Why Handmade?

I'm going to talk about something that does the equivalent to giving me thought hives. It's something that's gotten into my head and bothers me on a minor level for a pretty significant amount of time. Sort of like the thought equivalent of me petting a dog. I touch a dog, and then for the rest of the day, whatever part of my body came into contact with that cute, fluffy doggy fur will itch. Some ideas are like that for me, and this is one of them.

Not too long ago, Etsy made some "clarifications" to their handmade policy. Etsy is often thought of as *the* place for handmade things, and for the most part it does an okay job at that. The rules a few years ago were that everything needed to be handmade by the person selling, and if they had help by family or friends, this had to be disclosed, and those people listed in the shop info. Then this changed to handmade by the person selling or someone in their immediate employ-- not a factory, but a handful of employees. This has changed even more, to now being the person owning the shop must design the things, but they can outsource to a factory if they wish (and as long as they disclose that in their shop info somewhere).

I can kind of understand this. For all of those people custom designing wedding invitations, T-shirts, etc. and having them printed somewhere else, then selling them as an original design-- that makes sense. What customers are paying for in those instances is the work that went into the design, not a hand sewn shirt or handmade paper. Sort of like the coloring books that Melanie and I made. She did all of the illustrations herself, I did all of the text, but neither of us were capable of printing and binding them on our own, so we got someone else to do that bit. Not knowing if that actually counted as "handmade" by Etsy standards, I never listed them on Etsy before, but such things also sell better in person, so I bring them to fall craft fairs with me.

I'm completely okay with all of that. What bothers me, and what's giving me the brain hives is that this is the same rule across the board. I'm sure it would be a nightmare for the Etsy staff to try to separate out how this rule would apply to the different categories (and I have no clue how the new rule applies to vintage things at all). So it's a blanket rule for everyone. This, I'm not fond of.



When I started making sock monkeys, I didn't intend to start selling them, I just needed more monkeys to do a photo challenge. When people started asking to buy them, I started selling them, and to me, part of what makes them special is that they really are handmade. I mean handmade in every sense of the word-- there aren't a dozen (usually underpaid) people sitting in a warehouse somewhere stitching together Monkeyville Sock Monkeys. There's me.

This is George, the very first sock monkey I ever made.

I really do make each monkey by hand. I sew the bodies on a regular sewing machine (I got it at Target, it's not anything special, but it has a stretchy fabric setting), I stuff each monkey, and I assemble them. The limbs, ear, tail, mouth, and all of the facial details are hand stitched, the felt for the hearts and other tummy adornments is cut by hand (freehand too most of the time) and that's attached by hand too. On very rare occasions, I have a bit of help stuffing them, because when things get busy, I'm often not physically capable of stuffing all of the monkeys. I have arthritis, so I occasionally have friends and family help me with that. I also always ask for help with names, because I've made so many monkeys now, that I just can't think of anymore, and everyone I know people with really good ideas.

I could completely outsource monkey manufacture. Just write up some schematics and send them off to some factory somewhere and say "make these guys, and make them all look like this" and I could sell them on Etsy if I wanted. It wasn't a strict adherence to Etsy's rules or some kind of loyalty to that particular site that has stopped me from outsourcing the monkeys.What stopped me, was that to outsource the monkeys would defeat the whole purpose of making them.

This is where the fact that I never set out to sell the sock monkeys is a factor. I started out making them because I needed something that would distract me from everything else in my life being broken. I gave away a bunch of monkeys, but I needed something else to do with them, so I started selling them. When things got hard again, the monkeys saved the day again, providing much needed income when I was unemployed, and a much needed distraction from the constant "OMG! I MUST JOB!"

An old photo of in progress monkeys. The technique is different, but the process is the same.

If someone else was making the monkeys, none of those things would have been there. I'd like to think the fact that each one is unique and made by me makes a difference in the monkeys too-- at the very least, they don't get ruptured stitches that require intensive surgery the same way. My concerns aren't producing as many sock monkeys as cheaply as possible to maximize profit, I make the monkeys because I like to. I love sock monkeys, and as I've said before, they're my way of making the world a bit better. Paying other people to make them just doesn't do the same thing.

The current Monkeyville Fall/Winter Flock, waiting for adoption!

Each one of those little guys takes me at least a couple hours to make. The more complicated the details (more than one heart, the skeletons) mean more time. Am I ever going to make hundreds of these guys a week? Not likely, but I make as many of them as I can, because I like to make things, and I like making things that make people happy even more.

Spreading the Sock Monkey Love

It's no secret that I make sock monkeys because when I was sick, the sock monkeys were there in the hospital with me, and they helped me make my life better later on. I like to think of the sock monkeys as the change that I've made in the world. To me, sock monkeys are there to help people, even if it's just helping them be happy.

