Tell us a bit about yourself… who are you and what do you do?

I’m Katie, and I dye yarns with natural dyes as Oxford Kitchen Yarns

I started the business in my tiny galley kitchen, which was a real squeeze. But now that I’m a parent my dyeing is done in a tiny room just off the kitchen.

I was born and raised in Yorkshire, but I’ve lived in Oxford for 8 years, and I’m here with my husband, two small children, and our four adventurous chickens.

I’ve always made things – I started sewing at about 6, and learnt to knit aged 7, and these days I’ve added spinning, quilting, soap making, crochet … making things is a compulsion so it’s better for everyone if I just get on with it.

If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you be doing?

It sounds corny but I think I’m right where I’m supposed to be.

If I wasn’t here, then I’d probably still be a video games designer, which sounds very exciting but is actually a huge amount of work for not a lot of money and starts to take over your life completely. I worked very hard to get into the industry, and I was good at my job, but in the end I was very tired and miserable and I was away from my (now) husband for too long, and once I started thinking ‘other people’s entertainment isn’t worth this’ I couldn’t stop and I had to leave.

I was very lucky because I had an opportunity to leave without fully knowing what I was going to do next, and I took it. But If I hadn’t I don’t think I would have got married and had a family and I would still be in the games industry, paying the bills and not believing that my life could be more than that.

That said, I’m really glad I followed my dream to get into the games industry, even though it didn’t work out for me. Without it I wouldn’t be brave enough to work for myself.

What’s a typical day like for Oxford Kitchen Yarns? 

I’m not sure there is a typical day right now –  because my children are so young parenting has to come first, but there is the usual rhythm of naps for the youngest, mealtimes, nursery mornings, and meeting ups with other families over a week. The dyeing and the online shop and wholesaling to other shops has to fit in around that really.

Part of the reason dyeing really works with my life right now is that natural dyeing is very forgiving regarding time. It’s easy to take a few minutes to move the process along, or check how things are going, around our general life. Finding time to do a big shop update, or take a lot of new photographs, or do something that needs closer attention like an indigo dye, takes more planning but gets fitted in there somewhere.

And knitting fits into all the tiny spaces of time it can – after dinner while waiting for the children to finish their meals has become a favourite knitting time (especially since my evenings are taken up by a teething toddler and much needed sleep to keep up with the early risers in our family.)

If you could spend the day as any children’s TV or movie character, which would you be?

Can I sneak Iron Man in as a kids tv character? (Can you tell I’m looking forward to the new Avenger’s movie?) I don’t really want the big metal heart and I think that actually, flying about would make me feel sick and terrified, but I think it would be really cool to have a completely specked out workshop in basement of your giant house, and have a cool, vastly intelligent AI who ran everything for you. I’d get him to crank up the rock and I’d make stuff!

(This is generally how I spend my time when everyone else is out of the house for a couple of hours.)

We love the selection of yarn that you have available and you obviously have a passion for great colours. Can you remember what sparked your passion, and do you have a favourite design?

One of the things I love most about natural dyes is that I never really know what I’m going to get. I can tweak things and over dye them to get even more colours but the colours themselves can be affected by what was going on when they were growing.

I’ve always had opinions about colour (even though they have changed over the years!) and remember definitely having colours I would and would not wear when I was a child. I’m amused that I hated yellow when I was little but really love it now.

I gave up wearing black about 6 years ago, and that made me look at the colours of my clothes a lot closer.

Where do you get your design inspiration from for new products?

When it comes to colours, I still feel that I’m exploring what natural dyes can do. It’s a long journey and I love it. But also we’re (very slowly) doing up our house at the moment, so I’m surrounded by potential paint colours and design ideas which spark ideas in my own work.

With the knitting designs that often comes from seeing the different coloured yarns together and getting a feel for what I want them to be. Those ideas are often fleeting so I have to jump on them quickly before they disappear.

Do you listen to music whilst you’re working? If so, what kind of music/bands do you listen to?

I listen to a mixture of music and comedy. I really love post-Kid A Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, The Divine Comedy and The Arcade Fire. I’ve been listening to lots of Andrew Bird recently, particularly his live recordings which are really beautiful and layered.

I’m a big fan of Radio 4 comedy so there is usually some News Quiz or Now Show mixed in there, along with So Wrong it Right, The Unbelievable Truth and my personal happy place – Cabin Pressure.

What fun projects are you currently involved with, and which has been your favourite project to date (if you can choose)?

Right now, I’m working on a big overhaul to my online shop. I had some major camera problems at the beginning of the year, and now that’s sorted there is a ton of stock mounting up that needs to be photographed and new lines to add to the store. Hopefully when you’re reading this, it will be all done and everything will be looking great!

