It’s been a while since we last met a new Beastie, hasn’t it?
Let’s fix that right now!
I wonder who this laid-back woolly dude is?
Aha! It’s Cyclist Beastie! Here, I’ll see if I can get him to take off those wraparound shades so he can say hello properly.
Much better! As you can see, this handsome fellow is all ready for a day in the saddle – he’s wearing a zip-up racing top (that coincidentally matches the one his new human cycling buddy wears) and he has a tasty snack on hand for whenever his energy levels start to dip.
But wait a sec… Aren’t you forgetting something, Cyclist Beastie?
That’s more like it!
Cyclist Beastie’s helmet is built to be sturdy and comfortable – the padding protecting his head is needle felted into place, to ensure an excellent snug fit! That said, I did have to leave a little gap to ensure that he could still wear his sunglasses too when he’s biking on sunny summer days!
I reckon he’s just about ready to mount up and hit the road!
(Although hopefully not literally – let’s hope he learns from his new family, rather than taking too strongly after his maker!)
Are there any other keen cyclists out there? Or are you more of a disaster on two wheels (like me)? Let us know in the comments!
We’ll be back next week with more monster shenanigans… It will be Hallowe’en, after all! Have a spook-tacular week, everybody!
Next, how about we take a look at where these fibres come from? Now, I know that farming is hardly a squeaky-clean, environmentally-friendly enterprise. I realise that sheep are prone to all manner of parasites and diseases, and that the chemicals required to prevent against these nasties taking hold are probably pretty nasty themselves. But let’s not forget that synthetic fibres are extracted from crude oil, and held up against the oil extraction and processing industry, even the most intensive sheep farming comes out looking pretty angelic.
Explorer Beastie was tempted to freewheel down twisty Fishamble Street on this greenery-bedecked bicycle, but fortunately I was able to talk him out of it. Let’s just walk the rest of the way, perhaps?
And sure enough, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the narrow cobbled streets of Temple Bar!
And look… There they are!
The Beasties will be guests at Cow’s Lane Designer Studio for at least the next month, so if you’re in the area, please do pop in and say hello! All of them are eager to meet you, and maybe find their forever home!
Ta-daaaaah! The people have spoken, and they’ve come out in favour of a calendar gap year. Although I reckon I’ll really have to deliver on my promise to get something bigger, brighter and better together for 2019! It’s also interesting that the idea of abandoning the calendar altogether was the least popular option – I’ve been happy to discover that I’m not the last person on earth who depends one of these primitive devices to stop my world from descending into chaos!
The summery mallow flowers might be in full bloom, but Woolly Jumper Beastie loves her stylish purple sweater too much to take it off! Still, it’s actually a pretty good piece of kit for an active, adventurous Beastie – its natty top-down construction keeps seam bulk to a minimum and gives her plenty of wiggle room!
And this isn’t the only Beastie in the garden today… Who’s that hiding in the undergrowth?
Hey there, Redhead Beastie! She’s a Barróg Beastie (one made with 100% Irish wool), which might explain why she’s drawn to all that greenery!
Too pretty!
Delicious! Burger Beastie seems to be especially enjoying the whole picnicking experience.
Wow, haven’t they changed? Unsurprisingly, this first post of mine got no likes… at least not until Noémie from 
Urrrgh, again with the terrible photography! Isn’t it lucky that I was trying to rehome Beasties that weekend, rather than photographs? That said, I was pretty surprised that I had to put up this sign on my table halfway through Sunday afternoon…
And thus, a Maker of Monsters was born! From there, it was a short leap to taking on my first commission…
… And by now, I’d picked up two of my longest-standing followers, who I still try to keep up with. Knitters will find lots to love on 
Look at him there, hanging out with Ampelmann in Berlin! And by the time he’d taken the first of many trips to Co. Roscommon, in the western midlands of Ireland…
… We’d picked up another BeastieBlog lifer,
Barróg Beasties (the name is the Irish word for “hug”) have gone on to become some of the most popular Beasties out there… Especially the ones with pints of Guinness or little Aran sweaters! Oh, and it’s around this time that
By now, we’d been joined by 
That year, I also found some great new blogs through WordPress’s Blogging 101 course – including one of my favourite travel blogs, 
It’s also been fun to see more people getting in touch with pictures of their own Beasties’ adventures – like 
Aaaand that’s probably enough gushing from me for one day! I hope you enjoyed this whistle-stop tour of Beastie history – it’s actually been fun for me to look back through the archives as well. It’s also made me realise that, although there are a good few people who have been with me since the early days, I’ve encountered a whole LOAD of interesting and inspiring bloggers in the last few months. So I’m saving my “who I’m reading now” list for a future post, coming up in a couple of weeks!
I called this little woolly dude “Lucky Guy Beastie”, because he was made for the winner of the prize draw I ran on my 
The jacket is also removable, of course!
Next, he needed a backpack… and I snuck a tasty cheese sandwich in here, in case this little monster gets hungry on his travels!
Finally, I completed his kit with a Beastie-sized watch…
… And he was ready to go!
That said, Ismail thought that his Beastie might get lonely all by himself… So he asked if I could make him a companion. Done and done!
While Ismail is here in Dublin studying, his girlfriend is still at home in Indonesia. Fortunately, her Beastie counterpart was ready just in time to be shared via videochat on her birthday!
You might also have noticed her nice little knitted cardigan, which can be taken off on hot days…
… And which is my second top-down knitted garment! (My first was the “first draft” of this, which turned out a little too big after blocking and was subsequently pinched by Explorer Beastie. I’m starting to wonder if he maybe had a 
Incidentally, I owe a big thank you to Shirley at 
Congratulations again to Ismail, and I hope you like your new monster friends!