Teagan the sock monkey to the rescue!

One morning, I was getting ready to go to the day job, when I decided to take Teagan the sock monkey with me. I only managed to finish that one monkey the night before, and I was going to wait until I had others to take photos of*, but I brought him in anyway. It was just meant to be. That day, there were cards going around for a coworker who's been quite ill recently, so I took photos of Teagan, made up a quick tag for him, and then it was in with all the other get well items.

It was just meant to be. I just happened to have finished only one, appropriately colored monkey the night before, so I figured it was a sign that he needed to go to work immediately cheering someone up. Hopefully, the sock monkey mojo works just as well for my sick co-worker as it did for me when I was sick.

I do what I can to send out the monkeys to people who need them, but Operation Sock Monkey sends monkeys *everywhere* they're needed. It's a really awesome charity, and I think once I get the Winter Cheer Flock closer to finished, I'll have to make some more monkeys to donate. Of course, you don't have to be a professional sock monkey maker to donate to Operation Sock Monkey, they appreciate donations from everyone, or you can adopt a monkey (or polar bear, or bunny, or kitty) from their zoo. It's yet another way that sock monkeys help the world!

Of all the sock monkeys I've made, about 25 (though I have no idea for sure) have gone to Operation Sock Monkey. It's a small thing, but I hope that it helps, and I'm a firm believer in small things being capable of having a big impact. 








*I use the couch at the day job as a back drop because the lighting is better there than my house. No one cares, and most people are quite amused when I bring in more monkeys.

It's WINTER CHEER!!! *Kermit Flails*

It's time for WINTER CHEER!!! In case you can't tell, I'm super excited about it! Soon, I get to decorate the house (and my desk at work) with all of the shiny, glittery, sparkly things I can find and I can keep myself incredibly caffeinated by ingesting large amounts of sugar spiked with a bit of coffee*. I'll need that sugar and caffeine buzz when it comes to the holidays, because this year I have a lot of monkeys to make!

The first of the Winter Cheer Flock are now complete. I had to come up with this year's theme without the help of the wonderful Ninja Muse, so it was a bit hard, until I found the stash of winter/holiday socks. This year there will of course be non-holiday themed monkeys, each with a fleece scarf that matches their colors. But there will also be several special monkeys.

The special Winter Cheer Monkeys have been outfitted by their Nana's in the latest in winter sweater fashions. Naturally, some of the monkeys Nana's had better taste in sweaters than others, but no matter what, each monkey looks adorable in their sweater-- even if the sweater would win first place in an office ugly sweater contest.

Winter Cheer Monkeys!!!

Winter Cheer is for everyone, regardless of religion or lack thereof. It's just about being happy that it's Caramel Brulee Latte Season Winter and things get all shiny and sparkly during winter. Oooh... sparkly... *Tries to focus and not be distracted by all the glittery things*

There are monkeys for Christmas and Hanukkah, but also some monkeys with sweaters that are just winter themed. No one is exempt from the ugly sweaters!

Sparkle is very eager for his first Christmas (and his sweater is sparkly!)

Leor is ready to assist with lighting the Menorah! (Just don't let him do it himself)

Holly, and her fraternal twin Emmett are just happy it's winter and they can wear their reindeer sweaters now!

If you happen to be in North Attleboro, I'll be doing a craft fair with LOTS of Monkeyville monkeys (with and without sweaters) eager to be adopted! Stay tuned for details!

*I'm not even going to pretend to love coffee. I don't even like it that much, what I love are all the wonderful sugary things that go into coffee. Which is why I get SUPER excited that it's caramel brulee coffee season!

The Count Down to Winter Cheer!

The first thing you learn about hanging out with me in person is that knowing where every Starbucks is within a reasonable distance* is, because we will be going there, especially if you see me on a weekend. More often than not, I will ask my friends to meet me there. There just happens to be a Starbucks nicely situated in between our houses, so it's an easy place to meet. I'm not an addict**, I swear *twitch, twitch*

Wee Ninja Muse and I shared a Beantown coffee when I interview for the Day Job

For me, the seasons don't go: spring, summer, fall, winter, or even the New England variation. The seasons for me are: caramel macchiato, Frappacino, pumpkin spice, and caramel brulee latte. I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin spice lattes, but I know it's really fall when the pumpkin spice signs are out. Pumpkin spice season is in full swing here, but I'm already dreaming of caramel brulee time of year, not just because caramel brulee latte is my very favorite (umm... extra, extra sugar...) but also because the start of the caramel brulee season is also the start of the Winter Cheer season here in Monkeyville!

