Christmas

So? Did you have a good one? Did Father Christmas / Santa (depending on where you live) fill your stockings with joy?

A fun time was had by all here at Monkee Towers over the all-too-brief Christmas period. There were ......

..... loads of presents ......

...... and crackers ......

There were monkey related gifts galore ......



..... many Thanks Carolyn, Lauren, Sue, VC, and Amy (for the non-monkey related but very tasty gift)






..... including these ......

......Thanks, Sis, JUST my size and colour ...... you really shouldn't have ......(and as for those elephant ones you made for RGH? I can't. I just can't. There would be complaints)

..... there were new slippers all round .......

..... and a new toy for my Rather Geeky Husband ......






..... now he just needs to learn how to play them. Preferably in a Matthew McConaughey stylee .....

On the food front there was ......







(VEGETARIANS PLEASE LOOK AWAY NOW .......)







..... plenty of Turkey .......

..... (chicken actually) .......

...... and too many chocolates .......

..... it was awful ......

We played cards each night ......










...... and did I mention there were a couple of bottles of plonk??

..... but I'm going to leave the final thoughts about Christmas to my Father-in-law, who summed it up so perfectly when he said this .....

..... it's just not Christmas unless someone falls asleep in their cracker crown!

On an unrelated matter, there was also a winner in my 200th post giveaway, and thanks to the powers of the random number generator, that winner is No. 16, Glays (please mail me at monkeemaker@yahoo.co.uk to discuss your monkee requirements).

Many thanks to everyone who entered, it's great to know that there are so many fans of monkeys made of knit, and naturally I'd love to knit you all a monkee. But I'm not going to. Sorry.

The Queen's Monkees speech and a giveaway

Loyal Subjects. What a roller coaster ride this year has been.

There have been highs, there have been lows.

The lows have included the constant threat by newly knitted Stunt Monkees to take over my crown Santa hat, and some of the scrapes that I have been involved in, through no fault of my own.

Certain tasks that I've had to perform in the course of my duties have left me wondering whether my knit would ever bounce back. So far, it always has.

But on the plus side, there have been muffins. There has been beer. There have been people mistaking me for Daniel Craig wherever I go.

And for that, loyal and faithful readers of this mad woman's blog, I would like to thank you, on behalf of my creator and myself and wish you all a very

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

lots of love, Yours,

007 xxx

..... O-K then. Right. Well, I'm obviously ill and need to go and have a lie-down immediately. But before I do there's the small matter of this being my 200th post. Hurrah! And the even smaller matter of a giveaway. Again, Hurrah!!

Behold ..... some of my stash .....

..... see anything you fancy? Or have you seen any of the stunt monkees on this blog that you like the look of and would like to own yourself (or give to someone you know)? Because this may well be your chance.

In a break from my usual policy of not knitting monkees to order ..... I will knit one stunt sized monkee (sorry, 007 size takes too long) to a commenter's specification. Be that furry, smooth, mottled, multi-coloured, classic 007 stylee, or a combination of the above. So have a think about what you'd like your monkee to look like and leave me a comment with your colour and style requirements on this post.

There can be only one winner. None of that picking six names out of a hat. Oh no, no stress for me this time and I shall use a random number generator (even if there are only 3 entries) to pick the winner.

So, moving on to the rules. There are more this time :-

• Please come back to see if you've won


• Please leave a name on your comment (make one up if you're embarrassed to be reading a blog about knitted monkeys. I know I would be)


• Only one entry per person, please

I'll pick the winner next Sunday morning. So get designing that monkee and get commenting.

A few points arising from my last post.

This is for Stine, who doesn't know what a sock and pant mountain is ......

(007 shown for scales purposes)

Thankfully, a lot of you do seem to know what they are and indeed have one, or two, of your very own. And a note to E ..... I did cull some sock and pants ...... and it felt good.



Rosie and Lucykate Crafts ..... sorry, I can't report on Enchanted as in the end we couldn't be bothered to go (a lot of that happens around here). We could, on the other hand, be bothered to drive into Wales (paying over 5 quid to get in!) and go shopping for a new Christmas outfit each. Luckily only from Peacocks, so not too much damage to the bank account, but still, next time I'll stick to the original plan.



Anyway. How did this post get so long? I'm off for that lie down ..... Merry Christmas to knitted monkey lovers everywhere (for "Lovers" read "those people that are quite fond of ....") and I'll see you next year. If not before .....

I'm not worthy

A few months ago I posted this picture of our junk spare room .....





