Sock Monkey!

I bought my adorable niece a sock monkey for her first birthday and it really made me want one. But I was thinking it would be fun to make one! Thoughts? I've found a few tutorials/resources to use, but I was hoping someone out there might have already made one before.. ? Here are a few options:

I could make one with the original plan and materials using SockMonkey.Net's kits. Upside is that it will look like the original! Downside is that it's a little pricey, $22 for the pre-sewn kit, and $17 for just the materials and the instructions.

I could just find some socks I love and make them with other tutorials found online. Such as: Web Goddess or Rockin' Sock Monkey Tutorial. My confidence in my skills is pretty lacking at the moment, so I will probably make a few before I'm satisfied with the end result. So begins the search for the perfect socks for my monkey!

Encouragement, advice, and well-wishing is much appreciated. I need the motivation!

Toodles!

Edit: Apparently, Penny LOVES her sock monkey and they are best friends now. If I can figure out how to make them well, this might be might be my next go-to for gifts for kids/babies! There's a cute one that I can make out of the smaller socks, so that would be good a baby.. WAHOO!