Monkey off my back



Yesterday was the Five Counties guild competition and as usual, I was finishing my entry at the last minute. Most years, I end up putting the last touches on during the car ride to the event. Since I was driving this year, I thought my passenger would appreciate an earlier push.












The pattern is the Sleepy Monkey Blanket from Twist Collective. It's really two blankets knitted in the round, steeked and then bound together wrong sides in and finished with two seperate borders (backing on each other). A final garter round seals both sides and makes the blanket totally reversible.






I spun the yarn on my Schacht Matchless and then Navajo plied it to a triple ply. The roving was superwash merino and the colours were dictated by the guild challenge. I had to use orange and green but could add other colours too. You can see the two sides here before I bound them together. The back side is quite colourful. I opted for a garter stitch border instead because it is reversible and I would have had to spin more yarn to do it as indicated in the pattern. Time didn't permit however, I'm pleased with the garter finish. The blanket is very cushy so if you make this, it's almost like a flat pillow.


The theme of the competition was "energy" so my very talented guild mate suggested we make felted balls and create an energy transfer machine ala physics class. You can see them here behind the mesh holding the display items. People did play with our machine which is what we wanted but alas - the judges didn't think it was the most "eye catching" so we're bridesmaids again. However, I loved seeing all of the entries and was so proud of the talent in our guild.

The Sleepy Monkey will be resting in my cedar chest. I can't bear to give it to anyone because there's so much of me in it. I think it will go to the first grandchild. NOT ANYTIME SOON!