This year my Kris gave me a gift certificate to a Big Box Bookstore. The gift was promptly converted into Stray Sock Sewing by Daniel. Daniel is a former Ogilvy ad executive from Taiwan who ditched it all to make sock creatures. My daughter selected the book while I was browsing online. (The other book we ordered was Harry Potter - this was intended to be a gift for me, right?) I liked it because one reviewer said she and her eight-year-old would split a pair of socks between them and see what kind of creatures they could make using the instructions from the book. Stray Socks arrived yesterday and this is what I found: The first half of the book features a selection of funky, creatures with an Asian sensitivity. Much like the cute creatures of Aranzi Aronzo.

The second half of the book provides detailed instructions with excellent photographs of the kind of basic materials and techniques to use.

Part 3 sets forth step-by-step instructions for eight different types of dolls. The instructions are easy to follow with lots of pictures and inspire you to go off on your own to find the sock doll within you.

One thing you need to be aware of is that the instructions do not cover every doll you find in Part 1 of the book. So if you have your heart set on the Sock Doll Tweens, for example, you're out of luck and will have to figure out how to make your own tween from the photographs.

So here is the result of our first project. The long-eared coffee fiend.

She's still a little shy, but inquisitive. She took a little over an hour to develop from stray sock to coffee addict. Welcome to the world little one.

Simone
groundsel.etsy.com