This year, Hanukkah starts at sun down the night before Thanksgiving, which is extra early, so Winter Cheer preparations have started extra early here in Monkeyville! Winter Cheer is for everyone, so while there will be some Hanukkah and Christmas themed monkeys, there will also be plenty of sock monkeys that are just really happy that it's caramel brulee time... er... I mean, that it's winter! Sock monkeys (or any monkeys really) shouldn't drink caramel brulee lattes, they have enough energy without the extra caffeine.

Eli is the only one in the house that drinks more coffee than I do, but he needs it to get all his coursework done.

I've already started sewing the sock monkeys for the Winter Cheer Flock, and the first two test monkeys for this year's theme are complete. I needed to do a bit of testing this year because I found an awesome stash of winter/Christmas themed socks that I hadn't had the chance to use yet, but I wanted to something special with them this year. I try to make each season's flock something different than I've done before. That usually means a bit of testing and at least one experimental monkey (Mwahahahaha). This year's test monkeys came out better than expected, so all that's left is to get first half of the new flock finished up.

I'm planning on debuting Winter Cheer on Monday, October 21st. It's early, but they monkeys need time to travel to their new homes before the holidays start.


*Reasonable is VERY subjective here.
**I prefer a Milkyway latte from Beantown, the little shop near my day job.There aren't Beantowns everywhere, so I have to settle for Starbucks.

The Fall 2013 Monkeyville Flock! Plus Exciting News!

Everywhere else, sock monkeys (and monkeys of the non-sock variety) come in troops, but here in Monkeyville, sock monkeys come in flocks. Maybe it's because they're fluffier than non-sock monkeys, maybe it's because they zoom in out of nowhere, or maybe it's because that's what Ninja Muse called a group of sock monkeys, and when you're luck enough to have a Ninja Muse, you go with what she says. Okay, so it might also, just a wee-bit also be because I forgot that monkeys come in troops, but mostly it's the Ninja Muse thing.

The first of the Fall 2013 Flock

The completion of the first part of the Fall 2013 Flock isn't the only exciting news I have to share though! These guys (the ones who haven't headed to new homes already) are now available in several places!

You can go into the following places and pick out a sock monkey of your own (and not have to worry about shipping):

Nyla, and her friends are available at POSH Design Center, Norwood MA

• POSH Design Center,  Located in Winsmith Mills, Norwood,  MA (that link has autoplay music, just in case you're sneaking a peek at Monkeyville while at work)

 

Rocky and his friends are available at The Arts Desire Torrington, CT

• The Arts Desire, Torrington, CT

 I've also been working very hard on making enough monkeys to not only stock the physical stores, but to also be sure to stock the online shops as well, since I know not everyone lives near Norwood or Torringing. Monkeyville monkeys can be found in two places online now!

Sienna and her friends are located on Etsy

Everett and his friends are up for adoption on Storenvy!

Since I don't make the same monkey over and over, all stores-- both online and physical-- have different monkeys!
I spent about a week working quite hard, saying things like "I never learned how to do this stuff! We didn't have the internet when I was in school*!" I finally broke down and asked the wonderful Ninja Muse to help me with the Storenvy shop, which she did wonderfully, and now there are links on Facebook to buy the monkeys directly from the Facebook page. *Squees* I hope that this will save a lot of effort for those people who would like to reserve their monkeys when they see the photos on Facebook. Now that Ninja Muse and I set everything up, I think it will be easy for everyone to use. YAY!


*Okay, we did have the internet when I was in college, but it was like the rough draft of the internet. Imagine if the whole internet was done on cheap newsprint paper, in charcoal. It was just like that, except the "whole internet" was mostly just Myspace. It was a bleak place back then.

Fall is Here!!!

It's officially fall here in New England! That means pretty leaves, weather I can walk to and from work to without feeling like I'm melting, and best of all-- ALL the Things are pumpkin spiced! YAY! *Kermit flails* Of course, I still drink my usually cup of milk and sugar with a bit of coffee added, but it's just nice to know that pumpkin spiced coffee is there should I have enough per-caffeine brain power to order one (I don't). Oh, and there's some sports things that nearly everyone I know is super excited about too.

I love this time of year, not just for the pumpkin spice coffee, beer (yum!), and pastries, but also because I get to start making my very favorite type of sock monkeys-- the Halloween monkeys! There's something about making zombies, skeletons, and pumpkin themed (though not pumpkin spiced!) monkeys that always makes me super happy. This year's Halloween Monkey Flock is called Dead Man's Tails and these monkeys combine some of my very favorite monkey styles-- they're skeleton (or zombie) pirate monkeys!

