In 1932, the Nelson Knitting Company changed the heel-color of its famous seamless socks to red to distinguish them from knock-offs. Thrifty Depression-era toymakers quickly began making the red-heel socks into monkeys, and an iconic American folk-art was born. A wide variety of other sock animals and dolls soon followed. Meanwhile, by the 1920s, Rudolf Steiner, founder of the Waldorf system of education in Germany, had inspired the creation of beautiful hand-made dolls and puppets with minimalistic facial features and all-natural materials. In this workshop, we will explore sock-monkey and Waldorf techniques for making dolls and animals out of socks and knits. These figures can then be adapted as marionettes, rod puppets, or tabletop puppets.

Edith McCrea learned to make sock monkeys from her grandmother at a young age, and now makes monkeys, zebras, dinosaurs, sock dolls, Waldorf dolls, and other knit-fabric creations for children. She has built and performed puppets and made various bizarre props for The Cherry in Ithaca. She has performed, made puppets, written, and directed for Magic Garden Puppets, a Waldorf marionette troupe based in Cortland, New York. She has also made and performed crankies for the Ithaca Crankie Cabaret.