Makimaki

This is Makimaki Monkey.  Hello!

Makimaki is Maori for monkey, and is pronounced Markymarky.  Though technically, Makimaki Monkey is an ape, not a monkey, as he doesn’t have a tail.

He’s sitting on my bed because it was the only spot in my house I could find that wasn’t covered in pet hair or mud.

I made him using the same pattern as the other monkeys, but Makimaki is made from a 50% wool 50% acrylic blend I picked up at Spotlight.  It was horrible to work with, and I have three blisters on my fingers from making him.  He’s stuffed with 99.9% polyester fibrefill and 0.1% dog hair.

He’s currently squashed up in an envelope on his way to start a new life in Australia, where he will live with my friend’s baby.  Hopefully they will have lots of adventures together.  I’ve told my friend he’s stuffed with 100% polyester fibrefill, as Makimaki Monkey and I decided she didn’t need to know about the dog hair.

Also in the parcel is this book which I found in an antiques shop in Cambridge last week.

Excuse the dodgy photography.

It was a real wrench to part with this book as I love old books, especially old books that are over 100 years old.

It’s a first edition, too.

I hope she loves it as much as I do.

Cheeky monkeys

I’m making more of these dolls at the moment for my niece, my god-daughters, and a little girl whose godmother I might just pretend to be as she’s so cute.

Annoyingly, after cutting, basting and sewing 24 pieces for six heads, I started stuffing one, and realised I had used an earlier version of the template, and the doll looked like a blockhead. Why did I decide to do six at once, and not try one first to check I was using the right pieces? Grrr.

So, no more dolls to show you, yet, but here are some monkeys I made last year instead.

The big monkey is called Shanadee. He was named, and accessorised by my niece.

The pattern for these is Cedrich the Monkey by Roxycraft.