Socks, Socks and more Socks

Socks are coming out of my ears. I picked this hobby for travelling as it is easy to find most of the items in just about every town on the road.

Just a small bundle of socks

Yes. I am back on the road, travelling around the lower eastern part of Queensland in our trusty motorhome, Robbiebago. My broken wrist is healing nicely after nearly 4 months now. I can do nearly everything though it is still a little weak.

Have socks - will travel & sew

I have made several items since breaking my wrist, starting with a no sew tied floor cushion for my first grandson.

You can see both sides of the floor cushion here and of course my darling boy!

Then a few dolls, monkeys and even a few sock sloths which I am happy to say are very popular.

Just 3 of my sloths

So where do I get my supplies?

I generally find them on special at Kmart & Big W and even some dollar shops have them cheap. Yesterday I was at this tiny little town called Monto, Queensland where the dress shop had some socks for $2. Of course I just had to pick up some more. They weren't the exciting patterned ones nor even stripey ones, but hey the plain colours are great sometimes too. I want to have a go a making a sock monkey of odd colours one day, eg a pink snout, green head and yellow... well, you get the idea. Actually I have ideas faster than I have time to make them. Groan... ;)

Then you can get embroidery cottons by the skein for around $1.00 each. Buttons can be found at the craft stores as well as op shops occasionally. For the stuffing I buy new hyper allergenic but cheap pillows and pull them apart. I have found that I prefer some brand over others, but that is just me nit picking. Felt from the dollar shops and even Spotlight aren't the good stuff but it is easier to get. The wool felt is so much nicer though and so far I can only find them on line.

Once you have these simple supplies, you can make a sock monkey for way less than $10.00 per monkey. It does take some time though which what you are also paying for when you buy anything handmade including my delightful sock toys. It is up to you whether you sew it totally by hand, or partially with your sewing machine and finish it off by hand.

2 monkeys made from dollar shop socks

Want some more info? Then comment here or send me a message!

Crikey: a broken wrist

Oh dear. Its rather difficult to make the lovely cute sock creations when one has a broken wrist.

My troop of monkey friends

It was just a simple thing, but who knew a little bit of gardening on holidays would cause me so much grief. We rolled up at a friend's place after attending a wonderful Rare Cancer Conference organized by Without A Ribbon.

I love gardening and it was a joy to spend some time outdoors, helping them by doing a little weeding. I caught my foot on a rock, I took a tumble backwards and knew almost immediately it was bad enough to need investigating. I broke right across the top of the radius on my left hand.

A trip to the hospital to confirm my suspicion only it's bad enough to require surgery to put a volar plate in. I am going to be out of action for the next 8 weeks!

No sewing! I can guess some of you are saying that I can sew with my right hand since I am right handed. However several things come into play. I consumed in a lot of pain and can't even think of any sort of crafting. I could hardly even concentrate to watch TV for about 3 weeks. Secondly we were still travelling in our motorhome. Surgery was required in an unfamiliar city. When eventually I can think again, the mobility especailly any twisting of my wrist was almost impossible. It is amazing just how much we rely on our non dominant hand for so many things.

I walked around like this for 3 weeks often in a sling

The scar has healed quite neatly. It is going to be a long road to full flexibility - physio reckons 12-24 months to my peak. Still I can feel improvements esp since I've taken the bandage off allowing more movement. I can't bend it back very far and about 50% forward. I also can't close my hand into a fist yet. But I can start to grip and carry a very light load in my hand. So it's going to be a lot of physio.

I still couldn't twist my wrist at the time of the photo but it's much improved now

I reckon sewing will help the physio part, don't you? 😉 Actually threading a needle was the hardest part needed to actually get started. I still find it hard to stuff. I think it is more to do with gripping it tight enough and holding the doll with my left hand whilst inserting the filling. It's all part of my physical therapy, I reckon.

I have a floor cushion that is my next project. It will be a gift for my first grandson. Come back soon and see it!