Aw, so cute!

OK, I confess, I am sometimes quite taken aback with just how lovely some of my monsters turn out. “But you made them! Surely you know what they’re going to look like?” – um, no. If I was an expert stitcher, I could plan and predict exactly what my needle would create. But I’m not, plus every sock stretches in a *slightly* different way. Anyway, the unpredictability of monster-making is precisely why I love it so much.
So, every now and then, I have a go at something a little bit different, and then when it’s finished I stand back in amazement and think ‘where did that come from? It’s gorgeous!’. Yes, duh, I’m biased. But… don’t you think this is just a little bit cute?

 

More gloves!

Just got back from a brief jolly to London.  I didn’t see any single gloves lying around – I’m guessing street cleaners are a lot more on the ball in the Big Smoke.  Either that or single gloves have better access to dating opportunities…  Anyway, Charlotte, my lovely hostess-with-the-mostest, had been keeping her eyes peeled during the winter months and rescued a few for me

These will now go into my ‘lost gloves’ stash, and at some stage be resurrected as monsters.  This is more of an art project, and one I’m experimenting with alongside Sarah Cole, who has been charting the tragedy of lost gloves for a few years now.  This fine creature came to me as a slinky elbow-length mitten thing, cruelly abandoned in Leeds.

All you lost and lonely gloves out there, take heart!

 

Party time!

Well, I got to do my first ever Picky Miss birthday party last weekend, and it was great!  I had fun, and I’m pretty sure the partygoers did too.  ”A Picky Miss party?”  I hear you say, “Is that a bit like an Ann Summers party?”.  Sadly (or not), no it isn’t.  It’s your own personal sock-monster-making workshop, in your house, for your friends.  I even bring the socks.

Anyway this was Philippa’s party, and we had Fun.  The monsters that emerged from the sock pile that evening were, in my opinion, just brilliant.  I was particularly impressed by those who claimed, at the beginning of the evening, that they couldn’t sew, and would never be able to make a monster.  Guess what? They did! (Guilty as charged, left of photo)

Monster-making as a social bonding activity.  There were periods of intense concentration, but mostly it was a good chance to chat (and eat delicious home-made biscuits).

I encourage people to stitch first, and cut out later, so making a start with the scissors marks you out as someone who has successfully negotiated the first challenge!  And it’s when you get to the mouth, that your stuffed sock really starts to look like a monster.  Very exciting.

When you’ve finished sewing, and stuffing, your monster, it’s going to need some eyes and embellishments.  And you thought choosing a sock was hard

Finished monsters, happy sewers!  A birthday party like no other.

If *you* would like to treat your birthday guests to a workshop with a difference, please do not hesitate to get in touch.  Your guests will get a new skill, their own sock monster, and a party bag full of goodies; you will get more kudos than you know what to do with, for throwing the most fun, most unusual party ever.

I am based in Sheffield, but may consider travelling further afield.

 

We have a winner, oh yes

Two winners, to be precise. You lot have been making some virtuous resolutions, and I’m very impressed. I hope you can stick to them, at least for a couple of months.

Mat, in Alberta, Canada, decided “not to make any resolution; I’m just going to take each day as it comes and wing it.”.  Very wise, and easy to stick to.

Michelle, in Tyne & Wear, came so close to winning my heart (and my calendar) by promising to “actually post, to Abi, the jiffy bag full of stripy odd socks that have been providing a hiding place for our resident Tegenaria duellica (house spider to you) for the past seven months”. You know, that was so sweet until it came to the spider bit. Nul points.

Sophie, in Nottingham, has resolved  ”no longer to fruitlessly try to match up all those lonesome socks that keep accumulating in the boys’ laundry baskets, but to save them, admire them and recreate them as sock monsters of the future, then I am going to find an old pillow case, fill it and adorn it with sock plants, sock geysers, sock volcanoes and sock craters, then all my new sock monsters will have the perfect home – for they will indeed be … Sock Clangers!”. Brilliant! I love this idea so much I may just have to send Sophie a sticker. You know, like the ones you get at the dentist telling the world how brave you were and what shiny crocodile-like teeth you have. Only about socks.

