On the road again

This is the Monkey and Sofia site, dedicated to creating a new way of life. Sounds a bit idealistic? Like all that commercial stuff about green consumerism and new age lifestyles, buying opportunities which get us nowhere? This is very different. We are two people who stopped living a conventional life seven years ago, left England, and have been making our purpose to invent a simple way of life ever since. Until 3 weeks ago we were living in a tumbledown house in Portugal, with just the basics - no hot water, no phone, no tv, no fridge - concentrating instead on making beautiful things and publishing our ideas.

Now, in the interest of feeding our souls, we have travelled to British Columbia, a place of such amazing natural beauty our eyes couldn’t believe it! We are living temporarily on Texada Island, with a window full of ocean and cedar forest - seals, birds, black squirrels, eagles - and the snowy peaks of Vancouver Island across the Strait.

It’s a really awesome experience being surrounded by nature so much bigger and more powerful than us, it certainly puts us humans in perspective.

Monkey and Sofia is part of our idea to live a more simple life, one which is closer to nature. Since we left the UK, in 2000, we have been developing out ideas, working out what really are the important things in life.

Like growing our own food, using as little energy as possible, living in a basic way and having time for friends and family.

Making beautiful things is also a part of it.

Each year we produce a catalogue of lovely things, which people can order and give to their friends.

We use our skills and locally available materials to develop new ideas and make things which carry our message.

We are artists and make everything ourselves, using simple materials and traditional skills. All our things are individual and made with care because they have an important job to do.

We want them to carry our message about living simply. Our hope is to encourage others to change their lives, by sharing our ideas and experiences.

This might sound a bit weird, but it's simple.

It's like those fabulous patchwork quilts people made in the past. Each piece of fabric, each little square or hexagon was a little piece of memory, a special scrap from someone's dress, a piece of someone else's apron.

When the quilt was finished, all those memories were stitched into it and were really what made each it so special.

Monkey and Sofia toys, bags, socks etc. carry our ideas about living in simple way. Growing our own food, living in a basic way while enjoying a much richer life.

What we have found is that less really is more.

So, we hope you'll enjoy looking at all the things we've made and matching them to all your friends and family.

We're certain that everyone would enjoy being a part of Monkey and Sofia!
See what you think....
Tell us what you're interested in, and we'll email you and give you all the details.

Prices? We'll tell you those to, but don't worry, we want everyone to be able to be part of Monkey and Sofia so prices are kept to affordable.

monkeyandsofia@yahoo.co.uk

These are some photos of this year's things.

The extremely cute knitted cats....

Monkey and Sofia, our original two knitted cats are now joined by the little twins, Gingy and Pandy..

little Gingy and is twin, Pandy.

This is a little detail from Monkey's cool jeans, he is a very stylish cat, obviously. Only Monkey and Sofia and their friends have such a stylish wardrobe for knitted toys.

Penguins and Crocodiles
These little knitted toys, three penguins or two crocodiles, make a really special little present all wrapped up in their own cellophane bags.

This is what each penguin looks like, in his own little ski cap and scarf.

Bags Bags Bags
The Moroccan shoulder bag, ecological shopping bags and sweet little draw-string bags.

These are little details from the shopping bags, so you can see how stylish they are.....

The lovely tassley front pocket of the Moroccan bag

These are two different fabrics used for the Moroccan Bags. Both are red and gold, the one with the thin stripes is chenile and the other is broader, bolder stripe in red and gold.
for those people who love to give or recieve practical presents. The Moroccan bag is wonderfully textural, soft and strong. In reds and gold with a useful zip pocket inside and a pocket with a flap on the outside
The front flap has a jingly morrocan bell and fluffy wool tassle.
Now, these are perfect presents in every way.
Practical, environmentally friendly and very stylish too.
Denim and Calico shopping bags
fold up easily to fit in a pocket, ready to bring out to use.
SAY NO TO PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS

Get Organised.....Storage in the shape of little drawstring bags perfect for all sorts of things and all sorts of folks: Hanging on door knobs with all you mail inside, in the bathroom to round up all those bits and bobs, in the kitchen, anywhere. And for children, great for little toys, jigsaw puzzle pieces, finger puppets, bits of lego. Lovely soft cotton fabric, pretty prints and coloured lining.

BIG SOFTIES

This year we have been experimenting with different types of beautiful fabic, inventing some animals full of character who will definately want to become friends with whoever has them for Christmas.
Senhora Kangaroo
a cool mum with a strong sense of fashion! She is made from soft, bright pink flannel fabric and her little pink baby is sitting in her apron pocket.

Joaquim Giraffe .....is made from the most soft and sumptuous, crimson cord fabic. His giraffe patterns are all cut from felt in a totally vivid range of colours and hand stitiched on.
Eduardo Elephant
A totally oriental character with lots of rich colours, gold and glitter.
made from very beautiful fabric with hand stitched felt ears and a gentle face

Hand knitted socks

I know, it seems crazy and too obvious but.... Socks at Christmas? Too obvious? I don't think so, these are socks with an important twist. Fabulously warm and cosy, knitted by hand, a really thoughtful and cosy gift.
If you're stuck for a present idea, who wouldn't like warm feet this winter?

Ragdoll Cats

These are the lovely ragdoll versions of our cats, Monkey and Sofia. They are the perfect size for toddlers to hold, they will feel as if they've got a big friend to carry around! Both are made from soft coloured cotton fabric, with little felt shoes and a nice line in stylish clothes. Obviously they have stylish jumpers!

