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My latest custom sock monkeys, Weedy and Laurie, may look familiar. That’s because they’re modeled after Gracie and Lauren. See the resemblance? They make nice twins! Weedy comes with a yellow and blue knit hoodie with ladybug while Laurie wears a classic yellow and pink heart sweatshirt hoodie.
Weedy and Laurie will also be living in their hometown city of Seattle, where I created the very 1st Mars Sock Monkey back in 2007. Today, being that it’s also my last day of living in the rainy city, marks Weedy and Laurie as the 84th and 85th Mars Sock Monkeys made in the history of Maribel Made! I’m really excited to see what new sock monkey adventures await for us in Brooklyn.
If you’re interested in a custom Mars Sock Monkey you can email me at maribelmade at gmail dot com for more info. Stay tuned for more cute sock monkey madness. :)
Weedy Mars Sock Monkey
Laurie Mars Sock Monkey
Tags: 84, 85, Brooklyn, custom, cute, family, history, hoodie, knit, laurie, maribel made, mars, milestone, monkey, moving, purple, rainbow, seattle, sock, stripe, sweater, sweatshirt, twins, weedy, yellow
While doing some research on the history of the sock monkey recently, I came across some interesting facts about this iconic toy. Did you know the first sock knitting machine was patented in 1869 by Swedish immigrant John Nelson? In 1880 he incorporated The Nelson Knitting Company that gave life to the famous Red Heel® socks used for the original sock monkeys!
Sock monkeys were later popularized during the Great Depression of the 1930s when “crafty” moms began making toys for their children using socks. In short, the sock monkey went on to become quite a cult icon! One of the most interesting things I found was that giving a sock monkey to a newborn baby brought good luck and happiness. :)
Well today is no exception because I made Sunny Mars Sock Monkey for a soon-to-be-born baby! The challenging part was not knowing the baby’s gender so I made a sock monkey that wouldn’t be gender specific using lighter colors like lavender, yellow and a bit of cyan. I also knew that the baby’s Grandma knit a lavender hoodie for the baby so it was appropriate to make them matching jumpers. With Sunny I wanted to make a sock monkey that would appeal to either a boy or a girl. I’m happy with the results. :)
Tags: 1800''s, 1930''s, baby, boy, child, color, crafty, cult, facts, gender, girl, Great Depression, hapiness, history, icon, John, kids, knitting, luck, machine, mars, mom, monkey, Nelson, new-born, Rockford, sock, sunny, toy
It’s been about two years since I made Shayla, Juan and Paul. In 2007 I had a full-time job, I did freelance design work and contributed to a startup I helped co-found with my boyfriend Toby called Musicmobs. In the end Toby sold Musicmobs to Last.fm and we moved to London! That was great, but before all that happened I felt extremely burned out. I craved a way to express myself creatively without being in front of the computer 24/7.
One day a friend gave me a postcard that showed how to make a sock monkey. I didn’t gravitate towards it immediately but I did start thinking more about sock monkeys and how they were made. My curiosity and desire to put my hands to work got me started on my whole sock monkey adventure! In fact, this is the sock monkey tutorial I used. Once Shayla, Juan and Paul were finished I thought they were missing something so I decided knit them sweaters.
Now that I’ve been building my sock monkey army I thought it would be fun to go back and update one of the very first monkeys. Shayla’s original sweater was what started it all, but it was definitely rough around edges. I thought since she was one of the first that she needed a nice new sweater. I think she likes her new clothes. :)
Shayla Mars Sock Monkey (Then)
Shayla Mars Sock Monkey (Now)
Tags: design, history, last.fm, makeover, maribelmade, mars, monkey, musicmobs, shayla, sock, startup, toys, web
I’m sure you’ve heard lots about Twitter. It’s an exploding social network, but in a way it’s unlike most other social networks. My boyfriend got me to sign up during it’s early stages and it hadn’t been until now that I started using it again (Maribel Made on Twitter). At the time I used it on my phone, but it seemed sort of pointless then. Using it on the web is much more useful! Anyway, I had to find out what was the big deal was with it nowadays.
I’d have to say that after one week of using it, the way I consumed information on the web changed! I can’t quite put my finger on it, but search seems antiquated now. I think I’d rather learn something of interest from someone I stumble upon on Twitter and follow. And I have. Lots! In such a short amount of time too.
So I thought, why now share my Twitter finds with the world. For this I thank all the artistic people I’m following. With no further a due, I give you my initial Twit Finds weekly column!
This week’s Twit Finds:
- Spoonflower fabrics - Custom fabric on demand anyone? I can’t wait to use this service! Katty Neill has some great fabric designs. I heart this birdie one the best. :) (via @kittyvane)
- Little Bird illustrations by Kate Wilson - I really like the pointillist aspect…plus they are so cute! (via @littledoodles)
- Fugu sock monkey by Mitsumori Toy Design - Amazing art dolls by toy designer Hatsuko Mitsumori (via @CampSockMonkey)
- How to Make Dorset Buttons from CraftStylish- My love of buttons couldn’t help bookmarking this on delicious. The detailed photos are great! (via @CraftStylish)
- Happy Tree Gang by lemonshortbread on Etsy - Very pretty collectable art cards with lots of imagination.
- Sock Monkeys a history by Snively - Of course I have to know about the history of the sock monkey. Great blog! (via @CampSockMonkey)
Tags: button, column, craftstylish, design, dorset, etsy, finds, Fugu, happy tree gang, history, intro, Kate Wilson, Katty Neill, lemonshortbread, Little birds, maribelmade, Mitsumori, monkey, network, of interest, snivley, social, sock, spoonflower, toy, twit, twitter, web, weekly
