Brookie Pookie Lemon Cookie

Brooke's Knit Ruffle Top

I knit this top for Brooke a few months ago. She wore it on the plane to Costa Rica, this pic was shot from our hotel balcony. We just arrived and she quickly took it off for something cooler. It looks great over a lacey white dress. The Berrocco pattern included cute ruffle shorts however the look is a little young for Brooke. I had to double strand the yarn for a larger top than the pattern called for. I need to try harder to steer away from pink and creams in the future. On a good note: Brooke's cast is coming off tomorrow!

 

Brooke's Shrug for Ballet Class

Whirligig Shrug by Stefanie Japel. Published in Interweave Knits, Weekend 2009. I knit this for Brooke to wear to her ballet classes. She wanted it to look "like a princess sweater" so I added pink ribbons in and out of the eyelets in the pattern around the sleeves. The ribbon also helps to hold the shrug on because I made it a little large so it will last. Easy to knit with great pattern design. Knit with leftover organic cotton from Lion Brand.

She loves it ..... striking poses and dancing. Her new song is "Hey Soul Sister" by Train. She sings it everywhere she goes and adopted a silly new attitude to go with. Having two 13 year old sisters she is growing up fast.

Click on photos for close ups. Details in the pattern are difficult to see in the photos because of the cream yarn color.

  

Christmas Cowl for Lindsey

Before Christmas I ran across a pattern from French Press Knits, a beautiful Breckenridge Cowl. I quickly ran out for a soft 100% Peruvian Wool and knit this for my sister-in-law, Lindsey. I finished it just on time and wrapped it for her for Christmas. My daughter picked two large pretty brushed silver buttons. It looked great on her ...... but everything looks good on her as you can see.

Melynda of French Press Knits offers beautiful pattern designs including sweet felted slippers. At first I was going to make a pair for Lindsey however she wears the prettiest winter coats I thought the cowl would be perfect for.

French Press knits blog:

http://www.frenchpressknits.blogspot.com/

 

Pumpkins, Stems, Vines ... and a Hat 10/12/09

Every year we throw a pumpkin birthday party for my mom with a pumpkin carving, largest pumpkin and best pumpkin pie contest. This year we started out behind because we had to wait for our garden to be constructed. Everyone's vines and pumpkins were growing while we had nothing planted. In fact, Rudy, (our competitor) was called in to consult and ended up helping to dig trenches in his cowboy boots! 

In the end, everyone's pumpkins shriveled and died. I soon found out you have to rotate your crop for a successful harvest. My mom grew a half breed somehow, looks like a cross between a watermelon and a pumpkin with green and orange stripes all around.  

Lacking space, my brother David asked if we could grow his pumpkin. He picked his plant, bought it fertilizer and promised to sing to it. In the end I think his pumpkin felt unloved. It grew up pale and .... well, pale. When his wife LIndsey visited it for the first time her first reaction was denial and rejection. Poor pumpkin turned a lighter shade of white ... why don't you love me, mom??? 

Here is Brooke with the knit pumpkin hat and pumpkin vine scarf I knit her.

 

Pictured is one of our larger pumpkins. We left the stems long for the time being. They were filled with water so we left it long until it dries out.

I wanted to make her 3 year old cousin, Brandon a pumpkin hat for the pumpkin party. Brandon refused to wear a pumpkin hat, he said the hat was for babies. My husband said, of course he won't wear a pumpkin hat .... he's a boy. Having all girls, a pumpkin hat for a little boy didn't seem implausible. Now I know ........ I always said if I had a boy God help him because I only know girl "things" and this was a perfect example. 

Pushing our newly picked pumpkin out of the garden to display in the front yard.

  

Here is our third giant pumpkin. It is oval shaped and as long as long as the wagon!

Couldn't resist a pumpkin portrait. I know it would have been better if the pumpkin stem was cut down. We felt bad cutting the pumpkins off their vines. The pumpkins were still drinking. We'll cut it when it dries up.

 

My hard working gardeners. All spring and summer they worked the garden. Every weekend they would go out and pick vegetables, pull weeds and tie our giant tomato bushes to the fences. They netted fruit to keep the birds out and were constantly thrilled by the growth in the garden. We had so much fun ... the pumpkins were the most entertaining. 

 

Last year's party pics .........

Hmmmm...... Uncle David ..... I don't think your so called pumpkin deserves to sit next to the others!

Take it back .... it doesn't even deserve to be called a pumpkin much less be at our party!

Can't believe you tried to enter it ... for shame!

  

Brooke (right) and her best friend Charley (left) sitting on Aunt Jeanine's winning entries ......

 

Hard at work carving pumpkins.

 

Never any winning entries from Aunt Liz and Uncle Ed however every year they never give up trying ... :) 

 

Making messes ........

Pumpkin pie entries ..... yum!