The Mice This is a close up of Girl Mouse's bag

This is the back view of the little Mouse Boy's trousers
Real cutesters! These two little mice with their impressive fashion sense! He has a very stylish pair of dungarees and woolly scarf and she, a soft cotton dress, a neckerchief and a very nice bag for her to keep all her secrets.

THE BOOKSHELF
If you are still wondering what to get a particlar person, searching for that elusive, original gift then our bookshelf could be the answer.
We publish books about our ideas and the results are beautiful and unusual. We have four titles:

A Simpler Life
'A little beauty! '

Newly published, this is book tells of our journey to Spain and Portugal, our odyssy to find how to live in a more simple life, closer to nature. This is the book to read if you're ever wondered about changing your life. Lots of thoughts and ideas and how nice is it to know there is another way to live?

The knitting Book

Yes! Changing the speed of your life will definately make more room for the important things, like knitting! This is a lovely gift because it is part travel journal and part collection of patterns,especially for people who like to knit small things. Perfect for people involved in fund raising or knitting groups.
It's very pretty too, with lots of coloured photos and illustrations.

My Kind of Life

A thoughtful book, which begins in our garden in Yorkshire, where we first got interested in self sufficiency. Lots of ideas, thoughts and descriptions of our garden and information on growing food, recycling and making things.
The Cook Book

A collection of vegetarian recipes using food from the garden. A popular publication full of simple recipes which always succeed.
Fully illustrated and easy to follow
You see, in the Monkey and Sofia Catalogue, there really is something for everyone!
Your gifts will not only be unique, but you and everyone you give to, will be part of this usual and very exciting project. If you'd like to know more about any aspect of Monkey and Sofia, do contact us:
monkeyandsofia@yahoo.co.uk

What's it all about?

Hi and welcome to the Monkey and Sofia Blog.

This is where we share our ideas for living a simpler life and it is our sort of showroom for the books we publish and the things we make.

We produce books which reflect our choice of life. Currently there are three publications available: My Kind Of Life about self sufficiency, the cookbook for vegetarian seasonal cooking and the knitting book with patterns for both the new and experienced knitter.

Each autumn we produce the Monkey and Sofia Mail Order Catalogue. (Check out the images below for this years stuff)

Part of our simple life is about being creative, making beautiful things, using readily available materials and we want to encourage others to do the same.

The fairest trade of all is to make something and give it.

If you'd like to talk to us about our ideas, tell us about yours or just request your own copy of the catalogue please do email us:

monkeyand sofia@yahoo.co.uk

The Gallery

Sometimes people send us photos of things they've made, using the knitting book, it's great to see how everyone's work is completely unique and beautiful.

To add to our gallery of knitted lovelies we are collecting photos of feline knitters too!

So, here we have:

The very lovely Sparkie puss

Sparkie with Gail, putting in some time to helping her with her knitting.

Here are some of Gail's cute creations

And here is Sparkie, just checking lables on some knitwear before tumbling!

Here is Bob, getting in touch with her creative side

And here is another member of Bob's family, Daisy

These are some warmly dressed cats all the way from the Shetland Islands. They are being jealously guarded by Kalida, who is Head of the Knitting Dept.

All the way from Italy, this is Catherine's cushion. She started with the knitting book pattern and then used her own ideas to make a different edge and knitted in the cute little heart. A very successful project, admired by all her family!

Here is Fernando, enjoying the company of one of our knitted Ginger cats, in his duffle coat. Fernando is Stephanie's cat and they live here in Portugal.

The Real Monkey

Here is a photo of our beautiful Monkey, we loved him but the sad news is that he died. Our poor Monkey. He was just 4 years old and had been on our journey with us from Galicia. He travelled with us in our van and enjoyed a life on the road. Just now it's hard to think about him without sadness, but hopefully now all his suffering is over, we'll be able to remember him when he was happy and healthy.

Monkey was half of the inspirational team for our Monkey and Sofia project, so everytime I knit a little black cat I will be thinking of him. It's a really nice way to remember him as he was, beautiful and full of personality.

Inspiration?

It's very hard work providing the inspiration day in, day out. Luckily Sofia can also appreciate the thing we make. She is very sensitive to the difference between synthetic yarn and real wool. Only the truely natural makes her pummel and make a lovely bed for herself. Unfortunately this is nearly always on something I am working and she isn't really that keen on negotiation.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

we are gradually recovering from an extremely busy time over Christmas. It was wonderful and truly exciting to have made so many new contacts both through the catalogue and the knitting book, it feels as if our tiny world is expanding in a really positive way.

As well as our friends in the UK we have been making new contacts in Portugal too. We were invited to participate in two Christmas Craft events in Odemira, our local town. And lovely to see the knitted toys on show alongside jewellery, pottery and weaving. People liked what we'd made, which was nice, and many asked if we could make special orders for them and as presents for friends which was a great challenge. Plus we got to make things we would otherwise not considered.
Now there are so many MONKEY & SOFIA toys out in the world it is lovely to start getting e-mails and letters, as well as photos, from their new owners. Here's a lovely photo of Ginger, clasped in the paws of a cat called Fernando, and allegedly the best of friends.
January is going to be our month to re-stock (hopefully). Making more Monkeys and Sofias, Gingers, and Mice. Plus some more bags.