Sock Monkeys!

I came up with the pattern for these little guys some time ago but had never formally written it down. But now after knitting up some of these playful little imps I managed to write up the pattern to share. Have fun with it. They knit up reasonably quickly and with their long arms they can cling to their Blythe mommies fairly easily.

Working with size 0 double point needles and fingering yarn

Legs

Cast on 4 stitches in white, work in I cord for 6 rounds, snip yarn leaving a 3 or 4 inch tail and then tie on a new color of fingering yarn very close to the work. Gray or brown is traditional for sock monkeys but this new yarn can be any color you like.

Now work 9 rounds in gray, all the while keeping your tied off ends inside the I cord (they will function as stuffing inside the monkey). Cut yarn leaving a 3 or 4 inch end and begin the next leg. When you finish the 2nd leg do not cut the yarn but place the 1st leg you knitted on the same needle and to the right of the new leg. Then continue knitting in I cord with both legs for 21 rounds. Again, carry all your yarn tails up through the center of the I cord (these are the stuffing for the body you are knitting).

Then switch to white and knit 2 more rounds (this is the top of the head). When finished, put the white yarn on a needle and draw it through the loops, snip away any excess strands that you've been carrying up the body and tuck them inside the head, then cinch the head closed and tie it off. You can cinch the feet closed as well, tie them off, and hide all the strings inside the body.

Arms

You knit up the arms the same as the legs, but then sew them onto the sides of the monkey's torso. I generally don't do a bind off for this, I just slip the stitches off the needle and then use the loops to sew the arms onto the body. But if you feel more comfortable binding off the arm before you sew it onto the body, you can do it that way. Again, as with the legs, cinch the hands closed, tie them off and hide the strings inside the arms.

Tail

Do as you did the legs but cast on only two stitches. Cinch the end of the tail closed, hide strings inside the tail, and sew to the monkey's backside.

Mouth

Using white, cast on one stitch then work the stitch as follows... k1, yarn over, k1, yarn over, k1 (all in one stitch).

Work in stockinette for the next five rows, starting with a knit row.

Then on those 5 stitches work as follows...

Purl 2 tog (2x), slip last st unto right hand needle, pass the 1st two stitches over the last stitch. then snip yarn and run the end through the last stitch.

With the stockinette side out, sew the mouth on with the cast off yarn tail and stuff the inside of it with the cast on string. Sew the mouth on below the white cap and about 2 or 3 rows of the gray. Hold it in a oblong shape as you sew it down to get the proper look.

Finishing

To make the ears, put some of the gray fingering yarn on a needle and coming up from the back of the neck, make 3 or 4 loops, one over the other, on either side of the head just above the mouth.

Use red embroidery floss or fingering yarn to make mouth, loop the floss about three times around the mouth and make one loop around the front of the mouth to catch the floss in the middle and keep it from moving around.

Use black embroidery floss or fingering yarn to make eyes and nostrils.

For all off these start and end the yarn or floss at the back of the neck. When finished, tie it off, and then hide the ends in the body.

For the white behind the eyes version (see pic), knit the body color for only 18 rounds and the white of the head for 5 rounds.

Here's a few (hopefully) helpful pics to show how these little guys knit up...

Here's the leg knitted in I cord, as you can see the tied off ends are carried up in the middle of the cord as it is worked. This gives the leg a little bit of filler.

And here's where you slide the first leg on the needle to the right of the second leg and continue knitting with both together forming the torso.

And the body itself. Again the tail ends are carried up through the middle of the I cord as you knit it, stuffing the body as you go.

Here's the placement of the arms and mouth.

And here's how you place the ears. Start the yarn from the back of the neck and then bring it out on one side where you want the bottom of the ear to start. Then go upwards making a loop for the ear. Then draw the needle down from where you want the top of the ear to be, to the bottom of the ear on the other side. Then go up making a loop for the other ear. Continue in this diagonal criss cross fashion until you've made a couple of loops on each side. Then bring the yarn to the back of the neck for the tie off.

And here's his cute little face. Note the tiny loop in the front to keep is mouth from moving around too much.

You can tug a little on his ears to even them out if you need to. Actually tugging on these little guys ears is quite fun.

Hmmmmm... reminds me of those irritating Aunts that that used to tug on my cheeks as a kid. Perhaps a bit of that's coming out now

Well that's about it, if you have any questions please ask. And again, enjoy : )


If you want to sell finished products made from my patterns you may, but please give me credit as the designer in all listings. The pattern itself is copyrighted and no part of it may be reproduced (by any means) for sale. © Monica Bovee