part one and part two. Also meet their extraordinary farm dogs.

Susan keeps a fantastic blog called A Shepherd’s Tale about what is going on with the farm and just last weekend they had their first baby goat of the season, an adorable pile of soft curls. His name is Arno (they are naming the baby goats after fonts this year!). More babies are coming and you can keep an eye on the very popular LambCam.

You can find Yarn CSA shares in the shop, and it’s well worth noting that there are also “spinner’s shares” for those who make their own yarn. As a shareholder you can visit the farm during the annual shearing festival. The farm also sells yarns made from their animals, both dyed and undyed. I had the opportunity to touch some of the yarns a year or so ago and it’s delightfully soft and squishy. Later this year Susan and Patrick will have a book coming out about their experiences.

I’ve been following Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm for a while now and I’m so delighted to see that they are expanding and keeping animals on Patrick’s family farm in the Hudson Valley. They are planning on adding bees, and chicken and ducks for the eggs this year. I’m really excited to read about everything they have going on this year and for many years to come.