Then I tidied it up and posted this picture ......




Unfortunately, pretty soon it looked like this again .....





So I decided that we weren't really making full use of the room, and as we hardly ever have visitors, especially ones who stay-over, I devised a cunning plan.

With the aid of one handy husband and the promise that all my yarn stash, sewing paraphernalia and monkees in progress would disappear from the lounge and dining room, I bagged myself a craft room.

But I'm not worthy.

Mess.

I've been off this week, ostensibly to "get things ready" for The Big Day ( ..... next Tuesday) ( ..... Christmas). But have I? Nope.

Have I bought and wrapped all of the presents? Nope.

Have I sorted out that sock and pant mountain that's been looming ever larger in the hall for months, the sock and pant mountain that I curse every time I walk past, the sock and pant mountain that I had to hide when my parents came up last weekend? Nope.

Have I lovingly prepared RGH (who hasn't been off this week) Nigella-type feasts upon his return from his hard-day-at-the-office, dear? Nope. Have I been bunging Turkey Twizzlers from the freezer into the oven instead? Yep. (But honestly, I'm just trying to clear out room in the freezer for ALL THAT FOOD that we'll need because it's Christmas next week!!)

Have I completed any monkee related gifts? Well, obviously I can't comment on that as it would ruin the surprise.

But I have done this .....

That's better

Organised. ..... kinda

a home for everything ..... ooh and coffee and chocolates .....

Stuff

Well, let's just see how long that lasts, shall we? (I give it half an hour) Anyway, as I'm back at work tomorrow and Monday, I really need to get on. And the RBD's and I are off to see Enchanted later this morning ..... if I can just find us some clean socks and pants ......

But just before I go, my next post will be my 200th - I know! - so I think it'll be high-time for another giveaway. Because you know how much I love competitions!

I've got nothing

.... apart from this .....

007 welcomes 27 to his new home (don't blink or you'll miss his special greeting at the end) .....

Well, I'm sure they're going to get on like a house on fire.

Or possibly not.

It's beginning to look a lot like .....

..... no matter how carefully you put away the Christmas lights last year, they'll still look like this .....

.... this year ....

Yesterday, RGH went out for two - yes TWO - Christmas meals. And I went out for none. He had one or four beers while he was out and I had NONE while I was in, as I was his taxi for the evening. I'm not bitter though. Even though I think it's probably against the law not to imbibe at least one glass of white on a Friday evening. But as I say, I'm not bitter. Much.

Anyhoo. While he was out, I thought it might be nice to "trim up". I asked for volunteers .....

.....ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me!

007 and 27 really got into decorating the tree .....







...... and 27 also got into the Christmas choccies ......

(I don't mind - as long as he eats all those Bountys)

While 007 wasn't too impressed when he became a decoration ......

...... oh, the indignity of it all ......

There was quite a lot of debate about what should go at the top of the tree. RBD1 was freaked out by the spooky looking Angel we have, while RBD2 didn't like the tacky star.

Luckily, I came up with a solution that everyone agreed on ......

..... it could start off a whole new trend .....

After the hard work, we all relaxed with a hard-earned drink .....

..... although I think that maybe one whole can was too much for 27 ......

...... maybe a half-pint would have been better for this half-pint!

Did I already mention that I was driving?

..... well, I guess it was a glass of white. *Sigh*

And I'm happy to report that Christmas is now officially upon us here at Chez Monkee Maker, after we finished off the evening with a viewing of this .....

..... awwww ......

By the way ..... the monkees didn't really decorate the tree ..... but these two monkeys did .....

..... and they made a brilliant job of it.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Late night shopping

Many thanks to everyone who visited my shop last night, and to all those with incredibly fast fingers who swooped in to bagsy one of these ......

..... camera-shy monkees. (Is there such a thing??)

I have a slight confession to make now that it's all over. There were meant to be seven monkees for the shop until something devastating happened.



Remember HP6? All pure new Merino wool and skinny needles? I haven't got a picture to hand, but if you click on Mrs Pao's site, you'll see him up to mischief over there. Anyway, I really didn't enjoy knitting him (sorry HP6), because of said skinny yarn and needles.



But I thought I'd give it another crack, as he seemed popular ......

HP27

And here he is, posing happily with HP26......

...... and here he is ......

...... WITH A GREAT BIG HOLE IN HIS BACK!! Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!!

I was devastated!! You know how you hide the sewing up thread in the body? I'd been snipping it off with really sharp scissors. Nuff said. Apart from : I nearly cried.

