The Giving Flower

Here is one of the k buttons Christina gave me, I had 4 in total, which makes a great fish eye for Mr. sockfish 2. (In case you’ve forgotten, clicking on a picture makes it much better to see all the detail.)

Yes, I’ve been sewing again. Hey, how many of you have more than one sock in progress? I have 2 and therefore need 2 fish bags to keep my yarn warm. Mr. sockfish 2 has a flowery, buggy fin and a bigger hidden pocket.

I also made him just a tad bit longer, I don’t want any needles slipping out. I’ve been trying to use the fabric I have at home and I love not having to buy anything. I have a lot of hidden fabric, hidden because I don’t have enough room to keep it easily accessible, which I had absolutely forgotten about. It was like Christmas going through it all again to see what I could use.
Let me introduce you to my new purse.

I’m a bag-aholic, it’s spring and my old purse is really showing signs of wear. What better reason did I need to make yet another purse? This is by far my favorite size and shape bag for everyday use. Here in the city, I’m very careful to keep my valuables safe under wraps. The bottom is denim and I used iron-on stabilizer to give the Amy Butler fabric I got from Linda a bit of stiffness. I used the same thin pink rosebud fabric as the fish for the lining.
I’m off to feed my fish.

I went fishing yesterday and look what I caught.

Isn’t he a great catch? Not only is he made from great things, Amy Butler fabric from Linda, and K button eyes from my best bud Christina, he’s also full of surprises. Hey, could that be my Jaywalker he’s swallowed?

No, those aren’t just pretty scales on each side, they are hidden pockets big enough for a calculator or some fun stitch markers.
He also has a long handle so I can wear him while knitting. I made him out of denim to give him a bit of stability and lined him with thin pink rosebud fabric.

I originally saw these sock bugs made by sockdiva (she makes the coolest bugs!) and thought a fish would be a super idea.
Hey, this even qualifies for my bag for sew? I knit. Yeah!!! I was able to finish a bag before the end of this month. Good thing too, I was starting to feel really guilty.
Speaking of fish and the sea, I would like to show you my newest stitch markers, or rather those that will soon to be stitch markers. I was asked to create some scuba diving markers and this is what I came up with. (I won’t mention any names because these are meant to be Christmas gifts and it’s a very small blogworld as we all know-better to be safe)

If you have any special requests for stitch markers, please let me know and I’ll see what I can come up with.

Don’t forget to sign up for I’m FIT. I ran yesterday for 17 minutes and I’ll be running again tomorrow, as for today, we’re walking to the zoo.

By the way, I tried to make the button yellow for the month of April and green for the month of May for Project Spectrum. I’d love to link to Lolly’s blog but once again I can’t pull up her page. (

Look what Trek sent me! Now I can dye my new yarn. She sneakily found my address and sent me these. I haven’t had time to check the local stores here to see about the prospects of buying it, so I’m so happy she sent this!! Thanks again. Oh by the way, Trek, I saw your pic on Yarn Harlot’s blog-the one behind the camera, right?

This weekend I was able to finish these two small skeins of self-spun yarn. Some of the yarn broke while I was plying them and I had to make two small skeins instead of one big one. I was able to salvage another break because I didn’t want to have three mini skeins, so I’m hoping it holds . This yarn is much better than my first attempt. I’m so scared to dye it for fear I may felt it or just plain ruin it in some way. I guess I should jump in and hope for the best. I’m going to wait until I’ve spun a bit more before I attempt to dye the whole thing, so I can really knit something cool with it. Does anyone have any good ideas for self-spun yarn besides scarves?

One more thing before I get back to my knitting.
I started running again yesterday because I couldn’t stand my thighs any longer and I need to get myself moving again. How do you feel? Do you need to get going too? Hey it’s spring and those bikinis will be calling us soon. In my case it’s a tent, but bikini sounds better.
I’ve made this new button for our fit sewknitters group.

I’ll have a page on my sidebar with all those who would like to join. There’s not too much to it, all you have to do is get out and move, whether it be yoga at the gym or sit ups in your living room, training for a marathon or taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work, let’s just all get fit together. The button on your blog is to motivate you to keep it up. I won’t be updating, that’ll be your job, but the list will be there so we can peak in and see how you’re doing. Come on in and join us, the waters wonderfully warm.

Why can’t I run and knit at the same time?? I probably wouldn’t come home, I guess.

I have to confess, I haven’t sewn in ages. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just I’m obsessed with yarn in all forms right now. I would love a new bag, and I even have some gorgeous material to make one, but I’m stuck in my knitting phase.
I’ve even signed up for Sew I knit, but I didn’t make the skirt in March. I think making a summer skirt while it’s freezing cold outside just isn’t my thing. I also feel too fat to make something that revealing. The sun will come and bring inspiration-I know it.

Well, It hasn’t been all that bad. Over Easter my machine did see the light of day. But it wasn’t just me. Alexander has found a new love-my sewing machine. You see, he loves anything technical and my machine, being electronic, fits that description to a T. Here he is sewing a bag not a cup. (Notice the yellow fabric for Project Spectrum.)

I’ll tell the story. The word for cup in German is Tasse and the word for bag is Tasche. Well, Alexander sometimes doesn’t pronounce his sch’s (sounds like sh in English) correctly and gave his finished ‘bag’ to Alida (he had sewn both his and her names on it for her) and she immediately went to the bathroom to fill up her new ‘cup’ with water. It took us a bit to figure out why she came out of the bathroom with her new bag dripping wet. She had actually tried to drink with it. We’re now practicing his sch’s. Needless to say, he now says bag in English instead of German.

Imagine this, Martin took the kids to see their great grandparents for 5 whole hours last Friday and I was able to do whatever I wanted. Oh heaven!!
At first I did a few mundane tasks such as mending the hole in his Martin’s pants and sewing a soccer ball on Alexander’s ripped knee. Then I reached for this silk I had bought with Christina. Two of our best friends were married yesterday and all I had was a black linen dress with a black cardigan. You know I can’t wear black to a wedding, so I had bought this pink silk to make a shawl. I worked on it for a few hours and this is how it came out.

The silk wasn’t long enough to be a shawl so I cut two pieces and sewed them on the ends. I then embroidered the seam with matching silk thread. On the ends I embroidered leaves and then hand sewed beads in between each set. I love how it turned out.

Martin, being the wonderful sensitive man he is, has kindly remarked I look like I’m wearing a sheet around my shoulders. Oh great, now I’m going to a wedding in a sheet. It could be worse, right?
Yesterday was the wedding and here is my sheet shawl in action. Look, my head is not cut off. *wink*.