A brief update

I have so many things I would like to post about... but most of them really need pictures, and unfortunately my NBM has gone away this weekend (again!) and taken the camera with her. Which is fair enough really, as it is hers. So, I'll jut have to hang fire on those things until after the weekend.

Anyhoo, speaking of the NBM, thanks so much to everyone who left kind birthday wishes for her - she was very pleased and really enjoyed reading them all. Also, thanks to those of you who expressed interest in seeing the contents of her birthday gift... which is sitting next to me as I type, but you'll just have to wait until the camera gets back to see a piccie.

The other non-picture-reliant thing I wanted to say is to apologise for the sporadic nature of my blog posts recently, and of my comments on all your blogs. It's due to a large amount of work that I'm trying to get done, and I should also aplogise in advance, because it is likely to continue until my final deadline in May. After that, I'll be stalking you all again with alarming regularity ;o)

Rightio, just before I go and watch some of the Top Gear Polar Challenge (so funny!), I have a link for anyone who:

a) liked the Owl cartoon in my last post
b) also likes monkeys.

If the above applies to you, then this might appeal to you... although I don't think it's quite as good as the other Owl cartoon.

Or, if you fancy something a little more interactive... PG Tips monkey game, anyone?

Hapy weekend
VCxx

It's sad, but it's still funny...

Happy Birthday NBM!

Today is the NBM's birthday (it seems to be a good day for birthdays in blogland), and I thought I'd post a quick Happy Birthday for her here, while she's on the phone to her Mum (a notoriously lengthy activity).

So, Happy Birthday NBM!! Have a lovely day :o)

Can you guess what I gave her for her birthday?


She's finally come round to my monkey way of thinking :o)

And to everyone else: Happy Easter! Hope you all have lovely days, too. And just before I go, here's my other chickeney gift that I promised to show-and-tell, which I saved for today's post because of its Eastery theme:


The perfect Easter egg for a vicious chicken - thanks so much, Monkee Maker :o)

More fabulous chickeney giftage

You may remember that Working Mom Knits sent me some chicken-themed goodies last week, which were super. Well, the chickeney gifts just keep coming! Bloggers are so very kind.

I recently bought a beautiful bag from Moogsmum's etsy shop:


Well, actually I bought two, but let's not tell my bank manager that, shall we? Anyway, when the bag above arrived yesterday, I found that the lovely Lesley had sent it along under armed guard: it was protected on the journey by a brilliantly vicious chicken!!


He comes complete with tough-guy 'tattoos' on both wings, and a rather scary-looking gun:


Hmm. I wouldn't like to meet him in a dark alley, would you??

As soon as he got here, he rounded up the Monkey Army and set to work trying to teach the troops some properly vicious tips and tricks.....


.... which they listened to very politely, but I don't think their little wooly hearts were in it, to be honest. As armies go, they're quite soft, bless them.

In fact, they were rather shocked, and concluded that Little VC had some serious anger-management issues. Being kindly souls, they wanted to help him address his problems, and they suggested that a soothing cup of (knitted) tea might be just the ticket to help Little VC relax a little......


... but he was less than convinced, and stormed off....


..... to think vicious thoughts and do vicious deeds. *Gulp*.

So, thanks ever so much for the kind gift, Lesley.... but do you have any hints for keeping him in line?? Because I'm typing this from the safety of the back room, where the Monkey Army and I have barricaded ourselves. Little VC is wreaking havoc in the rest of the flat, and the NBM won't be back to rescue us until tomorrow. We're quite scared.

On a lighter note, do tune in again, as my next post will contain details of yet more chicken gifts! Provided, of course, that the Monkeys' barricade holds firm, and we don't get overcome by Little VC. Which is doubtful, come to think of it, as they built it from teabags.....

Somebody please send help. Soon.

Time to myself

The NBM has gone away for the week, so I have time to myself. Which is kind of turning into time on my hands, unfortunately.... somehow it's not been as great having the flat to myself as I had hoped it might be.

However, my kind friend Monkee Maker took pity on me being a Billy No Mates, and yesterday she let me hang out at her place for a while, which was just lovely. By which I mean that being there was lovely - but she has a very beautiful home, too. It was almost - almost - enough to make me want to tidy up my tip of a flat when I got home.... but, sadly, laziness prevailed. Kitty, I think I may have fallen foul of that Lazy Slut Disorder you so often mention. It's a terrible affliction, isn't it? Do you know if there's a cure?

But anyway, I'm rambling... suffice to say that I had a grand time at the monkee house, chatting and knitting in good company. And MM, it was really great to meet you, and RGH, and the RBDs. And 007, obviously :o)

On a completely unrelated note, I've just had a little trawl through my old photos to see if I could find something appropriate to end this post with, and I couldn't... so I thought I'd post something irrelevant instead. Specifically, Glastonbury Tor:


Just to remind me that the sky is sometimes blue - which I find lifts the spirits a little when you're confronted with grey rainclouds, and there's a chilly wind blowing.

But gosh now, it's getting late and I have knitting to do. Over and out for today,
VCxx

I have happy feet

"....♫ well that's neat, that's neat, that's neat, that's neat, I really love my monkey feet.... ♫"

Warning!

Never leave a monkey unattended......

Muffin

Nuffin'

A properly vicious chicken

Found this picture on a postcard. Think I've got some competition...