Party's over ...... pooped out.

Brooke's Maxi Top 10/6/09

A fun and quick knit. I've always enjoyed the patterns from a talented mother, Elena. Her daughter is Brooke's age and I consider myself lucky her patterns grow along with Brooke. She is a gifted knitter and uses her daughter for inspiration. For every one knit piece I complete for Brooke, she knits four for her daughter. Her patterns are posted on her website:

http://moreknits.blogspot.com/

Her aspirations for a toddler knit book is in her future. I am sure she will do well, her designs are perfect for a toddler and not fussy at all. I told her I want to knit every one of her patterns however I know I can never keep up!

Brooke loves her new top. Most of the photos I took of her were blurred because she was doing a happy dance because she liked it so much! 

Knit with Louisa Harding Cashmir Aran.

 

Brooke's Angel Sweater 9/26/09

Today was a day of races and fiesta. Here is Brooke after a day of waking up before dawn to see their dad race for the Bosque Fun Run. After Kendall and Reiley's race we went to the Corrales Harvest Festival. Our plan was to eat and pick raspberries however the raspberries suffered an early frost so it was not to be. We stopped at a field of sunflowers so I could take a photo of her new sweater.

The pattern is Angel Sweater by Oat Couture. Knit with Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran. The sleeves are a little puffy, I guess this is why it is called "Angel Sweater".

Bob ran the early morning 5K fun run. He placed second after a 21 year old running 19:10. Not bad .... coming in a close second to a guy half your age. Bob said feels like he is just a punk out of high school.

The girls ran their first varsity race at The Bosque Invitational. Bosque took first place! My 8th graders did very well and held their own against their fellow senior racers. They ended up placing in the top ten out of over 100 racers racing against 14 other schools. Kendall came in at 21:14 and Reiley 22:11. We couldn't be more proud. OK, I will stop bragging now :) Here they are warming up.

And their off ......

Here is Reiley coming in at the finish.

Here is Kendall mid race.

Bosque Bobcats.

Congratulatory hug from baby sis.

Since I can't include raspberry picking pictures from this year I found photos from 2007 and 2008. Here is Kendall and Reiley with Brooke and cousin Brandon picking raspberries. Brooke ate as we picked. She loved them. Raspberries .... yum.

Here is uncle David with the gang in 2008. Brooke is wearing one of the first dresses I knit her. She still wears it today as a top. 

Brooke's Vintage Knit Lace Dress

Brooke's Lace Dress is finally finished and I couldn't be happier! I took the dress down 

in full  at least four different times. The dress was knit from the bottom up and for some 

reason I never  noticed a major flaw in the lace pattern of the skirt until I was already 

knitting the bodice. After taking the dress down three times and noticing a flaw for the 

fourth time I pretended I didn't see  it and continued to knit for a full evening before I 

talked myself into ripping the dress out yet again and starting over. If I had enough 

concentration to keep a lace pattern error free I would have four dresses completed 

after all the knitting I did. I was doing a happy dance when I finished this dress! Last 

weekend on our way back from Colorado we stopped in Santa Fe. The city's 400th 

Anniversary was in full fiesta mode when we went and I saw the cutest Indian fetish 

necklace to coordinate perfectly with her new dress. I inherited my grandma's button 

collection and not until I sift through those buttons do I realize how lucky I am to have 

those buttons to put on my daughter's knit dresses. These two little turquoise ones with 

a little rhinestone center couldn't be more perfect. Brooke wore this dress the first day it 

was finished. When I put it on her the length of the dress was perfect, it hit right at her calf. 

By the day's end it was down to her ankles. The yarn I used was Louisa Harding's 

Jasmine yarn. I think the bamboo and silk gives the yarn a lot of stretch. I had to re-block the 

dress in an attempt to make it the intended size to no avail. I am sure this is a major knitting 

sin but out of desperation I put it in the dryer for 5 minutes ~ it worked! I brought it up at least 2 

inches and the belt fit once again. Well at least the dress will fit until at least she is four. 

The pattern is "Vintage Baby Dress" from Piper's Quilts and Comforts. Being the pattern

only goes up to a 24 month size I added an inch to the overall width and made the armholes 

and bodice longer. The yarn has little silver sparkles which is perfect for a little girl.

Brooke's Knit Tee

In between projects I saw this simple tee pattern. A quick and easy knit and Brooke loves it along with her sister's pearl necklace.

Pattern: Spring Garden Tee
By Alana Dakos 

Yarn: Rowan Calmer

Kendall's Lace Tunic

The original pattern from Vogue Knitting is a dress. I decided to knit a variation of the original and make it a swim suit cover-up for Kendall. After many false starts and ripping out numerous mistakes, our summer vacation came and went. So the dress that was to be a cover up became a tunic. When the girls went away to summer camp I made it a personal goal to finish before they came home. A couple of late nights and weaving in the ends on the way to pick them up, it's done! I surprised her with her new top and was quite relieved it fit perfectly. She wore it to her end-of-camp strings concert.

