Miles's monkey

My nephew Miles turned 5 on Saturday.  He only asked for one thing: a sock monkey.  I was happy to oblige.

 

I used the instructions found in Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori.  This book is great.  Softies are not my forte, but the directions and simple materials used to make the animals in this book give me a little more confidence every time I make one up.  My friend Jodi helped me - she stuffed, I sewed - and we had this guy complete in about forty-five minutes.  I also had everything I needed on hand - socks, stuffing, buttons, thread, embroidery floss.  Easy peasy and super cute.  I need to remember this book for the random gloves and single socks that accumulate over time.  Sewn up with a little stuffing, they make great and fast gifts.  Just my speed.  There's another book, Happy Gloves, by the same author.  I don't own it, but have seen it at the book store.  It looks like it might have potential, too.  If anyone has used it, I'd be interested to know what you think.

For the record, the sock monkey was not in the unfinished project pile - I made it on Saturday before I decided to finish what I have started.  And on that note, I made 12 more quilt squares yesterday.  That brings the total to 65 with 21 31 left (bad math and wishful thinking).  I can see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm still waiting for TypePad to test my blog.  Just thought I would mention it again in case the comments disappear.