Memorial Sock Animals

A strange title.

I met my best friend when we were in 1st grade together, over 40 years ago. Her mother, Deb, passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago. She was like a second mother to me as a child. Her eldest daughter was my best friend, her second born was my little sister’s best friend, and she and my mom were best friends, until she had a stroke some years ago, and shut herself in and everyone else out. Two of her three children live out of state, so her support system was very small, and she struggled with a lot of health issues, mental and physical, in her final years. So to say our goodbyes, my sister flew in from PA for the service on Saturday, and Sunday we began, shoulder to shoulder with her children, the difficult task, emotionally and physically, of cleaning up Deb’s home, in which we all grew up together.

I have been feeling very sad and philosophical about it. I will not maunder on here. Deb’s eldest grandchild is driving now, but her son, the youngest of three, has two toddlers and a baby on the way. Also worth noting that her favorite dogs were always dachshunds. So, I kept back a bag of socks from the clothing we donated on Monday, and I’m making sock stuffies for the grandbabies. (And maybe some for the grown up babies as well.)

My first attempt at a dachshund turned out pretty well, I think. I used Christmas socks because she had so many of them, but he turned out really cute. I will make one more seasonally neutral, but maybe I will make a number of other Christmas toys as well.

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What a cool memorial tribute!

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I’m so sorry for your loss. I think that what you are doing is incredibly thoughtful and a great way to share a bit of Deb with her grandchildren.

This sock pup turned out really good, I never would have guessed that it was made up of a pair of socks, though now that I know, I can make out the sock in the middle. Are you planning on making all dachshunds, or other animals as well? Also, how in the world does one go about making a dog from socks? Did you use a tutorial or wing it? It kind of reminds me of balloon art, one moment, you have a long skinny balloon, a few twists and turns and suddenly you have a dog!

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What a lovely way to memorialize the person who meant so much to you. The doggie is so sweet! I love how thoughtfully you have used the designs on the socks. It creates vertical stripes on his belly, but horizontal ones on his ears, a diagonal twist on his tail, and of course those cute little green foot pads. A lovely, huggable memory!

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Fun things about her are memorialized in it: the love of dachshunds and Christmas socks. It’s nice for the family to be reminded of good memories after a love one has passed.

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What a sweet way to use something of hers to give back to those who loved her. Did you make up the pattern? I think it turned out fantastic!

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Thank you, everyone.

@AudiobookLover @gozer
I sort of made up the pattern and sort of didn’t. I looked at a bunch of pictures of sock animals, and then started cutting. How you use the socks depends on how long they are (most of her socks are ankle socks so they will be treated differently, but these were a “crew” length) and how the socks are decorated. Intarsia makes the socks pull in different ways, so a plain or striped sock is likely to be stretchier. So a “pattern” would be difficult because all the socks are going to work differently with it.

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I’m so sorry for you and all the people you and Deb loved in common. This pup is a wonderful tribute to her spirit and a great way to hold her memory in one’s hands. I’m sure everyone will really appreciate them and I hope you’ll add the others to this post.

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A sweet and wonderful way to channel your grief and give others an outlet for theirs. :heart:

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These will be treasured until they are ragged, and probably beyond. Deb clearly had a big heart and what a blessing to still be in solidarity with her family and supporting each other through the grieving process. I’m truly sorry for your loss.

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:tulip: :sunflower: Congrats! This project is bloomin’ fantastic and one of this week’s featured projects! :sunflower: :tulip:

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This is the sweetest bit of crafty love right here :thread: :sewing_needle: :blue_heart:

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I am so sorry for your loss. The sock animals are a lovely tribute to your ‘second’ mom and will be cherished by her loved ones.

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