The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, October 5, 2017 |20 Sock Monkeys a grassroots effort for grandm other by Nathan Howes Special to the Beaver Just as every newborn is unique, so are the sock monkeys created for them by Oakville' s Judi Kingry. Creating the monkey characters has been a project of hers for about eight years. She was inspired to make them after her granddaughter, Abigail Susan, now nine, received a similar toy in 2008. Kingry set out to make 100 individually-designed toys, each one paired with a document stating its name, number and the name of the baby receiving it. She is now creating sock monkeys No. 102 and 103. "Around that time, a lot of our sons' friends were having babies. I had some grandnieces who were having babies. I thought these were cute and maybe I can make these," said Kingry. "We got to 100 and there are hve grandnieces and nephews, so we're going past 100." After she crafts each sock monkey, Kingry gives them as gifts to newborn babies of friends and family. So far, she has sent them to people across Canada, England, Germany and the United States. "It' s a fun thing to do and I do it while I watch television. That way I don't fall asleep," said Kingry. The Oakville woman said the designs have changed over the years and weren't as complex, neat and "cute as they are now." "They didn't have fuzzy tails, feet, toes, toenails, those kinds of things. I take a picture of each one and each one goes out with a little certihcate," said Kingry. "It depends on the design and the socks that I find, what they end up looking like." Kingry noted each monkey is hand-embroidered and made from one pair of toddler socks, except for the eyes. "Each one looks different, depends on what the socks are like. The ears are different and then I embroider them differently. Theoretically, there are no two that are the same," said Kingry. On average, each monkey takes her at least three or four hours to put together. "If I take everything into Nerina Murray's granddaughter, Ada, loves her sock monkey, not an unusual gift for a new born when Judi Kingry is a family friend. | Nerina Murray photo consideration -- the sewing of the sock, the embroidery and making the tail, it' s probably about three or hours," said Kingry. The reaction for the sock monkeys from Kingry' s family and friends has been quite positive. "They like them. Sometimes they send me pictures and sometimes I get thank-you notes. It' s a hobby for me. I keep a record of everybody that I've given them to. It' s kind of why I know I started in 2 0 0 8 ," said Kingry. The monkeys have a wide variety of names, which are different from the newborns she sends them to, including Yoda, Marco Polo, Jack, Jill and Polka Dot. "Some of them are kind of weird and some of them are regular," said Kingry. "Whatever strikes me as I'm working on them." She is currently making two sock monkeys for two grandnieces, who will be giving birth soon, Kingry said. The Oakville woman' s grandnephew just celebrated the birth of his twin sons, for whom she found two "special" sets of socks for, one pink, one blue, to make sock monkeys. As for how much longer she will make the characters, Kingry couldn't say for certain. "I just enjoy making them. It' s a hobby." OAKVILLE TEENS MEET PRINCE HARRY Prince helps celebrate achievements of Duke of Edinburgh's Award winners b it.ly/2 g 80tz2 IRISH TENOR SET TO PERFORM See Emmet Cahill Oct. 7 BEYONDTHE PAGES From breaking news to multimedia features, go beyond the newspaper pages and discover all that the Oakville Beaver has to offer online. www.InsideHalton.com EVEN TS bit.ly/2kh4uW g CD CO RBC Canadian Open back at Glen Abbey VIEWO U R g ^ jS S S S s im S IiliS S n 'IiS i jS S PRINT EDITIONS burlington · milton · oakville iaeHalton.com CONNECTED TO YOUR COMMUNITY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Legion celebrates 90 years bit.ly/2hJcU 83