Joe's monkee

HP37

..... just hanging around .....

Well, we had to road-test him before we gave him to Joe, didn't we?

...... we tested him to see how malable he is

...... and to check how good he is at lounging around the place (very, as it turns out)

..... we checked out his ability to make grass-stars




..... and whether he could look indignant for the camera ..... he couldn't - he wouldn't stop smiling

And then we took him to our favourite coffee shop to torment him ....

..... with not one ......

..... but two muffins ......

..... cos we're mean like that

When we got home we realised that those muffins really got to him .....

..... but sadly he had to settle for biscuits (it's a hard life)

..... and after he'd checked that the coast was clear .....

..... he finally got that longed for coffee fix ......

Oh-oh

I'm happy to report that HP37 (also known as Toffee ..... hmm, maybe that should be Coffee) passed his MOT (Monkee Observation Test) with flying colours, so was allowed to be released into the wild Joe's house, where he's been reunited with a couple of hairy HP's. I hope to have photo's of them in their natural habitat soon.

In other news, I saw these cool magazines on Viv's site, and was keen to try one myself ....

Then, after I did one, I wanted to do another ......

...... and another .....

...... I could have carried on making these all day, but then I realised that I really ought to step away from the computer and do something more productive instead. Like the small matter of getting ready for work. Or forcing the kids to get ready for school. *Sigh*

But just before I do, a note for mog : my email address is monkeemaker@yahoo.co.uk - all knitted monkey shots gratefully accepted

HEY, JOE!

When you get in from school later, have a look in your Mum's bag. There's a little something in there for you .....

I'm not going to tell you what it is, but I'll give you a couple of clues ..... it's made of knit and your Mum has one, your sister has one, your Aunty has one ..... and now you have one.

Can you do me a favour though? Can you tell your Dad that he's not having one. Nuh-uh, no way, nope. Thanks Joe.


In non monkee news, (oops ..... I hope I didn't just give the game away) a little while ago a purchased this gorgeous piece from Melissa's Etsy shop .....

Dragon Heart

Melissa makes beautiful jewellery, and how fortuitous! If you pop over to her blog, she's running a giveaway at the moment, of not one, but two lovely pieces.



Being a monkee made of knit fan, Melissa also made a little extra something for me ..... a teeny tiny 007 pendant ......

So sweet - Thanks, Melissa

Now I can have 007 with me at all times - if I can just get it off him, that is ......






And after seeing a link on someone else's site, I popped over to Picciolo, who makes fabulous purses and wallets and brilliant fabric artwork, and packages them up so prettily .....

..... I fear I may have to go back for more .....

..... I also fear that I may be addicted to Etsy ...... does anyone know if there's an Etsy Anonymous group I can join, for those addicted to handmade goodies?

I love this .....

Press release - 17th January.

Following the success of Take Thats re-forming...it looks as if the Monkees may have done the same (although the one who used to wear a wooly hat seems to have had liposuction and turned into a penguin!) Following a sellout tour, they performed gigs all over Rochdale and are now planning to repeat their success in Scotland but their manager (aka Meg) has had trouble getting permission to fill the back seat of the car with all their instruments.

That brilliant photo and press release from Meg's Mum just cracks me up. MM has bought two of my monkees and also knitted one of her own and I think it's great that she and Meg have cooked up this monkee (and penguin) group!

Talking of cooking, I also love these other pictures she sent me ......

....... mmmm, knitted bacon and eggs ..... so much better for the hips .....

..... and yum - a basket full of knitted cakes ..... and a monkee ......

And I'm loving these snaps that Gladys sent me, of her winning monkee, Rambo .....

..... so named because on his arrival he was bursting his way out of his packaging .....



..... a monkee on a mission ......

....... wahey! Steady!! ......

Rambo ..... don't you think the likeness is amazing?

...... no wait .... why's it all gone dark??

..... aha ..... mission accomplished ......

Continuing to spread the love, how about these guys ..... a couple of monkeys that I didn't knit .....

Ann in Belgium knitted this one for her Dad - what a cutie ..... the monkey - not her Dad ..... (although he may be too, I don't know .....)

And Sarah knitted this handsome chap in vibrant red ......

Cedric

Sarah and Natalie also gave me this link, Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns Knit a Monkey knit-a-long a forum for knittists who are making their own monkeys. A place to share tips and hints, and presumably despair over that pesky mouth .....


And the final photo, received last night after HP36 arrived at Dottycookie's. Who couldn't love this one ......

