nPostednon March 7, 2015
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| A homemade sock monkey |
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nIsnit homemade toy, or a piece of folk art?
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nIsnit a touch of the exotic in an American nursery, or corn-ball kitsch?
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nYes,nyes, yes, and yes.
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nSocknmonkeys are of course, just as you would suspect, toy monkeys madenfrom socks. n
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nDuringnthe later years of the Victorian era, there was a craze for imitationnstuffed animals for children. At around the same time, there was anhuge Arts and Crafts Movement that elevated the decorative arts, ANDnthere was a Scramble to colonize Africa, and therefore interest innAfrican animals. So by the early 1900s, lots of nurseries had toynstuffed monkeys.
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nButnthose monkeys were not generally made of socks.
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| Manufactured sock monkey |
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nInnthe meantime, John Nelson, a Swedish immigrant to the United States, npatented a sock-knitting machine that created seamless work socks.nThe Nelson Knitting Company’s socks (called Rockfords, because thenNelson Knitting Company was located in Rockford, Illinois) were sonpopular, soon others copied the technology and started pumping outnimitation seamless work socks. So Nelson trademarked a red heel tonset their socks apart from the crowd. n
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nThensame year that the red-heeled socks appeared, the iconic sock monkeynwith a red mouth was introduced to the world. A variety of Americanncrafters made sock monkeys from worn out red-heeled socks, but inn1955 Nelson Knitting was awarded the patent for the sock monkey doll.nn
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| Actually, any color of sock can be made into a sock monkey. Adorable, right? |
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nHere’s how to make a sock monkey:
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InnRockford, IL, there is an annual Sock Monkey Madness Festival. Thisnyear participants will be able to meet the world’s largest socknmonkey (7 feet tall), get free medical check-ups and minor surgeriesnfor their sock monkeys (patches, repairs), make their own socknmonkeys, do other sorts of crafts, and of course eat fun festivalnfood that has nothing to do with socks or monkeys!
InnRockford, IL, there is an annual Sock Monkey Madness Festival. Thisnyear participants will be able to meet the world’s largest socknmonkey (7 feet tall), get free medical check-ups and minor surgeriesnfor their sock monkeys (patches, repairs), make their own socknmonkeys, do other sorts of crafts, and of course eat fun festivalnfood that has nothing to do with socks or monkeys!n
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| Yarn bombed bus (above), trees, and building (below) |
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nThenMidway Village Museum is also going with a knitting theme for thisnyear’s Sock Monkey Festival, and is planning on covering the entirenmuseum with colorful knitted yarn. Have you ever seen yarn bombingnbefore? It’s really cool!
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nAlsonon this date:
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Cereal Day
Cereal Day
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nIditarodnbegins
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nLantern Festival
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nArtistnPiet Mondrian’s birthday
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n.jpg?resize=141%2C200)
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nEvolutionnof Games Day – Baseball and Monopoly Edition
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nScientistnStanley Miller’s birthday
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Plannahead:
Plannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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n Marchn holidays
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n Historicaln anniversaries in March
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nApriln holidays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in April
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