I am one of 5 designers that has been selected to create an ensemble inspired by 1950's furniture from the permanent collection at the Minnesota History Center for the annual Retrorama fashion show! For the event, the History Center is creating 5 rooms such as a kitchen, dining room, and rec room. I have been assigned the outdoors (often an extension of the domestic interior), and my piece is heavily inspired by the Center's Boomerang Chair - a fabulous outdoor seating piece in the quintessential 1950's style.

I am creating my garment on my knitting machine. Just as the 1950s are defined by ease, convenience, and mechanization, allowing for more leisure time, I explore these ideals of perfection by machine knitting neat, concise stitches and even texture - not to mention that it is faster than hand knitting! I have taken the pattern elements of the Boomerang Chair, and reinterpreted them on the skirt through a technique called intarsia. The styling of the garment itself is a nod to a classic 1950s playsuit – the ultimate feminine, leisure time ensemble, but with less modesty. You'll have to come to the show to see the finished piece for yourself, but here's a teaser of my work in progress.

The evening will be filled with history, excitement, and fine fashion! May 15th from 7pm to 11 pm at the Minnesota History Center.

• 1950s fashion show are local designers Laura Fulk, Anna Lee, Calpurnia Peach, Kerri Riley and Rebecca Yaker
• Enjoy cocktail & cooking demos with Nick Kosevich of Town Talk Diner
• Shop onsite at Swank Retro & Via's Vintage
• Play bingo with celebrity callers & great prizes
• Be inspired by vintage furnishings & fashions on display
• Dance to music by Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapelles and DJ Jake Rudh
• In addition to all that, don't you dare miss the amazing 1950 photo exhibit, "Suburban World: The Norling Photos" - author Brad Zellar will be there signing his accompanying book.

Tickets are $15 or $12 for members

Nothing like waiting until the last minute.....finally today I submitted my entry for the Fred Flare NEXTBIGTHING annual design competition!

What did I submit? What else, but monkey tees, complete with a photo of me monkeying around in a tree!

This is the 4th year they're doing the NEXTBIGTHING, where indie designers submit a product, and if they dig it enough and you win - they'll buy a limited quantity of the item sell it on their shop!

This year they’re selecting 27 of their favorite items to be featured in an exclusive online boutique that will also include designer bios. They will also award a $1000 prize to the designer voted the “fred fan fave” by their awesome customers. Fingers crossed!

The NEXTBIGTHING shop will go LIVE onfredflare.com in June 2008. I'll have to do my best to be patient until then........

Hard to believe a full year has passed since the last Craftstravaganza! I'm currently in the throes of full craft mode getting ready for another awesome event!

As with last year, the juried rogue art and craft show will take place in the Fine Arts Building of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

You can be sure to find some of my classic baby pieces, including diaper bags, monkey tees and fitted crib sheets, but I will be also unveiling my new product line: Skirts and Dresses for little girls in sizes 2 - 6! These pieces will be all one-of-a-kind using the fabulous fabrics I hand selected during my February trip to Tokyo.

I'm also pretty darn excited about the little girl dresses I am making which incorporate my machine knitting skills - super cute, if I say so myself!

Saturday, April 26 2008 9am to 6pm
Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Fine Arts Building
Admission and parking is free.

More info at www.craftstravaganza.com, and a complete vendor list HERE.

Hope to see you there!!

2007 is still in full swing, but I can't wait to give you a sneak preview of the February 2008 issue of Radar Magazine.

On pages 28 and 29 you will find a thorough analysis of the wants and needs of NPRents. I was so very pleased to find my sock monkeys, both single and conjoined, among must-haves per the very in depth Radar study. Another noteworthy item is the book Community Gardens from my 2nd favorite photographer, Gene Pittman. (You see, my 1st favorite photographer is, of course, my mother).

Radar's February issue hits newsstands January 15th - don't forget to pick up a copy for yourself! It's your answer to Fresh Intelligence, including pop, politics, scandal, and style. Thank you Radar!

For my third year, I will be participating in the No Coast Craft-o-Rama, and I couldn't be more excited! It's this Friday and Saturday at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis - get ready for 105 vendors, live tunes, and great eats!

I've created a slew of new diaper bags, sock monkey goods, and baby bedding essentials that you'll need, need, need! Be sure and stop by and say hi. There's no other place to buy handmade this holiday season!

