Pumpkin, Monkeys, No Bears, Oh My !

I was working on a Christmas Present for my step-great nephew yesterday and all of a sudden it hits me . . this pattern would make a GREAT Pumpkin, with a few adaptations. 

This morning I started on it and the more I worked, the happier I was. I now have the softest Cat Nip Toy for Pet Connection Programs and Penny's Life Fund.

By the way, they are less than halfway to their goal of $2,800 . . . so, if you can see you way to do it, please click this link and donate whatever you can.

Now, back to the pictures. Here is the start of the next box to be mailed for them to sell and, hopefully, make some money for Penny's Life Fund.

LOVE the indent on the bottom . . . it makes me smile when I see it.

I need to add a Curly-Q tendril to the top, but I can't find my green yarn. So that last step will have to wait a while.

Why is it that my monkeys NEVER look as good as the ones in the Red Heart Monkey Ornament pattern? Even when I add eyes, they still look like they have been on a "bender."

Sock Monkey Hat and Toy

LOVE Facebook . . . keeps me in contact with friends and relatives in back home and with friends who have moved away from home.

I am totally surprised at the number of former students who have "friended" me. I always figured most of my students would high tail it when they saw my name, but, as they  have grown up and had children of their own, they have finally realized  what I was doing and have come to appreciate it.

This being said, I posted pictures of the cat nip toys I sent to  our local maternity shelter for Penny's Life Fund, to help out with her medical bills and with the 10 puppies this 7 year old beagle gave birth to last week. (If you have love for fur-babies . . this would be a good place to make a donation.) One of my former students asked me if I made Sock Monkeys. She wanted one for a photo shoot of her three week old baby.

My answer, "Well, of course I do." And my neighbor told her she could verify that I make great sock monkeys . . . I have made them as cat nip toys for her 2 cats and her mother's cats.

I showed her the pattern that Red Heart has for Sock Monkey ornaments . . . she liked it, but, of course, I had to make my own pattern for her.

I posted a picture and she loved it . . . and today I realized I had forgotten to give it any ears . . but she still loved it.

Added ears today . . . and it makes me smile. Reminds me of Tom Smith . . . a kid I went to school with who had ears he had to grow into . . maybe I'll name the monkey TOM!  LOLOL

Not the best picture . . . but you get the idea . . . aren't those ears the cutest thing?

After I showed her the non-eared finished monkey, I thought to myself, "Hum . . . if she wants it as a prop for a photo shoot, I think I'll make a matching hat for her daughter as a surprise for her."

I asked her to give me her daughter's head size and away I went. This is the end result.

Not the best picture, but I think it will look adorable on her baby for a picture with her mini sock monkey.

If she posts pictures of her little girl with the hat on and the monkey, I'll post them for all of you to see.

Sock Monkey Sock Hats

I had made sock monkey dolls for my great niece and the 8 month old (he is , probably, close to 9 months old now) across the street. I wanted something else for them for Christmas. That’s when I came up with this pattern. I wanted something to go with the sock monkey dolls but not look like the sock monkey hats I had seen.

I made the baby (boy) hat 1st. Somehow, I made a MAJOR counting error and it ended up adult size. Don’t ask me how, I have no idea why I didn’t catch what I was doing …. but I liked the outcome. (Shown in the middle of the top photo and by itself in the bottom photo.)

 When I made the one for Aiden, I didn’t want a pom-pom since his sock monkey doll didn’t have one on his hat . . so I went with a simple fringe at the top. (Shown on the right in the top photo.)
I
wanted Mady’s to be a little “girlie” so I added ringlets to the top instead of a pom-pom. (Shown on the left in the top photo.)

This is a close-up of the adult hat.

 I'll get the pattern posted in my Fur~Babies Momma blog when I write it down. It is the same basic pattern I have used on my other "sock" hats but the girl's "brim" is different than normal.

Sock Monkey Families

This is a picture of my 2nd Sock Monkey Family. The larger 2 are “human” gifts . . one for a niece and one for a neighbor baby. I put one together during an NHL game and the other during an NFL game.

The smaller monkeys are supposed to be Sock Monkey Ornaments but I put a bell and catnip in them and are giving them to all of my friends with cats. 4 of them are missing . . 2 have been packed and are in the mail to Crown Point, Indiana, and the other 2 are on their way to Rochester, NY.

Oh, when I make these I make 3 legs (2 are arms), the head, muzzle, ears and hat before I make the body. When I have these “parts” done I make the 4th leg, attach whichever leg, of the three I have, looks closest in diameter then make the body, attaching the last 2 legs (arms) as I crochet the row I want them in.

I found out that if I set the hat a little to one side, it makes the monkeys look “French” so I do that on all of them and skip the eyes.


This photo shows my 1st Family of monkeys . . except I think the larger one looks more like Sheri Lewis’ puppet, Lamb Chop.

Pierre and Maurice  went to Crown Point.

Andre and Isibelle

are on their way to a little girl cat and boy cat

in Rochester, NY.

Lamb Chop will stay at my house for my 4 daughter cats.

Signed,
The Mistress of the Sock Monkeys

My Sock Monkeys have Attitudes.

Yes, you heard me . .

these 5 all have attitudes.

Just look at them . . .

so sweet and innocent looking.

Right?
Well, wait until you get a closeup of them.

1st we have King Kong Monkey . . .

I don't know how he got so big,

but he just kept growing and growing.

And, to top it all off,

he doesn't think he is a Sock Monkey.

He thinks he is the re-incarnation

of Shari Lewis'

Lamb Chop!

Do you see a similarity?

Charley Horse,

maybe,

but not Lamb Chop!

Me neither.

Give one a French Beret

and they think they are

Maurice Chevalier.

He even demanded the name!

Pierre is on the left and Maurice on the right.

Then, when Andre came along,

and decided to bring his girlfriend along.

Andre is on the left with his girlfriend,
Isibella, on the right.
(Even her name is spelled foreign!)

I can just hear them now.

Pretty soon Andre and Maurice

will be singing along with Maurice Chevalier!

I have heard this song

wafting around my house

the last two days . . .

I need to get them to their new homes ASAP!

Signed,
Mother of Warped Sock Monkeys