Captain Red Legs, the leader of the Pirate Monkey Flock

There's been a lot of activity on the seas of Monkeyville. There was a pretty epic Ninja vs Pirate battle with lots of casualties on the pirates side. Lots of eyes were lost to ninja stars, and those zombie and skeleton pirates remaining came ashore and have renounced their pirate-y ways. No more pillaging and plundering for them, they just want homes with lots of safe adventures and cuddling. The zombies have even gone to Zombies Anonymous to give up their addiction to eating brains. This wasn't really such a bad addiction since for sock monkeys, their brains are just fluffy stuffing. The only things in danger of being nommed were the couch cushions.

Gunnar the zombie pirate. Could that face be brain hungry? No way!

Several pirates have gone off to new homes, where they'll be loved and can "plunder" all the cuddles they want. I love making these guys, but I'm always glad when they get to go to a home where they'll be special and loved. Monkeyville is turning into a Monkey-opolis with lots and lots of monkey, so not too many of them get the special attention they need. It's kind of like having a litter of kittens. They're all cute and adorable, and you want to keep them all, but there aren't enough hours in the day to play with each one, so it's better to adopt them out to homes where they can be loved and cuddled and played with.

Fester the zombie doesn't actually glow. 

I haven't made too many other Halloween monkeys. This year's Fall Flock has been mostly non-holiday themed monkeys, though I did make Fester the zombie. There's something about tie-dye socks that just yell out to be made into a zombie. I have a few other pairs of zombie socks, but with Winter Cheer debuting soon (Hanukkah starts November 27th this year!) the rest of the zombies may have to wait until after the Winter Cheer monkeys are complete.


However, there are several pirate skeletons (and regular monkeys) just waiting to be adopted in the Monkeyville Etsy shop and I'll be hard at work in any and all available time making not just Winter Cheer monkeys, but non-holiday monkeys. My goal this fall is to use up all the socks I possibly can... which means LOTS of monkeys because I have at least 1000 pairs of socks in my house!



Stay tuned to the Monkeyville Blog and Facebook pages, because there's lots more exciting things coming soon!

Shower Curtain Belle... an Actual Blog Post

This is a post so filled with awesomeness that it took me an extra *glances at calendar* uh... month or so to write. Also, it's really easy to say "I should write another post" then get completely busy doing tons of other things, and think "oh, that last post wasn't so long ago..." Before I know it, about a month has passed, and I'm looking at the calendar with that "how dare you change the date without my permission" look on my face.

I don't intend for so much time to pass between posts, I really don't. So in order to make up for taking so very long between posts, I'm going to try to make this one Extra Awesome. There's a minion involved, so that right there makes it way more awesome then the average post, but wait! There's more! There's also a massive ray gun* involved too!

Trust me, that and the title will actually make sense if you happened to be in Waltham on May 11th. It was the Watch City Steampunk Festival**, and being a fan of steampunk things, I had to go. This posed a problem though. One of the most fun things about steampunk events is wearing an awesome steampunk outfit and steampunking some weaponry. The weaponry I had tackled once when I made a mini ray gun for myself a few months ago. The outfit... EEK! I didn't have anything suitably steampunk! I didn't even have anything suitably Victorian really, beyond one coat*** and I needed something to cover the bottom half of my body.

In full on fret mode, I scoured the local stores looking for something I could turn into a costume, with no luck. There was a extreme lack of any clothing in my size that wasn't neon colored. The world decided to turn on its head that week, because generally, I have the exact opposite problem. Finally, if managed to find a simple skirt that was the right size, but not at all steampunk-y. It was five bucks at Walmart though, so it would work well enough as a base.

*Cue tweeting birds and rays of light falling on the curtain department at Walmart*

I bet the title is starting to make sense now isn't it? I managed to get some awesome curtains and some pretty shower curtains for super cheap, and decided I was going to make my costume out of that. I also bought all of the black tulle on spools in North Attleboro. Sorry to any brides looking for that color! I made the worlds biggest tutu, sewed the shower curtain into a skirt, topped it with the cheap Walmart skirt which I added ties to so I could make it more drape-y in the front, and made a bustle by taking an itty bitty dress I found at a thrift store, adding a bit of tulle and sewing it shut on the top and bottom.

My outfit wasn't complete though, I needed accessories! I had a ray gun already (it doesn't fire anything at all), but I needed something else. I had a monkey that I had already been working on for a photoshoot, so I decided to bring him along. Because, monkey.

Minion, the steampunk sock monkey!

So what does a skirt made out of a shower curtain look like? What about that giant ray gun?

Me and my Dashing Gentleman Companion!