Pattern: Vogue Knitting, Spring/Summer 2007, size small

Yarn: Anny Blatt Louxor

Little sister, Brooke patiently modeled the top in her sister's absence. Not soon after she claimed the top as her own (dress). I jokingly told Kendall she has to share her top with her baby sister. Now not only does she fend off her twin sister from her clothing favorites but she has to share with her 2-year old sister. 

Brooke modeling the pre-blocked top and declaring it her dress.

Thank you all the Ravelry knitters I emailed for online help .... and for the help I received from my local knitting store. I received an email from a Ravelry knitter ... "Vogue Knitting is really Vague Knitting." She wasn't kidding. 

Maddie's Baby Knit Blanket

I made this blanket for baby Maddie, my friend's new baby girl. Maddie's grandma makes lovely crochet blankets and dresses for her grand daughters so I knew Maddie's mom would appreciate a hand knit blanket. The pattern is from Knitting for Baby. I used a super soft organic merino yarn by Treliske in Cream. I loved the simplicity of the pattern, the pattern is knit diagonally and has a cute little eyelet trim around it. Before I was finished, I ran across a happy looking blanket with embroidery made by Atelier XT on flickr and loved it. So .... brushing up on my limited crochet and even more limited embroidery skills, I got busy. I finally finished the blanket before baby Maddie turned a month! 

Brooke's Cable Knit Tunic

Finally off the needles! Brooke's sweater was knit in bursts of activity and in between projects. Cool, spring weather quickly turns to very warm temperatures in the Southwest, this sweater almost makes me want the cold weather to stick around. I knit for a 3 year old size and I love how it fits big on her, she's so cuddly in it. I was almost finished when I noticed a giant mistake in the cable pattern at the BEGINNING of the second arm (the last piece of the sweater before finishing) ... having to unravel the entire arm and start over wasn't the funnest thing I ever did. Even then I had to argue with myself for almost 45 minutes before conceding. Picot bind offs take so long when you are finally reaching the end! Pattern is from Debbie Bliss's Great KNits for Kids. I used 9 balls of Rowan Cotton Glace with US2 and US3 needles. This is my most favorite knit I made for her.

Brooke's Easter Dress

This dress is my favorite for many reasons.

I saw a beautiful crochet and knit dress at Aravore Babies. I searched everywhere for a similar crochet top pattern and couldn't find one.

Coincidently, weeks later my friend and neighbor let the cat out of the bag her mom can crochet. She showed me dresses and blankets her mom made for her daughter and I realized how good she was. The dresses and tops she made her granddaughter, Charley are amazing with intricate lace designs knit with fingerling yarn. Beautiful.

I am sure she was sorry that cat got out. Soon after her mom was making beautiful crochet squares for my daughter's Pay it Forward project.

I knew I was pushing it, she didn't really know me. I had to ask ~ is there any possibility she could look at the photo of the dress and crochet a similar top? I got a quick YES!

I sent along a bag full of Organic Cotton Yarn by Lion Brand in Vanilla. Thinking the dress would be perfect for Easter she whipped it up in no time! It was perfect ~ exactly like the photo. It fit perfectly ~ and the little bell sleeves ~ so sweet!

Obviously not a 'whip it up' kind of knitter, after four or five attempts I finally got the shape of the skirt nailed. A pretty green ribbon and green shoes and we have ourselves an Easter dress!

Thank you so much, Marcella!!!

As you can see from the photo at Aravore Babies , she nailed it ..... beautifully.

    

I wish I had the talent to knit dresses from photographs! I purchased a pattern for a dress thinking it would be easy to size it down ... not! I realized how talented I am not.

Here is the dress from Vogue Knitting ...

I did find someone who looked at the pattern and knit it in a smaller size for her granddaughter. She told me she just whipped it up. Hmmm.... maybe I will get lucky one day and someone can give me pointers .... this would be a very cute dress for any one of my daughters.

Brooke's Vintage Knit Dress

I found a vintage pattern online last year. I knit it large hoping she could wear it for a while. Good thing I remembered it today and put it on - it just fit. The bottom of the skirt has a pretty lace edging however I knit it too long and had to tack it up. Bummer. It is knit from the bottom up so I couldn't unravel it and re-knit a new border to make it shorter. I knit wide armholes so I hope as she grows I can bring back that lace border.

Brooke wasn't much for posing so I take what I can get. I love that she loves this dress so much - she doesn't want to take it off!

I originally crocheted white flowers for the dress however I found these matching green fabric flowers and they gave the dress some girly fun so I sewed those on instead. 

Knit in Ornaghi Filati Bambo (very soft) with size 4 needles.