In step with the so-ugly-it’s- beautiful cadence that sets the tone for the current do-it-yourself craft scene comes the Boulder-based Icebox Knitting House’s Xob the Recycled Sweater Monkey.
Xob is a monkey that only the most determined mother could love. Asymmetrical, with mismatching button eyes, a flat mouth and drooping tongue and noodley body parts made of wildly sparring colors, the Recycled Sweater Monkey looks all “loving hands at home.”
It’s handmade, but in a craft house at 1840 Commerce St., in east Boulder.
The monkeys, along with pillows stitched with pockets bearing Xob’s goofy mug, are made at Icebox Knitting’s Boulder factory. Since 1994, Icebox Knitting’s snug, stretchy Dohm hats have sold briskly among the snowboarding and skating crowd.
Last year, as owners Scott Baker and Josh McGlothlin eyed several years’ worth of accumulated trimmings from hats and sweaters, they came up with the idea of piecing together mismatching scraps for a new recycled-materials hat line. From there, it was a small leap to making a toy out of the same materials.
“We had to come up with a new name for the line,” said Icebox staffer Lori Baker.
“So we thought, we’re cutting up the sweaters. We’ll cut up the name. So they came up with “Xob,” which is “box” spelled backward. It’s kinda blossomed into something that puts a face on the whole line.”
The Recycled Sweater Monkey doll and pillow, assembled partly at a workshop staffed by people with developmental disabilities, are beginning to show up in stores that carry Icebox products.
“Josh didn’t even have to sell me on these pillow things,” said Todd Colletti, who carries the Recycled Sweater Monkey doll and pillow at his Buffalo Exchange stores in Boulder and Denver.
“I have three of them in my house. I love it because the pockets are the right size for those TV and VCR clickers. I really love the fact that he’s doing craft stuff and that no two are the same.” — Claire Martin
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, it cited an incorrect owner’s name and location.