Notice the AWESOME ray gun? It was almost as tall as I am, which isn't tall for a person, but it's HUGE for a ray gun! Valt modified it from a Nerf sniper riffle (yeah, they make those), and he also made my headpiece (which you sadly can't see too well in the photo), and the monocle on his hat.A friend of mine made my necklace.

Here's a better view, taken by another stranger:

At this point, world domination was assured, and Minion could spend sometime in the car.

I had never been to a steampunk event before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I certainly wasn't expecting to pose for so many photos! It felt like we couldn't go more than a few meters or so before someone was asking us to pose for them (this is how we got the photo above) or asking to pose with us.I think it's a given that I was the only one wearing a shower curtain for a dress and I was definitely the only one carrying a minion monkey around in a cage.

In fact, I ended up naming the monkey Minion by accident, because I had to carry him around somehow, and what better way than in the birdcage I was using to carry my things in (my cellphone, with its cute owl cover wasn't exactly the most steampunk things in the world).

Of course, I already have plenty of minions, so should anyone need a minion, he is available for adoption. He's good with a ray gun, quiet, and doesn't mind confined spaces. He can come with the bird cage, but really I just put him in there for show and wasn't intending to sell that along with him.

I think I'll have to end here, because while I have tons more photos of Minion, this post has gone on long enough.

*The ray gun shot Nerf darts, I can't be trusted in the vicinity of an actual ray gun.
**The festival was May 10-12th, but we were only there one day. 
*** I have a deep love of coats. I buy coats the way some people buy shoes. Also, I'm always cold. *Looks at heater set to high*

A Practical Guide to Werewolf Ownership

 Sadly, Nyx hasn't been back to babysit the sock monkeys for a little while now. I think it was just too much cute for her poor cynical teenage heart to take. She was last seen at the local mall waving her fist angrily at Hot Topic for their My Little Pony display.

I've been doing the monkey wrangling myself lately, which means I didn't have much time for going out and taking sock monkey photos. However, I'm trying to be good to my April Fool's Resolution (what? you don't make those?) and I'm posting a short story I wrote that's barely seen the light of day as well as some older sock monkey photos. I hope this will be entertaining enough until I can get some more monkeys made and photo shoots done.

A Practical Guide to Werewolf Ownership

"Happy Halloween," Carrie said as she plunked a stuffed animal down in front of him.

George picked up the animal and looked at it critically. It was a wolf-man dressed in the typical ripped pants and shirt open to reveal a furry, but muscular chest. Sewn to its hands was an orange sack that said "trick or treat" in square black letters. Inside the sack were candies: a clear, sealed bag of candy corn, and a few mini candy bars. Carrie had been thinking of him and added the candy bars. George hated Halloween, especially the candy corn bit.

Little George, the very first werewolf I ever made.

"Thanks. Sorry, but I didn't know Halloween was a gift giving occasion. I have some candy for the trick-or-treaters if you would like that," he offered.

Carrie shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Every holiday is a gift giving occasion in my family. I saw him and I had to get it for you." She sat down opposite him at the small kitchen table. "You're doing it again," she said.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," George said giving his head a good shake. When they had first met, he couldn't stop staring at her. Their first date she finally snapped and asked him what she had on her face or in her teeth. There wasn't anything, George stared because she was there to stare at. If prizes were given out for understanding girlfriends, Carrie would have won the Nobel.

"It doesn't work like this though," George turned the little wolf-man around so he was facing her. Whoever had designed the toy had put effort into making it just the right mix of human and wolf, and it was dead wrong. About the only thing that hadn't gotten wrong was the goofy look on the toy's face, but George guessed it was a coincidence.

"It's supposed to be a full moon tonight- I'll compare you and Little George then," she said taking the little doll and making it "kiss" George on the end of the nose.

"Little George?" He asked, unsure which was worse- being kissed by a doll or having it be his namesake.

"Why not? He looks just the way I imagine you would...transformed," she replied handing Little George back to his larger counterpart.

Sirius the Sock Werewolf...
I was much more experienced with werewolves the second time around

***

George set Little George on a high shelf in his small bedroom. Carrie really thought actual werewolves looked like that. He couldn't blame her for it. Little George was the classic movie werewolf right down to his orange plaid shirt. Why was it always plaid? George wondered to himself, looking down at his own clothing. He wore a pale blue sweater and black jeans. The sweater, like Little George, had been a gift from Carrie. She thought it complimented his gray eyes.

Carrie had excellent taste in clothing, George had to give her that. Most of his clothing prior to meeting her had consisted of cheap, brandless clothing. Things that he never felt bad about throwing away when they eventually were too chewed to be wearable. George loved the sweater, and just to be safe, he took it off, folded it carefully, and placed it on the same shelf as Little George.