Beyond that, I’m hoping to publish my own ebook of patterns for next autumn, and hopefully work on some baby patterns with Jo from Darn it and Stitch.

My favourite project was my OxfordKitchenYarns banner, which I’m hoping to make into scarf kits later in the year.

(The banner in all it’s glory at my first ever show! Note – that’s my lovely friend Jaq in the photo, not me.)

What else do we need to know about you?

I really wish I liked tea and coffee because people seem to have a really good time drinking those drinks, but I don’t. I’m not being ‘good’ when I ask for a glass of water, I’m just a bit stuck on what else to drink (and if I drink too much Coke I worry my teeth will dissolve.)

Following a busy December I enjoyed some time with the family over Christmas and tried to spend some time outside blowing the cobwebs away. You’ll remember my recent re-introduction to cycling after many years and I decided to try an off road track on New Year’s Day. It is fair to say it was very muddy but fortunately I didn’t end up on my face!

Now we’re already well into the start of the New Year and thinking about what 2012 has in store for us.

For me personally that means more cycling and properly getting acquainted with my sewing machine. Inspired by the talented people that we work with to make lovely things for our shop and my love of fabric, I’m determined to get a couple of projects under my belt this year.

I am really excited about the new collections that we have planned for the shop for Spring/Summer 2012; so here’s a little glimpse of the fabulous colours and patterns that we have coming in store over the next couple of months.

Smafolk are treating us to another array of fun retro designs and bright colours, whilst Tootsa MacGinty returns with a second collection of more fabulous unisex designs. 4FunkyFlavour’s ‘I am going on vacation and I take with me’ collection makes us think about summer sunshine!

Many more collections will be revealed over the coming months…

In the meantime, our winter sale with savings of up to 50% continues pop along to the sale here!

Look out for birthday celebrations and giveaways on Facebook in March, can’t believe we are already celebrating our 2^nd birthday!

Here’s to 2012 and wishing you and your families much love, fun and happiness.

Debbie

x

We’re having a giveaway to celebrate two of our favourite artists that have joined us this year, and well just because it’s Christmas! You could be in with the chance of winning a Jane Foster retro soft toy Santa, and a copy of Nick Cope’s ‘What colour is your t-shirt?’ CD.

The Santa toy has been hand printed and made by the very talented Jane Foster, who has also designed many items of clothing and rag dolls for Clothkits, as well as designing cards for Habitat and The Art Group.

‘What colour is your t-shirt?’ is a fabulous alternative to the usual children’s songs that give parents annoying ear worms, and are written and performed by Nick Cope (former lead singer of the Candyskins doncha know!).

To enter all you need to do is leave a comment here on our blog and you’ll need to be a fan of our facebook page (as that’s where we will announce our winner and contact you to arrange for these goodies to be sent to you).

Good luck!

Terms and Conditions:

1. Entry is by comment on our blog only
2. You must be a fan of monkey and bo on facebook to enter
3. This giveaway is open until 5pm on Wednesday 14^th December, when a winner will be chosen at random and notified on facebook.
4. There is no cash alternative to this prize
5. We reserve the right to change the entry requirements at any time.

Yes, that time of year is upon us again! It’s nearly Christmas and it’s time for us to remind you of those all important ‘order by’ dates to make sure that your parcels arrive in time for Christmas.

Here goes:

South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East, Australia & New Zealand

Sunday 4th December

Eastern Europe, USA & Canada

Thursday 8th December

Western Europe

Sunday 11th December

UK

Wednesday 21st December

All items are beautifully wrapped in tissue paper and if you would like a hand written gift tag added just let us know at the time of placing your order.

There is no doubt that Kitschy Coo tunic dresses are a firm favourite in our house.

We first got this when Millie was nearing her second birthday, now she is three and it still wears beautifully as a tunic top. Because it transitions so brilliantly the great news is that she’ll be wearing it for a while longer yet.

She now also fits the next size up (age 3-5 years), so we will get even more wear out of this one.

What’s not to love about that?

As we’re only a couple of months away from the end of the year I thought it was time I revisited my resolutions list to see how I’d been getting on.

If I’m honest I’ve not been paying much attention to the actual list but it seems that at least some of these have been lurking in my thoughts somewhere and I’ve unconsciously taken some of these to task.

eat more healthily   

I preferred the sound of this so I changed this one. That’s allowed isn’t it?!

do more exercise

well I’ve been for the odd splash at the local pool, but I think this would definitely get a ‘could do better’ sticker

Read a book. Any book

I’ve just started reading ‘How to be a woman’ by Caitlin Moran. This came highly recommended by a number of friends and I can see why!

Learn to crochet

I have a hook, I have wool. I’ve tried following a couple of online tutorials with mixed results. My biggest problem is that I’m left handed and trying to follow online tutorials when they are right handed makes for interesting results! Unless anyone can recommend a left-handed tutorial I guess it’s ‘hey ho, hey go, it’s off to a workshop I go’.

