Michael's, the Knitted Sock Monkey, and a Big Surprise - Part 1

Laura went to Michael's last week just to browse around, and she heard some monkey noises coming from the yarn section. She followed the sounds and encountered a wonderful pal! He was a store sample - a knitted sock monkey head with two arms crossed under his chin. He was carefully wire tied to the store display. After inquiring about him, she was told that store samples were not for sale. End of story. There was a knitting pattern book for monkeys, but they were sold out. A bit dejected but not undaunted, she was determined to bring me back to the store to see if my sock monkey charm could convince them otherwise. At the very least, we would get some pictures together.

A few days later, I returned with her to Michael's. It was hard to contain my excitement as I approached the store. We made a beeline for the yarn section, but more heartache awaited us. The knitted buddy was gone. How could this be? He had been liberated from the chains that held him down. We sought out the employee that Laura had spoken to the other day. Apparently, it was time for the display to come down, and our friend had mysteriously "disappeared." Hmm... I detected some monkey business going on here, but I kept my red heeled mouth shut.

Laura and I were not ready to give up. There's another Michael's about 20 minutes away. We sped off in the Beetle, keeping paws and fingers crossed during our ride hoping that it would provide more fruitful results.

We searched fervently for the yarn section. As we got closer and closer, my eyes spied him! The buddy that Laura had told me about was here. Hooray! As soon as he saw me, he called out and begged me to free him. Laura and I went through the chain of employees to see what we could do. They tried to help us, truly, but in the end, the result was the same. No samples for sale when they're done with the display. Back to square one...sigh!

I tried to make the best of the hand we were dealt. Laura took some pictures of my buddy and me. We promised to come back and visit him whenever we could.

He pointed out the highly sought Patons book with detailed instructions about how to make full bodied monkeys. This is the book that was sold out at the first Michael's store we visited. Even though Laura doesn't know how to knit, we purchased the book anyway.