Exciting packages and monkey mania

At the weekend I received a fantastic parcel of vicious-chicken-themed goodness from Working Mom Knits...


In case you can't see (apologies for the dodgy camera-work), there was a wind-up chicken... which lays eggs as it wanders along! And there was also a bag of spare 'eggs', and a box of little marshmallow chicken-ettes, some of which might have come to a bit of a sticky end already (they were very tasty).

So, thanks so much WMK!! I really enjoyed my chickeny parcel - you're very kind :o) I promise to send you a little something in return soon. And yes, I know I've been saying that for weeks now... sorry. The Post Office is definitely on my agenda for this week though. Probably. Possibly.


Moving swiftly on, another exciting thing popped through my doorbox today - double-sided monkey coasters! Hurrah!


Did I mention how much I love that monkey? And his tea? Oh, I did? OK, then :o)

And just while we're on the subject of that monkey, if you happen to like him as much as I do*, then you might like to look at this site, which is very entertaining and contains some hugely exciting news - described more fully in this press release. And if that wasn't enough for you, there's also this:



... although I'm a bit distressed by the fact that his voice appears to have changed.

However, on a final, cheerier note, I've just discovered these - and I really think I might need a pair....


*This may not actually be possible, because I will so fight you for the role of biggest fan... but I'm willing to let you like him nearly as much as I do ;o)

New chicken on the block

Sorry, guys - I meant to post this last night, but I had a bit of a blue day and it just didn't happen in the end. Hopefully you will feel it was worth waiting for, though :o)

Today I wanted to show you my fab-arooney new doorstop!*


I came by Chickenhead (as I've taken to referring to my new door-holding buddy) after seeing a link to the fantastic Refab on a post by my blog pal Random. I love the vintage fabrics that Refab 'repurpose' to make their products with, and the chicken-design door-chappie just seemed quite 'me' somehow :o)

The NBM, however, being less into fripperies, looked at Chickenhead, looked at me, and just said "Kellogg's Corn Flakes". And I can see her point. But I suppose that is what I get for choosing a chicken that is made from such a beautiful shiny green fabric (and I really like the fabric - wish I had some more to make something out of!)

Anyhoo, that's all I have for today, so I will bid you adieu and wish you a happy weekend. Cheerio...


*The keen observers amongst you may remember that I only recently got a new doorstop, in the form of a disused chunk of railway track. But it's OK, I have justified the chicken purchase. My reasoning is thus: I have more than one door in my flat, therefore I should be allowed more than one doorstop. And the railway one was free. So please don't tell me off for what appears to be a new-doorstop addiction. I promise to stop now.... or soon, at least..... maybe just one more.... ;o)

Another pointless project complete

Following a little bit of lateral thinking, I have made something for Shifter.

Shifter is a wooly person, known for his support of a certain brand of tea. Ergo, I have made him the perfect item: wooly tea!


At least, I thought it was perfect. But apparently, I may be wrong...

Please remove this ridiculous rubbish and bring me a real cuppa. Immediately.

Ah, well. Some you win, some you lose...

Knit-tastic

Last time I posted, I told you that I had jumped on Moogsmum's bandwagon, and been and bought a crafting magazine for the sake of a cow sewing pattern. And I also mentioned how, since buying said pattern, I'd remembered that I can't really sew.

Unfortunately, the seed of cow-making had been sown (no pun intended), but I couldn't really face attempting the sewn moo just at the moment... so, I set about looking for a cow knitting pattern instead, because my skills of knit are slightly more developed than my skills of stitch.

And that is how I came to find myself buying this:


It's a Simply Knitting special (snazzily known as a 'bookazine', I think, because of its book / magazine hybrid qualities). I don't like everything in it, but I love these tiny cows:


They're part of a whole farmyard set, which are all quite nice - but it's really the cows that did it for me the most.


While I was taking pics, I thought I'd share with you some of the other designs, too. Firstly, for anyone who's participating in Lucy Locket's Bunny Hop Bunny Swap: if you happen to be stuck for a pattern, why not whip up one of these "Bunny Babes and Beach Boys"?


Because what every bunny really needs is a knitted bikini, right?


Or if you're feeling more risqué, you could even opt for one that's halfway out of her bikini:


I'm not quite convinced, myself... but the basic bunny is nice, so maybe I will adapt it to make a naked version one day.

Moving on, there's also a full knitted Noah's Ark:


I have neither the need nor the patience to make the whole set, but I am rather fond of this fella...


... so I might give him a try at some point.

There's also these gnitted gnomes which I've seen made by quite a lot of blogging folk in the past, and always quite liked:


It's the beard that appeals to me, I think - because you all know how strongly I feel about the perfect partnership of beard and knit.

And the last picture I have is of this hedgehog all ready for hibernation:


He's cute, but I doubt I'll be making him any time soon as I have no use for him (whereas, clearly, knitted monkeys and cows are my very lifeblood....)

So anyway. Apologies for the picture-heavy post, and award yourself extra points if you'd made it this far. I'm off to try and finish my current WiP so that the needles can be freed up for a cow (so excited!)

Happy weekend :o) VCxx

Updated to add: People seem quite keen on the pattern book, and I had trouble tracking it down initially, so I thought I'd just add that it can be bought online here. In the UK, it is also available from WHSmith, although I had to contact several branches before I found one that hadn't sold out! And I think it might be available in various other countries through 'real shops' if you're looking for a copy and don't want to (or can't) buy online.