RGH was happy though (he's not very empathetic) and immediately suggested that HP27 stays here to be trained as a new stunt monkee. So now 007 has a new ironically darned playmate.

Oh-oh.

For the last couple of posts I've been forgetting the thought for the day. Here's today's .....

I haven't yet done the "how normal are you?" test I saw on Kitty's site recently (too scared I guess), but after these thought provoking words, maybe I don't need to.

Multi-coloured Monkee Menagerie

On Sunday, we were listening to this, possibly the best album in the whole wide world EVER* , which was very apt as it reminded me of this little project I was working on ......

..... why, it's "jest" HP25

..... part of a range of multi-coloured monkees that will be going into my shop tomorrow at 10 pm UK time. I know I said "early this week", but it's slipped back to "midweek ..... in fact, getting on for late week". Sorry.

HP's 21 - 25

Also, apologies if the time doesn't suit some people who may want one of the primates, but I'm trying to mix and match the times I open my shop so that more people have a chance to bagsy one.

Oops, I was nearly forgetting this little fellow ......

HP26 ..... he'll be there too. Don't hate him because he's not psychedelic.

* in my humble opinion

Edward Monkee-hands and Am-dram

Random Monkey Shot #19

RGH modelling the very latest in knitted monkee limbs. It's all the rage, dahling.

Since RBD1 turned 15 in September, RGH and I have been threatening to have a night out, and last night was that night.

We scraped ourselves off the sofa, threw on some glad rags and ventured out into the dark December night, for a few drinks and to go and see an amateur production of Ben Elton's Silly Cow.

While I don't want to ruin the story for anyone who may be thinking of going (plus I was taught that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all) I'll just say this ..... the pre-show Belgian beers were delightful, the play was two hours long, the pizza afterwards was sublime and the bus ride home was entertaining with a drunk couple on there loudly ranting and raving. (No, it wasn't us.)

And while we were out the RBD's and their friend all scared themselves silly watching spooky films.

All in all, I don't think we'll be rushing out again next Saturday night. After all, this really is a comfy sofa ......

..... by the way, this isn't a picture of a silly cow - it's a silly reindeer, taken by my Dad in Scotland last year, but it'll have to do .....

Has anyone seen Dave?

Not this Dave, but the relatively new TV channel which, as far as I can tell is all about repeats and classic shows, such as Whose Line is it Anyway? The RBD's have started watching it and it's taken me right back to the 90's as RGH and I used to be big fans and one year went to watch it live.

I particularly liked Ryan Stiles and now the girls are following suit and think he's fab, although I don't think they share the teeny tiny crush I had on Richard Vranch at the piano.

To be honest though, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or slightly worrying that they've inherited our sense of humour. Who knows what they could be blogging about in future years .....

Talking of TV shows, (do you see what I'm doing here - linkist extraordinaire, me) much kudos to Lucy Locket Pocket who's only been and gone and had one of her fabulous kiddies blankets featured on I'm a Celebrity ..... ! Well done that girl!

Obviously I'm chuffed for her, but I can't help being a tad jealous that it wasn't one of my monkees swinging through those jungle trees. Maybe next year. If he can ever get out of this .....

(There - I just did it again - I subtly brought the whole topic back round to monkees, without you even noticing!)

TALKING OF WHICH ...... thanks very much to Cheryl, who let me know that Cupcake (formerly known as HP17) has safely arrived in Singapore and sent me these pictures ......

Cupcake, in very good company, with among others, Hessie, a Little Cotton Rabbit

..... getting ready to hit the shops ......

..... enjoying green tea and being stared at in a Japanese restaurant .....

..... and the stunning night view from Cheryl's and Cupcake's apartment .....

Apparently, after Christmas, Cupcake is planning an expedition up Mount Kinabalu (the 4th tallest mountain in South-east Asia), so I hope she remembers to pack her camera!

In other monkee news, finally HP18 arrived safely at Viv's in Germany, after a worryingly long trip, and Marianne, in the Netherlands has found that HP15 is already making mischief! And I'm so happy that Bea, in Norway, is happy with her Monkee tote bag.



Looks like the whole world domination plan is beginning to pay off.



Speaking of which (that's the last one, I promise!), I'm hoping to have more monkees made of knit ready to be released early next week, so I will post pictures on here beforehand, and email anyone on my monkee mailing list shortly.




Today's thought for the day ......

..... I don't care ..... just give me some NOW!! (please)