"Ha! We don't all wear plaid. I don't even like plaid," he murmured to the doll. It just sat, with no change in its goofy expression.

Goofy expression... just don't tell Sirius that!

George blushed as Carrie knocked softly on the door. He hoped she hadn't overheard him talking to a doll of all things. Knowing her the way he did, she would probably think it was cute. They had been together for just about a month. Not long enough for George's charms (the human ones at least) to have worn off.

"I hope this isn't a no-no, but I got something else for you too," she said entering, and pushing aside a pile of blankets on his bed so she could sit.

"You know, Halloween isn't a gift giving holiday right? You don't have to buy me stuff all the time," he replied and shook his head at her. She still hadn't realized that he was the lucky one and not her. If only she knew she was the first one not to laugh in his face or call him crazy. All the girls had before when he explained the reason for the dog food, chew toys, dog bed, and extra large cat flap on the door but mysterious lack of pets to use them. Carrie had laughed sure, but she hadn't walked away or left in a huff.

She had thought he was joking when he first told her, but when she saw he was serious that laughter soon gave way to questions. The sight of a well chewed (and therefore loved) stuffed mailman toy was enough to convince her that he didn't change into a blood thirsty killing machine once a month. George had turn to laugh at the idea of him being considered blood thirsty. He was sure once she saw what being a werewolf really meant, she would understand. Human or canine, there was nothing about George that was "blood thirsty." Once the big question was out of the way, the rest were easy, and Carrie came up with a plan. She was sensible like that, and it was one of the things George liked best about her. She wasn't one to panic or lose her head, even if her boyfriend changed into a canine once a month.

"I know, but I thought tonight was special, it being not only Halloween but the full moon too." She pulled a bag out from behind her, and George's ears picked up a faint squeak. "If it's a bad idea, I'm sorry, I'm still learning the rules."

He took the bag and peered into it. Not only was there a yellow, ducky shaped squeaky toy but there were a few small bones as well. "You got the kind with with squishy centers? I love those!" The full moon wasn't far away, but he was still lacking a tail to wag, he had to settle for throwing his arms around her.

***

"Nine o'clock, you won't forget right?" George asked as Carrie did her best to fasten the collar around his neck. It had a large brass dog tag on it with not only George's name, but his "lupine registration number". Something she hadn't had a clue existed until she had met him. It made a jingling sound as it hit against the magnetic tag that would let George in and out of the cat flap.

“Don't worry, I won't forget. Nine o'clock, I put the food out,” she answered.

“I won't have thumbs you know. If you forget I'll have to dig though the trash. That's fine for the night, but I'll be sick all week after,” George said, fiddling with the collar. Even in his human form the regulation stiff blue collar with its brass disc was irritating and he had the urge to try to scratch at it with his hind leg. He hated it, but it was necessary. Without the collar he ran the risk of ending up in the dog pound with strays that didn't turn back to human the next morning.

“I won't forget,” Carrie said standing on her tiptoes to kiss him on the forehead. “You'll be a good boy and stay in the yard right?”

“No promises, but I'll try to remember,” George answered, kissing her on the top of her head. He would try too, but all canines have a natural instinct that tells them exactly where the holes are in fences.

Still fiddling with the collar, George checked the clock on the living room wall for the hundredth time. There were only a few minutes to go, and the closer he got to the changing time, the more his stomach seemed to twist. His fiddling with the collar became more frequent, since he had nothing much else to fiddle with. Once transformed, he wouldn't be able to undo such things as belt buckles and buttons. His only choice would be to chew through the clothing around him or take most of it off before hand.

Carrie sat on the slightly collapsing brown sofa and flipped through a magazine. With the time of transformation so close, he could smell that she was anxious as well. He didn't need a canine sense of smell to tell him that, he would have been able to see that she was anxious just by the way she flipped through the pages of the magazines.

“You know I'm harmless right?” He stopped pacing and stood with one hand still around the dog tag.

Carrie looked up from the magazine and smiled. “I know. I don't think highly dangerous werewolves wear boxers with the Cat in the Hat on them.”

George opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a loud buzzing noise. The alarm clock in the bedroom had finally gone off.

It was time. He had only a few seconds of humanness left before he would be stuck as a canine for the rest of the night, and possibly into the next day. There was only one thing to do. “Love you,” he said kissing Carrie for one last time as a member of the same species.

Before Carrie could say anything at all, the changes started. George felt little things changing all day- scents become stronger, sounds louder, but it was finally time for the big ones to happen. He crouched on the ground, the easiest position to go from two legs to four in.

