Dress-up Sock Monkey, for Katja

This is a sock monkey for my sweet little niece, Katja. She is a beautiful little girl with dark, silky curls, and has an interesting story to her name. Her parents spent a summer in Norway before she was born. One of the stops they made was a museum which featured the work of Edvard Munch (you know, the Scream guy). Anyway, the second floor contains painting of a woman named Katja, and they were intrigued with that and brought the name home with them.

Little Katja has diverse interests. I intended to make her a "dress-up" monkey -- one that you could play with like a doll and put on different clothes and hats, etc. And that's what she is, but every time I look at her (the monkey), that old 70s song goes through my head -- "Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? And did I hear you say, he was a-meeting you here today, to take you to his mansion in the sky-ahhhhhh". So, I think some where in that pair of socks was a crazy lady dying to come out (but darn happy about being crazy!), and it must somehow be Katja's destiny to own her. Who am I to question the fates?

Misconceptions, Goshes and Moving On

So, having previously jumped in to making 4 sock monkey dolls, I now am suddenly seeing sock monkeys everywhere, and everyone is giving me information on them. I discovered I had a few misconceptions, and also that I totally underestimated the magnitude of the sock monkey phenomenon. Let me take a moment and clear a couple of these up.

First of all, pioneer women did NOT make sock monkey dolls. The Rockford Red Heel ™ sock was not made with the red heel until 1932. There was a popular wave of sock-monkey-doll making in the fifties and in the seventies (and now maybe!) This point is to clear up my little fantasy of the granny in the rocking chair in front of the fire making sock monkeys after all the chores were done. We’re talking more like June Cleaver making sock monkeys.
There is a beautiful book, put together by Bonnie Krause Connelly called Everything’s Coming up Sock Monkeys – The Art History and Business of the American Sock Monkey. You can buy this online at http://www.inmyowndreampublishing.com/bookInfo.html . It’s a coffee-table book complete with beautiful photos of sock monkeys and sock monkey art (YES! There is such a thing!), combined with interesting facts, essays, letters, etc. It is really a clever, amazing little thing. My favorite story was one of a book store that had burned down. While the sock monkeys, which had previously adorned the shop windows, were being cataloged and thrown into a dumpster (along with the books), some people came along and rescued them, gave them a bath and started making their own sock monkey dolls. Eventually, this collection (from a couple of roommates) was split, and one traveled across the country in the backseat of a car, etc. etc. So many people have put their hearts into these limp and sassy little creations. Anyway, there’s much, much more in the book, and I highly recommend it. I will try to get some of the historical information onto the Fox River Mills website, the current maker of the Rockford Red Heel ™ sock monkey sock.
If you search on “sock monkeys” at www.google.com you will find a huge number of hits! There are collectors, crafters, people who sell sock monkeys, people who sell sock monkey art, strange sites that have a mythical, science-fiction history of the sock monkey – and the list goes on! Many of these collectors and sites are captured in Ms. Connelly’s book. The truly uninteresting find (for me) is a mass-manufactured sock monkey doll (imported, probably from China) that you can buy at Target and Amazon.com. These are NOT made from the American-manufactured, original Rockford Red Heel ™ sock. Frankly, I find this an insult to the personalized craft of Sock Monkey Making. You will find Fox River’s Site, and other E-tailers that carry the Sock Monkey sock. In fact, Fox River will help you find a store near you that sells the socks, if you prefer to NOT buy online (http://www.foxsox.com/Catalog/SockDetail.aspx?ID=6851&c=BROWN%20HEATHER ) I have made it a personal mission to get foxsox.com to host a kind of “Sock Monkey Central” that pulls all this information together and allows you to buy the things you need to start sewing! I’ll report on that as it unfolds.
Finally, I need to report that I have neither clothed my sock monkeys nor made any new ones, but hope to get the chance again this weekend. I am feeling newly-empowered by all the looking around I’ve done. Really, the charm of the sock monkey is all the individual, unique and sometimes crazy touches. I’m all for non-commercial accessories now and letting my creative side loose. I’m looking forward to my next doll!