What is it with Sock Monkeys?

I'm still on a learning curve. I've just started reading a new book- a collection of short stories from one of my "new" favourite authors, that is an author I've discovered recently whose work I really enjoy.

I was reading the introduction (yes I'm one of those muppets who read introductions and let's just leave it at that) and he mentioned that one of the stories was inspired by a photograph of a particular Sock Monkey he had seen. This got me thinking "Sock Monkey? Sock Monkey? What is a Sock Monkey?" I had images of stuffed toys resembling monkeys created out of socks that had seen better days. Maybe that's where the lost ones go? I'll have to give that some more thought....

Anyway back to the learning curve I went on Flickr and went looking for sock monkeys and discovered that there's lots of them.

So I decided to post two contrasting versions of them so other people/muppets could contemplate the world of Sock Monkeys with me. Who would have thought that such things exist? The colourful trio look very friendly and harmless but the evil, evil Sock Monkey....I wouldn't want to mess with him. Although I do like the fact that he is sitting beside an empty liquor bottle. But maybe that says more about me than the evil Sock Monkey!