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.

Armless and Tail -less Sock Monkey

The sock monkey is progressing very slowly. I still have a tail and two arms to knit and stuff. I find it very slow going on 4 needles. I hope to finish it over the weekend and get back to my crochet squares once again. I had a break last night and crocheted him a scarf and hat to wear. He is going to Kentucky when he is finished and I hope to post him off next week.

Today is nice and sunny but not very warm. At least it is drying all the washing on the line. I had high hopes of a warm day when I first woke up to sunshine but sadly the sunshine didn't last long.

I had a visitor today. Charlie came with her small daughter and brought me a present of two packs of wool. She found them at Abakhan. A pack of Patons Moonglow and a pack of Patons Fairytale Velvet. I haven't decide what I will make with them but by the time I have finished the granny square jacket I am sure that I will have decided on a project.

My Interweave Crochet Spring 2009 magazine has arrived

My Interweave crochet Magazine Spring 2009 arrived yesterday afternoon. I grabbed a coffee and settled down for a good browse. I must confess though that I am somewhat disappointed with this issue. I don't think it is half as good as previous ones or maybe I am just getting jaded.

The crochet socks would be OK as bed socks but I cannot imagine putting my shoes on over them as they are far too thick. The shoulder cape is rather run of the mill, I have seen far nicer. The green summer top is nice but not for me with my bingo wing arms. The baby top hood looks like it is made for someone with a head twice the baby's size. The purple motif jacket is so similar to many more that I have seen that it doesn't really appeal to me even though I am a purple lover.

I do like the crochet circle motif jacket but as circles are my pet hate and to be avoided at all cost I will just admire it and move on. The diagram alone is enough to bring on palpitations! I have never mastered the art of crocheting circles together as I go along. I have tried many times to do circles but I have now decided that as I enjoy crochet so much I am not going to start things that I know will annoy me intensely and so will never get finished. I crochet for pleasure and relaxation not to get revved up when a pattern annoys me.

I was knitting last night so no more crochet motifs have been made. My sock monkey is armless,legless and earless and so is bearing a remarkable resemblance to Homer Simpson at the moment.

I am not going to speak about my knee as it is driving me mad. It is far more painful now that it was just after the op. Grrr.

20 squares done - only 56 more to make!

As you can see I have made 20 squares for Lisa's jacket and so far not repeated a colour sequence. That is the hardest part. Deciding which colours to do next. It takes me as long to do that as it does to make the square.

I have also made all of the triangles that go into the sleeves to make the bell shape and the two black triangles that fit at each side to widen the jacket for the hips. I wanted to do these so that I knew that I had enough wool in each colour left to make each triangle in a single colour. I can always use bits and pieces of colours in the squares.

My brother came yesterday to take me to Tesco to do some food shopping. I was grateful for this as I was wondering if my knee would stand up to the journey to and from Tesco pushing my fully laden 4 wheeled granny trolley. I bought enough food to stock me up for a couple of weeks whilst I had the luxury of a car to transport it all home for me. My knee ached after that but I am determined to walk up to the village later today whilst the weather is so nice.

I am going to concentrate on knitting today. Poor sock monkey has not had a row knitted on him since the Sunday Knitting Noras Knit Out so I am giving my hands a change of craft. I will probably return to my crochet later as knitting is not my forte these days.

Granny takes a Trip

Granny Takes a Trip is the name of the wonderfully colourful jacket that I am making for Lisa a Fellow Knitting Nora Calendar Lady. The pattern is by Ellene Warren and can be bought on Ravelry or other web sites I presume.I have made 6 squares so far so have only got 66 more to make plus 2 halves! This time I am crocheting over the tail ends as I go as the pattern suggests. I am sure that there will still be tail ends poking out of it all over the place but at least they will be secure.

I had a problem with having all the balls of wool spilling over the coffee table and the floor. It's hard to keep them tidy when each square is different. Choosing the colour sequences takes as much time as crocheting the square. I will have to duplicate some eventually but I will see how many variations I can do before that happens. I have pinched the bottom drawer from my craft stacking drawers in an attempt to keep them a bit tidier.

I diverted from the crochet squares last night to crochet a hat and have almost finished it. I still have the brim and the trim to make so photos of that hopefully tomorrow.

I have done a little more on the sock monkey similar to Ladybird Murphy and he almost has a body now. I have chosen grey, red and white as it is for a guy.

I am off to watch Loose Women now and try to finish off the hat.

Crochet cakes for the Knitting Noras

Yesterday was the monthly meeting of the Knitting Noras. I was unsure if I would be able to attend but thanks to a lift from Caroline I managed to hobble along. The knee is coming along nicely. Still a bit tender but less swollen and bending better.