In other late breaking No Coast news, Debbie Stoller, of BUST magazine and the Stitch & Bitch book series, will be stopping by the show to promote and sign her latest book, Son of Stitch & Bitch. She will be at the show Friday afternoon, from 4pm to 5pm.

No Coast Craft-o-Rama
Friday November 30 from 3pm-8pm
Saturday December 1 from 9am-5pm

I'm back and super jazzed after a weekend in Austin, Texas at the 5th annual Stitch Fashion Show and Craft Bazaar.

All the late hours knitting really paid off. It was a long, 12 hour day, full of runway walk-throughs, hair and make-up, last minute garment alterations, shoe taping and all-around fun.

I couldn't of hoped for 5 more fantastic models: David in the monkey suit; Jenny, hotter than hot in that cool, cool bikini; Yolis strutting her stuff in the tankini; Alana, all revved up in her bad ass leather; and or course Drew: the belle of the ball in the gown.

But what really made the day perfect? Gene. I could not have hoped for a better shoe masker off pal in all of the land.

At the craft bazaar itself, there were over 100 amazing vendors from all over the country and 20 designers on the runway. Be sure to check out my new new favorite crafter: Made by Hank

I have a new found love and respect for all the organizers - thank you Jennifer Perkins, Jesse Kelly-Landes, Tina Sparkles & Karly Hand - you gals put on a helluva show!

And thank goodness for Barton Springs pool for the mini rest, now back to work to prepare for the No Coast Craft-o-Rama!

I'm back from 2 exciting days at Renegade Chicago! Thanks to everyone who stopped by the St. Paul Craft Mafia booth - we met some awesome folks and enjoyed the most beautiful weekend in September.

(in front of our tent, sporting our Le Sportsac's from left to right: Oona of Run Amok, Aisha of Aisha Celia Designs, Heather of Hezza Made and me!)

There was an amazing selection of handcrafted craftiness at Renegade this year - and I developed a few new faves (in addition to our own Mafia members). I'm mesmerized byFernworks for their beautiful, delicate and fascinating resin jewelry. I wanted one last year, so I finally bought a necklace for myself! Daydream Silkscreen is a winner for limited edition screen printed tees by various artists - the tees are all the rage, and the dancing was even better. Soda by Amy was like walking into a little boutique, complete with a bed full of pillows. She specializes in clay, hand silk screened wallpaper, and pillows to "inspire the kid in all of us." I'll still trying to decide which room to wallpaper.... Alpaca, Baybee = so cute! The loveliest alpaca plush toys made of recycled sweaters. They practically sold out on Saturday and had to make more for the Sunday sale. Those Alpacas looked at you through those sweet eyes with eyelashes, and you couldn't help but melt!

And an extra special thanks to Hollis who rallied the shoppers and handed out www.sockmonkeys.com business cards - you're a super cool little dude!

Welcome to glorious September! I'm very excited as I'm heading to Chicago to participate in the Renegade Craft Fair! Renegade is is the cream of the crop, as far as D.I.Y. craft events go - the event is now in it's fifth year and promises to be better than ever.

This year's Chicago fair is taking place this weekend (September 15 + 16) from noon-10PM each day on Division St. between Damen Ave. & Wood St. and will be teamed up with the Do-Division Street Fest which will have music, food and more.

So, if you're free this coming weekend, please make a trip to Renegade Chicago - not only will you be able to buy Hazel and Melvin's Room goodies, but you'll also see over 200 vendors from all over the country, showcasing the coolest crafts around, including DIY knitting, jewelry, sewn items, paper goods, silkscreening, comics, zines and more! What could be a better way to spend this glorious September weekend?

Look for Hazel and Melvin's Room with the St. Paul Craft Mafia - you can't miss the cuteness!

The jury is in: I am participating in the Runway portion of Stitch Austin, the Handmade Revolution!

Mark your calender for the November 10th debut of sock monkey themed apparel. Check out the sketches for the concepts - they'll be coming to life over the next 2 months - just you wait and see (well, we already know how the dress turned out.....)!

Sock Monkey Evening Wear for Him & Her!

Resort and Casual Wear, Monkey Style! What could be better?!

My simian vignette in the Creative Activities Building at the Minnesota State Fair is getting Rave reviews! The display highlights a retrospective of my sock monkey work including the 2 infamous dresses, flying conjoined monkeys, a hat/scarf/mitten trio, and the new for 2007, the Sock Monkey Chair.

The State Fair is open through September 3rd - see it in person while you can!

Get more monkeys for yourself!