Spend more time outside with Moo and try and answer her ‘what’s this?’ questions as she makes new discoveries

This has been fun. Particularly as over the last few months the ‘what’s this?’ has turned into the inevitable ‘why?’ *repeat several times then get distracted by your favourite toy* at times to the relief of the parent!

 Watch an episode of Miranda every day!

OK so not every day, but I have watched the occasional episode – such fun!

 Learn to sew

not only do I have fabric, but I now have a project. Woot! It’s only a little project, but I figure that’s the best place to start. If you’re really lucky and I manage to not make a complete hash of it I might just share it with you.

Learn to ride a bike

*grins smugly* I did it! Not only did I but I loved it.  We were very lucky to have a weekend at Center Parcs recently when the weather was gorgeous and the best way to get around was on two wheels. I might even do it again.

Cook a new recipe each week

I feel a bit sorry for the stack of recipe books that were sitting forlornly in the corner. We’re having a great time doing this, but have sidelined those books thanks to some new and wonderful cook books that have become our current favourites. These are ‘My Daddy Cooks’ by Nick Coffer and ‘grillhouse – gastropub at home’ by Ross Dobson.

Listen to more music

Hmmm. Name that tune in one.

Not bad, and I still have time to try and get a few more of these ticked off. If you made any resolutions I’d love to hear how you’re getting on.

You can view all the latest new arrivals here

First up are Swedish favourite Lipfish; we love their fun and cheery animals and bright colours. I especially love the penguin! This season we’ve added trousers to our range which co-ordinate brilliantly with their colourful tops.

View all of the Lipfish available here

Next up is Småfolk, Danish retro cool at its best. Known for their bright and fun prints this circus print bodyvest is bursting with colour! Their super-cosy long sleeve tops have fun designs too.

View all of the Småfolk available here

Supersoft and gorgeous new baby gear from Little Green Radicals has just arrived; check out these lovely autumnal tones.

View all of the Little Green Radicals available here

New to monkey and bo is Dutch designer 4FunkyFlavours and these gorgeous baby playsuits. Guaranteed to make baby stand out from the crowd these make great gifts too.

View all of the 4FunkyFlavours available here

And not forgetting new British label Tootsa MacGinty, a very welcome addition to our shop. We’re big fans of their ethos to design timeless styles built to wash, wear and “hand-me-down” and their unisex colours.

View all of the Tootsa MacGinty available here

We’re expecting more fabulous additions to arrive soon including more goodies from Småfolk so keep your eyes peeled!

The music was great, there were lots of activities for the kids to get stuck into and the weather was much better than we had expected. What nicer way to while away an afternoon than sitting in a field listening to music and drinking Pimms!

A much loved festival hat which actually became really handy at spotting where she was!

Relaxing in the sunshine

One of the highlights of the weekend for us was the kids music tent, and in particular Nick Cope (previously of The Candyskins), who is now known in our house as the ‘singing man who lives in the blue and white tent’.

Nick’s writes and performs his own music for children and it was great watching the kids all singing and dancing along with him.  How civilised is their mosh pit!

We had a brilliant time at Truck (partly thanks to our bigger tent!) and we’re hoping that by next year Moo will be old enough to for us to watch all of the evening acts while she sleeps in a trolley.

Initially I was quite hesitant about letting Moo help me make them; I’m bad enough when it comes to handling food colouring but when she gets hold of it you really want to be wearing your full hazmat gear! We do quite a lot of cooking and baking together though so I decided to brave it.

For some reason we decided to make rainbow muffins rather than cupcakes, so the result is really quite different to Helen’s!

Now as you will see, Icklebabe’s cupcakes are very tidy (some may say very precise!) layers of different coloured sponge. Because we used far too much mixture a muffin tray the top layer, which was the pink, has sunk resulting in some kind of blob! It may represent an angel or an extra terrestrial being – you choose!

I’m hoping that because Icklebabe made her cakes as a fairwell to Harry Potter I might just get away with it fitting her magical theme in some way

Maybe next time we’ll get the layering right, but however they turned out we did have a lot of fun making them. If you have a go at making them we’d love to see pictures of your cakes!

Dandy Dodo was created by Beki Ceylan after the birth of her baby girl. Following an unsuccessful search for clothes for her daughter that were different and unique, Beki decided to start her own brand!

Dandy Dodo source rare fabrics and each item is limited to 30 pieces per style, offering a real opportunity for your child to stand out from the crowd.

We’ve selected two pieces from their collection for girls, the poppy skirt and the alpine dress – both available in sizes 3 and 4 years

These are beautiful stand out pieces!