Teeth that had been slowly rearranging themselves all day became more aggressive in their approach as his jaw lengthened. His rounded, human ears started to migrate towards the top of his head, while growing longer at the same time. His fingers shrank back into his palms, and those in turn shrank themselves, while thick pads arose from the remains of his hands. His feet underwent a more severe transformation, as his arms and legs rearranged themselves to fit the animal structure.

George closed his eyes and braced himself for the worst. It always started slowly- just an itch here and there, but intensified. Millions of individual hairs were pushing themselves to the surface of his skin. He couldn't help it, he scratched at anywhere his claws would reach, but itching would only end once all of the fur had reached its proper length. Aggravated growls emerged from his throat as he tried to chewing the itchy places along his back.

Sirius, hanging out in a graveyard.
Photo courtesy of Tria.

***

Carrie sat and watched George, trying to scratch at the emerging fur. He had warned her that it wouldn't be a pretty sight to watch, but she had stayed just so that she could say she had seen a real life werewolf transform.

George hadn't been exaggerating when he said what happened in real life was nothing like the movies. There was a little bit of growling, but she hadn't heard a single howl once. He didn't look anything like his namesake Little George either. There was nothing half human-half wolf about him.

Carrie held her hand in front of her mouth to stop from laughing. She had thought that once transformed, George would go from his normal, quiet self, to a crazed lunatic. The change was complete though, and George stopped scratching at the fur, and turned his attention to the collar, trying to push it over his head with his back feet.

Carried wanted to laugh, but she wasn't sure how much George still understood. “Stop,” she said instead, and the animal that was her boyfriend, but in canine form, looked up at her and barked happily. “Oh George, you could have told me. I wouldn't poke fun at you.”

The “wolf” barked in response again, and wagged its long white tail. Carrie had been expecting him to look like a hybrid, or maybe even a regular wolf. She had to try not to laugh again as she looked at George poking his entire head into the bag of treats she had left on the couch. A few seconds later, and his head emerged with a stuffed yellow ducky grasped firmly in his teeth.

Carrie had to try to stifle a laugh again. George laid down and started chewing the toy in front of her. He had floppy ears that ended in pompoms of white fur, a rounded, arched snout, and a high arched back. He looked as if he had rolled in piles of cotton balls and they had all stuck. Carried couldn't help it, she laughed as the dog barked and growled at his new toy. Carrie finally understood why George had laughed when she asked if he would be dangerous. Of all the different types of canines he could have turned into, she would have never guessed it would be a Bedlington terrier.

Bedlington Terrier: The new face of the werewolf.
Photo courtsey of... somewhere, I don't remember it was years ago.

Sock Monkey Wrangling Part Two:

When we last left off, Nyx the demonic pixie had brought the sock monkeys to the cemetery to let them run around and burn off some energy. Monkeys, even those of the sock variety, are prone to mischief, and that's exactly what PJ and Alice got up to!

*Push*

Oops! Hide it, maybe she won't see!

PJ and Alice did their best to look innocent and hide the fallen stone, but Nyx had seen it all. It's one thing to push other monkeys around, but they had damaged property! There was only one thing to be done.

Nyx and Omar delivering the punishment

Nyx wasn't going to let the monkeys get away with breaking stones*, so while the other monkeys continued their monkey games with glee, it was off to time out for PJ and Alice.

*Pout*

Once the monkeys had sat for a little while, and realized what they had done was wrong (okay, a fairly long while) they promised to behave themselves and were allowed out of time out to play with all the other monkeys. It's a good thing too, because next, it was a trip to the playground!

Everyone say bananas!

The playground is much better suited to a bunch of rambunctious monkeys than a cemetery, and Nyx didn't want anymore accidental acts of vandalism. The monkeys could get into all sorts of things at the playground without worry.

Ready? Set?

*Whee!!!*

Alice, feeling bad about her previous misbehavior was a very well behaved little monkey at the playground. She did her very best to show Nyx she was sorry.

See? I'm a well behaved monkey!

Forgiveness was quickly granted. Even a demonic pixie can't stay mad at an adorable sock monkey for very long, and soon Alice was off exploring the playground like all the other monkeys (and a few small humans as well).

Can you see me?

Even Omar, the perpetually perturbed and rather upset eyeball got into the "fun" of things.

Oh, what fun. Can I get off now?

Poor Omar! Forced to enjoy himself and take a ride on the swings! And then... horrors! The slide!

*WHEEE!!!!*

Omar may have been covering his eye, but all the other monkeys, and even Nyx had fun playing! Even though she tried to be too cool for it, the monkeys won out and got Nyx to play with them and have a good time. Sock monkeys are very, very good at bringing out the kid in everyone-- even teenage demonic pixies.