I gave the baby cardigans to our foster mum member although one of them will fit the baby when he is about 12 months old as the wool was a bit thick for the pattern! Never mind. Babies soon grow. Better too big than too small.

There is now a committee (Wheeltappers and Shunters style for those of you old enough to remember) for the Naked Knitting Calendar and the ladies have done a terrific job in finding out tons of information about the technicalities of producing this calendar. For those of you with Ravelry we have now set up a group called The Knitting Noras' Naked Calendar 2010. Please join us and show support. We will be adding more information to this group and the TKN blog sites as things progress. We will be counting on you to spread the word once the calendar is ready for sale later in the year. If you only tell a couple of people the word will spread. It's all in a good cause ladies - Christies Hospital treats cancer patients from all parts of the UK not just the North West.

The knit and crochet cakes are another idea that we have had for fund raising. I found these patterns by Googling 'free crochet cake patterns'. I have put one link in the blog title but there are quite a lot more. Debs has found a lovely knitted cupcake pattern on Ravelry and her cupcake looks far more realistic than mine does.I don't have a photo of this at the moment but perhaps one will appear on our blog or Ravelry site soon. Perhaps I should try to knit a few next time. I have run out of toy stuffing so will have to search out a source as my LYS has now closed down due to redevelopment of the site. That is my excuse for not making any more at the present.

I have started knitting a sock monkey similar to Ladybird Murphy (of Channel M TV fame) for my friend in Kentucky but there is not much to show of that as yet.I will have to buy a bag of stuffing to complete him so than I will have lost my excuse for making a few more cakes! Ladybird Murphy put in a guest appearance at the Knit Out and is now dressed Biggles style in a waistcoat and flying helmet.

I have also crocheted 6 squares for a granny square jacket for Lisa. I need 72 so only another 66 to go! I want to make as many different colour variations on the squares as possible so it takes me as long to choose the colour combinations as it does to crochet the square. My coffee table looks like an explosion in a wool shop at the moment. How people stay neat and crochet many colours is an art I have yet to master.

I have put a photo of the very old Patons SC44 baby pattern on here. I bet it strikes a few chords. Is it the one that you used Ambermoggie? My mother used to swear she used it to knit for me but I doubt that the pattern is THAT old! I used it for my son who is now 40.

Ladybird Murphy on Channel M

Since many of my friends at home and now world wide have viewed the Knitting Noras on You Tube there have been many conversations about our performance. Most of the comments to me centred around the travelling woolly sock monkey who stole the show (see first photo). She is Ladybird Murphy and her knitting mum is HappySunshine(Emma). Lady bird Murphy is living with foster mum Bev for a month before setting off on her travels again wearing a new outfit. My friend in Kentucky wants me to make one for him. I have said one sock monkey for him is worth some Kentucky publicity for our calendar.Thanks Ladybird Murphy for generating some more publicity for our Naked Knitting Calendar. We will have to start a fan club for her soon. Maybe we should say that if you want to join her fan club the price is a pre order of a calendar (or two).

Bit of promotion now - This is the commercial break

If anybody who reads my blog and would like a calendar when they are finished and on sale later this year could you please visit our Knitting Noras web site (link TKN - The Knitting Noras on my favourite blogs) and fill in a pre order form. You don't have to pay yet. It will help us to gauge how many calendars we need to get printed.

Thank you.

If you want to know more about the travelling sock monkeys and their adventures and are a member of Ravelry then look on the thread entitled 'TSM Gramma's When Monkey's Fly Chat group' and it will tell you all about it. If you want to make a travelling sock monkey then click on my blog title for a link to purchase the pattern from YvonneKnits. You may have to be a member of Ravelry to view this page but I am sure that YvonneKnits has a web page with her patterns displayed if you are not a member of Ravelry.

The second photo is of Bev's travelling sock monkey Blathers who is residing with his foster mum in NYC at the present moment. Bev is hoping that he will be back from his travels in time to be included in her photo for the calendar.

After I had my spinal operation last year the Knitting Noras bought me a lovely bouquet of flowers and a plant from the orchid family. I will have to rely on Vicky to tell me the name of it. It had beautiful velvety purple flowers for a long time and after they died I kept watering it and it has produced many leaves. I noticed today that it seems to be producing another stem so I am hoping that it will flower again for me this year.

With all this excitement and our Knitting Noras site going into overdrive with a plethora of e mails I haven't made much progress on my crochet or the knitted baby jacket. The last photo is where I am up to with my ideas for lengthening the "too short and running out of wool" Tall Latte. Hopefully I will get some crochet done tonight. Last night I nodded off in the middle of crocheting - well they do say it is relaxing!