..... oh, the cuteness - those tiny hands! ......

Many thanks to Meg's Mum, Gladys, Ann, Sarah, Natalie and DC for sharing these pictures and links with me ..... please keep them coming.

HUGE thanks too, to anyone who visited my shop this week to purchase a monkee ..... especially to those people on the other side of the pond ..... one of whom stayed up until 2.40 am to bagsy one, another set her alarm clock for 3.45 so she wouldn't miss out, and someone else staggered out of bed at 4.20. Sheer dedication to monkee madness ..... or just sheer madness? I don't know, but I'M LOVING IT!!

For SuzyB .... to get her off my back

..... ok, so my blogging chum SuzyB hasn't actually been on my back about this recently (and isn't that just typical?!), but a while ago she was all "monkey socks" this and "monkey socks" that, and "when are you going to make me some monkey socks you lazy *****" (I added that last one, just for dramatic effect).

But I don't do socks. Apart from this one ......

.... which never got a mate because knitting socks, quite frankly, doesn't do it for me.

And no, I didn't unravel it to make this .....

Dottycookie's psychedelic monkee .....

So, sorry Suzy, I don't do socks.

I do these .....

..... and occasionally these ......

But I don't do socks.

Still, I must confess that when I saw this fabulous pair I received for Christmas .....

.... I thought of you ....

Until I realised that these aren't really the kind of monkey socks that you were after.

So how about this?

..... monkey socks sock monkey ......

...... will that do you? ......

..... now let's not mention monkey socks again, ok?

Right. Enough of that frivolity. On to the proper monkee business. Two bags and six monkees will be appearing in a shop near you at 10 am today (UK time).

..... 007 and 27 are keen to see them go .....

But I just need to mention something about one of them .....




I must confess that I prefer my monkees naked, but when I got home the other day I found this .....

..... primate in pants ......

He's embarrassed to be seen on the internet in his briefs ......

..... and he should be ......

So if you happen to bag this monkee later this morning, he can come avec pants, or sans pants ..... the choice will be yours. (I just knew those French evening classes would pay off one day ..... )

Random Number Generators ....

They're great, aren't they? They never sleep. They never get confused by numbers. They never get emotionally involved. They have no guilt.



I put in the numbers 1 - 59 and immediately, without hesitation, it spat out No. 54 at me. At this time of the morning! Amazing!



So, No. 54 (Dottycookie) you win HP37 (who I think may actually be HP36 - you see? Me and numbers .... we don't get on); if you could mail a postal address to me at monkeemaker@yahoo.co.uk I'll arrange to get him posted to you.



And for anyone else who wants a monkee made of knit, this motley crew will be appearing in my shop on Wednesday at 10.00 am (UK time - there is a clock on the shop blog if you want to check the time difference) ......

Monkees in a basket

..... sorry, there are only 6 (and even worse - only two bags ..... my sewing mojo has completely deserted me recently) ..... but I'm planning on doing more monkee knitting and less messing around on the computer soon, so watch this space .....

Trade secrets and a teeny tiny giveaway .....

Thanks for all your kind comments on the last post, I'm so pleased you enjoyed the latest photo story from a warped mind ..... it made two hours of leaping around the place posing and photographing and sweating for my art worth it.



Talking of which, some people have asked how I managed to make relatively floppy monkeys made of knit pose and point; to those people I say ...... a Magician never gives away his secrets.



Luckily though, I'm not a Magician, so I'm happy to spill .....

.... the tools of my trade ..... chopsticks, fondue forks and sellotape ......

I feel particularly bad about these very pointy things .......

...... sorry, Martin

So, here are some unedited photos, complete with tools .......

..... but simply by opening up "Paint" in my photo gallery and getting busy with the copy and paste tools, they were edited to something like this ......

A voila. Monkee magic. And the explanation as to why nothing productive ever gets done around here ......


Anyway, moving on to the teeny tiny giveaway ...... I got this idea from Jodie at Ric Rac (who put up a brilliant photo story yesterday) and thought it was great ..... a 24 hour giveaway.

In Lesley's fab package I was lucky to receive a really REALLY bright ball of wool and I just didn't know what to do with it.

So I did this .......

If you'd like to win this monkee (HP37! ..... I think), leave a comment and I'll pick a winner early tomorrow morning.

Happy rainy, windy Sunday ..... anyone else fed up with this foul weather which makes for truly crubbishy photos? I think one of these may be called for ......