When I got home, the monkeys were all snoozing around the house, all of their excess energy burned off and the house surprisingly quiet despite being filled with sock monkeys. Nyx was paid, and I think slightly disappointed that some of the monkeys will be going off to new homes very soon. However, I'm sure that in a little while, there will be even more monkeys for her to "have" to babysit.

The Details:

Cast:
Monkey Maker: Angela
Nyx the Demonic Pixie: Valtinen
Monkeyville Sock Monkeys
Omar the Upset Eyeball

Locations:
Monkeyville Headquarters, North Attleboro, MA
Newell Cemetery, Attleboro, MA
La Salette Shrine Playground, Attleboro, MA

*NOTHING was harmed during the photo shoot or in the making of this blog post. The headstone was already fallen when we got there. In fact, Valt is an expert on cemeteries and their restoration and runs Cemetery Hunters. 

Sock Monkey Wrangling Part One: Nyx the Demonic Pixie Babysitter

It's been a while, hasn't it?

I'm sorry about that, but I have an excuse reason. A very good one too! I have a day job that requires I spend about 13 hours of the day out of the house. Normally, this isn't so bad because the nice people at The Artful Phoenix here in North Attleboro have been watching over all the sock monkeys and making sure that they don't get into trouble and that they get adopted out to nice people. Unfortunately, The Artful Phoenix is closing its doors at the end of this month, so I had to bring all of the monkeys home with me.

Now, it's one thing to have a monkey or two in the house because Eli and Sirus could look after them until they went to their new home. Now though, Eli and Sirus are heavily outnumbered until I can get all of the monkey's photos taken and them listed on Etsy. After a couple days of coming home to ALL of the bananas in the house eaten and peels everywhere, I had to resort to desperate measures.

I called the Boogie Man of course.

What? You don't have the Boogie Man on speed dial? He's quite useful for wrangling little monkeys of any type! Unfortunately, he's been a bit overworked with a gig rattling pipes and jangling chains. All was not lost though, and arrangements were made for a substitute sock monkey sitter.

A thoroughly stressed Monkey-Maker and Eli greet the sitter... and are quite surprised

The Boogie Man couldn't come, the Scissor Man was just a bit too scary for the monkeys, but Boogie Man's little sister was available, and since there's not a lot of money to be made in the Boogie Man industry, she was, well... not exactly happy, but willing to look after the monkeys for a little while.

Just call me Nyx.

Apparently the Boogie Man's little sister is a demonic pixie named Venyx Malvelius. All little siblings are a bit demonic anyway, right?* I'm a huge Terry Pratchett fan, so the pixie bit didn't surprise me at all. The Boogie Man is in charge of the Tooth Fairy franchises. I checked the monkeys reaction to their new sitter.

Surprise? Shock? There expressions were a bit... woolen

Introductions were made and though slightly wary, the Monkey-Maker, Eli, and Sirus left the rest of the monkeys in Nyx's care and went out for a day of relaxation. The monkeys were a bit wary at first, they had never seen a demonic pixie before. After a little bit of hesitation, they greeted their new sitter in typical sock monkey fashion.

Monkey snuggle!!!

 Poor Nyx, apparently the Boogie Man hadn't warned her just how difficult it is to wrangle monkeys! I hope the minimum wage she'd be getting would be worth the snuggles!

Omar the Upset Eyeball is not amused.

Nyx was left with some pretty simple instructions, just take the monkeys out for a bit so they can play, and make sure that they don't get into trouble. The monkeys have a lot of extra energy now that they've been hanging around the house, and I was hoping a good day out would help them burn it off. Nothing a demonic pixie couldn't handle.

Demonic pixie teenagers are still teenagers

Nyx brought the monkeys to a cemetery not too far from Monkeyville headquarters, and while the monkeys don't mind hanging out in cemeteries at all, it may not have been the best choice for an inattentive babysitter to bring a bunch of rambunctious monkeys!

This doesn't seem like the best idea...

While Nyx talked and talked and talked, the monkeys ran around and played some typical monkey games. These are better than reindeer games because all the monkeys get to play regardless of their nose color.
There was some hide and seek:

Stella got picked first to count.

Can you spot all the monkeys?

The monkeys did their best to get Nyx off the phone and playing games with them. They were even nice enough to make sure that she would win. Maybe a bit too easy, but Nyx was a good sport. 

Found you. Duh.

Of course, an outing with sock monkeys always has a bit of mischief involved, and Alice and PJ got up to a bit of no good. However, that will have to wait for the next Sock Monkey Monday next week.

*Alright, being an older sibling, I might be a wee bit biased on that.