So it was close, but the two that stood out for me, for different reasons, were:

Tammy, in Sheffield: “My new year’s resolution is to have more cocktails on Friday evenings”. A shining example of humanity’s ability to better itself. A calendar for you, my dear, to mark off just how many Fridays you manage. Chin chin!

Tashy, in Paderborn, Germany : “To leave Germany this year please I am a vegetarian no more BLOODY Bratwurst!”. This touched my very soul, having once stayed with family in Denmark for two weeks and being offered a probable sum of three portions of greens the whole time.   So unto you, Tashy, will be given a calendar, so you can count down the days to repatriation (or at least keep track of when market day is so you can get some veg!).

My own New Year’s Resolution is quite boring and predictable, but this picky miss has decided to turn her most particular standards inwards, and get in shape. My gluteus needs to be a little less maximus. So there you go. Best of luck everyone, here’s wishing you every blessing and success in 2010. Remember, aim for the moon; if you miss, you still land among the stars.

 

Giveaway time!

Happy New Year everyone, and to cheer us up in all this snow, I am giving away two 2010 desk calendars!
All you have to do is send me an email (you can use the contact form on this site) by next Tuesday, 12th Jan, and tell me what your New Year’s Resolution is. I’ll put the best ones up on the website. The ones I and the monsters think rock the most will win a cute little calendar, to help you keep track of when you should have achieved them by And maybe a couple of other bits n bobs too, who knows…

With fabulous photography by Sarah Cole, these will undoubtedly be the Antiques Roadshow “super finds” of the future.

 

The more it snows, tiddly pom…

The more it goes
Tiddly pom
On snowing

Piles and heaps and tons of snow here today, hooray! My kids’ school is one of the few still open (much to their disgust), but I get to stay home and play in the white fluffy stuff
Some monsters liked it…

Snow Angels!

Some didn’t

I'm cold. Can we go in now?

Which just goes to show, you can’t please all the monsters all of the time. Tch.

 

How to make a sock monster

“How do I make my own sock monster? I wanna have a go!” Well, I haven’t managed to upload my own tutorial yet, but as lots of people have been asking this question, here’s one (reproduced with kind permission) from monster-munch.com

More will follow, just as soon as I can get them from my head into the computer. One day in the future, this won’t be a problem…
I do workshops too, so if you’re running an event or something, please get in touch. Hey, how about hen parties, that’d be a laugh!

Oh, and if you do make a monster, I’d love to see it! This counts for all you past workshop attendees, too, y’know, so send me pics

 

Glove Season begins

As you are no doubt aware, now begins the time of year when lost and abandoned gloves are to be seen in gutters everywhere. Poor things.

It has long been believed that gloves, like socks, mate for life. New evidence, however, suggests that whilst monogamy is widespread, so too is the desire to strike out alone. Gloves as a species appear to be at a transitional point in their evolution. Whilst we have witnessed an increase in independent gloves, the desire for freedom and new horizons still exceeds the practical capabilities of the individual to achieve these aims safely.

I have rescued a few of these hapless creatures, and given them new lives, as can be seen below. I hope soon to have a new site dedicated to glove rescue, but until then they can stay here, with my socks.

Cruelly abandoned at Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield

(View this Mitten Monster as rescued.)

Deep sea lurker. Found in London, somewhere on the Northern Line.

Sea-creaturey-thing. Found on Overton Road, Sheffield.

Cheery street musician. Found in Victoria Station, London.

Happy chappy. Found on Walkley Lane, Sheffield.

 

2010 Desk Calendar is here!

A monstrously good (see what I did there?) way to keep track of 2010. I know, as a working parent, how the days and weeks just run away from you when you’re not looking. One day it’s January, then you turn your back for a minute and suddenly it’s the Easter holidays. Outrageous. Don’t let it happen next year; with a fabulous monster (beautifully photographed by Sarah Cole) to keep each month in check, use this funky desk calendar to show 2010 who’s boss.
£8 including p+p, contact me for details (this one isn’t in the shop).

 

New monsters in da house

Looking for a fun and unusual Christmas present? Find these winged lovelies, and more, in my DaWanda shop. Or get in touch and see if I can make you a monster to order.