Babes for the Brave - Meet Drake

Mags loves to name the Babes for the Brave. I think she has a good eye for naming their personalities! We introduce Drake!

This is the last of the 3 Babes for the Brave I am knitting for this first batch. Drake just needs some clothes as you will see.. I'll be working on that next! Yes, that is Drake above behind a wild fig plant that has sprouted in our garden :o) How very cliche, I know, but innit it cute?

I had a hard time coming up with a mouth cos I'm used to making heart shaped girl-babe mouths! I think his expression is pretty good though. Maggie likes him so much she'd like me to make a Dude for her next! I'm rather fond of his unruly surfer-dude hair.

At any rate, I hope Drake, Flo & Liberty make some kids happy. These are pretty addictive to make so I'm sure I'll be making more to send to Ronni after I finish some other projects. Wouldn't it be wonderful if like Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium... the Babes and Dude come alive?

And as Mr. Magorium says...... Your life is an occasion..... rise to it!

Update - August 18: Made clothes for Drake over the weekend .... though he's a surfer dude and hip, he loves to keep current on scientific discoveries.

Babes for the Brave - Meet Flo

Flo is done! Now I just have to make up the Dude and add some clothes and I can send them to Ronni!

Babes for the Brave - Meet Liberty

One down, three to go! I have one of the Babes for the Brave finished, the next is ready to be assembled and I only have the legs to knit for the Dude before assembly.

I found some sumptous Cashmerino by Debbie Bliss on Saturday while visiting my fave yarn shop in Pacific Grove - Monarch Knitting. I picked a lovely pale yellow to make soft blonde hair.

Meet Liberty! My hope is she gives a wonderful little girl a lasting friend which to tell her fears, secrets and hopes. I hope Liberty will give that little girl just one more iota of strength to fight cancer.

Babe Couture

Jessie needed a travel frock.

I've got you, Babe

It's not that I have too much time on my hands, it's just that I can't stop them from moving. Toward that end I made another Knitted Babe for Maggie. Please meet Jessie.

Jessie comes with her very own cowgirl skirt which will eventually have a little horse motif at the bottom and a new top in a cream colour to match the fringe. Alas I could only do so much last night.


I'm not sure why Jessie is so much smaller than Kate. Poor Kate's melon reminds me of that kid in So I Married and Axe Murderer.. that things like Sputnik! Oh well, each Babe is unique. I also wrestled with my sewing machine and brains to make the little blue dress which is probably good for Jessie, but slightly small on Kate.

I'm looking forward to knitting a couple more Babes for the charity Babes for the Brave which I mentioned in an earlier post. Maybe with all of this practice my sewing skills may very well improve! (I hope.)

Babes for the Brave

Batman has the Bat Signal... knitters have the Knit Signal.

Cancer pisses me off. It took my dad when I was 18 and by proxy (in the form of a heart attack) took my mom two years later. I have fought back in ways that hopefully help others. I've knit chemo caps, I've donated my hair to Locks of Love along with Mags two years ago, and we just participated in the LIVESTRONG Challenge in San Jose. I guess it's my way of feeling less helpless in the world and give a little something of myself.

I recently saw the Knit Signal in the form of a post on the Knitted Babes blog. The call for Babes for the Brave switched on another light in the attic and gave me another way to help raise arms against that formidable bully, cancer. If you are a knitter, I urge you to consider knitting some Babes as well.

Knitted Babes by Claire Garland is a treat and you will have a whole world of wonder at your fingertips. You can create wonderful lasting treasures for that special little someone in your life (or a bigger someone!) as well as for adolescent/teen girls fighting cancer by donating to Babes for the Brave. It also serves another purpose... my incessant need to keep my fingers moving and knitting as well as diminishing my recently questioned out of control yarn stash :o)

LIVESTRONG and knit on!

Potpourri

Today's entry is a potpourri... food, nature & knitting.

Food.
I made this delightful little summer squash soup. It's totally fat free (except for the parmesan cheese on top) and vegan (ditto cheese on top). Recipe will be at the bottom of this entry.



Nature.
We have this gorgeous sunflower we started from seed. It's amazing that that tiny little seed sprouted and was an adorable little seedling and is now taller than I am. Yes, I know, surpassing my height is not difficult by any means. Chris pointed out the little loops of pollen. I decided to get artsy fartsy and see if I couldn't capture a little world of wonder. Click to enlarge for detail.



Knitting.
I had long forgotten about this Knitted Babe I made for M!. My first attempt was stuffed at the bottom of a toy chest and I eventually got rid of her. M! was quite upset but I reminded her that she was shoved down there, out of sight out of mind. Not to mention, she was my prototype and not the best work I've done. Yesterday M! brought Kate out onto the lanai for some summer reading. Since she had been paying some attention to the poor thing I decided to make a new top for her which Maggie asked for me to knit. She took Kate on her expedition with Dad and her friend to the Tech Museum today.

Summer Squash Soup

1 box of organic vegetable broth
1 large carrot, chunked
1 large zucchini, chunked
1 small yellow crookneck squash, chunked
½ medium onion, sliced lengthwise
1 medium tomato, chunked
½ C coarsely sliced crimini mushrooms
½ T herbs de Provence (or to taste)
Salt/Pepper to taste

Pour vegetable broth into a saucepan and heat. Add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot!

Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top if desired.
Serve with crusty bread! Bon appetit!

Makes 8 Cups

Knitted Babe Couture

Some of Kate's Collection