Sunday 5 April 2009

Thelonious (sock) Monkey




The travelling sock monkey is finished. He will be heading to Kentucky early next week. I had asked for ideas of what to call him when I was at the Knitting Noras Knit Out last week. Eadaoin at first suggested Elvis but as the sock monkey's new owner is a fan of Blues and Jazz she then suggested Thelonious Monkey after the great Jazz musician Thelonious Monk. I liked that idea so now that is his name. He is wearing a black waistcoat and beret when he is in his jazz musician persona and a red baseball cap and scarf when he is in his sporty sock monkey mood. His new owner is also an avid sports fan.

June has asked me about the Travelling Monkeys and I think that Ravelry describes what is happening better than I can. There is a group on there called John Deere Tractor Drivers and they started off the idea using a pattern called Sock Monkey by Yvonne Boucher. I think the general idea is that you knit a monkey and then it goes off on it's travels and gets photographed in various places all over the world and each new foster mum adds to it's wardrobe after which it returns to the knitter mum eventually. Bev who was on the You Tube video when the Bolton Knitting Noras got interviewed on Channel M TV brought with her Ladybird Murphy who originated from Ireland and was staying with Bev for a month. She will now have gone on her travels again. If you want to see photographs and learn more then visit the John Deere Tractor Drivers forum if you are a Ravelry member.

My sock monkey will only be going to Kentucky as he is a gift. I have instructed James that Thelonious has to be photographed near a recognisable Kentucky landmark in keeping with being a travelling sock monkey.

Knitting the sock monkey has taken a lot longer than I ever thought it would. I am sure that I could have crocheted a sweater in the time it has taken me to make him. I will never be into this amigurumi knit and crochet. Far too time consuming and fiddly in my eyes. I prefer to use my skills for things to wear rather than toys.

I will be back to the crochet squares tonight. I am now up to 22 so still a long way to go before I reach 76.

3 comments:

June said...

Thanks Jan for explaining what the Sock Monkey is all about. I have had a look at the site and think it's a great idea and lots of fun. I really like your monkey he is so bright and cheerful looking.

stormina_teacup said...

I love him!

Zu said...

Awww he is really cute!
I should try a crocheted one. Though I'm not much into amigurumi either.