My little monsters

I decided that I would try to be crafty this year for Christmas. In addition to my usual scrapbooking and the egg ornaments we made a month or so ago, I decided to try my hand at sock monsters. I saw them made by a friend using a book with fairly simple patterns, so I thought I would try my hand at Stupid Creatures. I have little cousins that I thought might like them, and after some encouragement from the family at Thanksgiving, I decided to make a little family and give them away as gifts.

I really enjoy making them and recommend John Murphy's book Stupid Sock Creatures. I do them all by hand since I don't have a sewing machine at the apartment, but I usually finish one in a night while watching TV. Although I really enjoy making them, I'm usually slightly disappointed with the result. Some of them are cute, but some are not...
This is my first little guy. Aside from having really long arms, he's not too bad for my first try. I also was whip stitching on the first few before I realized I should be backstitching, so his seams are not the greatest.

This guy was one of the more complex creatures I made. I think the socks I bought were larger than those used in the patterns, so I haven't perfected the appropriate appendage size. Most of my creatures either have too long of arms or legs. I'm getting better, but perhaps if I stuffed them more, it might have helped too. They're not really free-standing creatures...

This is one of my favorites. He's so little and cute. The pattern called for a neck tie for a tongue, but I substituted a scrap from another guy. He doesn't have the characteristic lips like the others, but maybe that's why I like him so much. He was also pretty easy to make, so that's a bonus.

This guy is one of my favorites as well. Love the poofy ears. He was a little too red, though, so I thought I would give him a scarf. But I think he needs a longer scarf...he looks like he's choking.

This is the whole clan. All 8 of them. I hope my family likes them and takes them home over the holidays--that's a lot of monsters to keep for myself!