On average, people lose 15 socks a year. We even have a (unofficial, but amusing) holiday for them: Lost Sock Memorial Day. And unless all your socks are the same, this means a decent number of mismatched socks.

This has led to a bit of a hobby - making Sock Monkeys. I have found that as long as your socks are fairly clean, they are appreciated by friends.

If you wear short socks, making sock monkeys may not seem like an option, but a sock monkey can also be made with short socks. By cutting the arms from the ends of the sock and making a small tail in the same shape as the ears, there is more than enough material.

• First, flatten a long sock so that the heel creates the “behind” of the monkey.
• Cut the ankle of the sock up to the heel, leaving about 1 centimeter uncut
• With the short sock, cut the foot (in front of the heel), leaving a 1-inch gap from the heel.
• In the 1-inch gap, cut two ears and a tail. Then cut out the heel to form the mouth.

• Sewing the monkey together is the most time-consuming part. Make sure to invert all of the parts of the monkey before sewing, almost but not completely. Invert, then stuff with polyfill, yarn, cotton balls, or fabric pieces, and fill the monkey.

  • Making eyes is the only part of this monkey that uses otherwise useful items, since it is necessary to use good buttons, but this cost is fairly negligible. Mismatched buttons are also fairly easy to come by using the extra buttons provided in button-up shirts. To attach the eyes, superglue seems to work well.