How about a sock monkey?

New Orleans evacuee Ryan Ballard is monkeying around with the Sock Monkey Project. His goal is to have at least 100 of the lovable, handmade sock monkeys sewn in time for Christmas, so he can transform into Monkey Claus and deliver the squishy primates to the children at Orphans International for New Orleans.

Orphans International is caring for about 100 kids younger than 5 who lost their families in Hurricane Katrina. Most of the kids don't know whether their parents are alive.

Ballard, 27, ran the Razzamataz puppet troupe in New Orleans before he got blown out of town. His troupe performed in bars and on street corners and in schools. He's decided to start over in Colorado Springs, and Razzamataz will make its Colorado premiere April 1 at the Smokebrush Theater.

"We lost everything down to paper clips," Ballard said. "My house got 13 feet of water and my studio got six feet, and the upstairs of my studio that didn't get flooded got looted the week after the storm. There wasn't a screwdriver left in that house."

Ballard has put together the Sock Monkey Project for five years running, and he's not about to quit now. He's organized three work dates in Colorado Springs for volunteers to help create the little guys. And, with cash donated by Starbucks, he's going to buy a new gorilla suit and fly to New Orleans to hand-deliver the dolls.

Sock monkeys were created by enterprising moms and grandmas about 100 years ago as an inexpensive, homemade toy. In 1920, the Nelson Knitting Mills in Illinois began including directions to make sock monkeys along with their Red Heel work socks (the red heels are key because they form the monkey's lips).

Ballard knows a sock monkey won't change a kid's life, but it does let him or her know that somebody out there gives a hoot.

"That's why the sock monkey is the thing I chose, because it's handmade," Ballard said. "We live in this strip-mall, consumer culture. It takes you two hours to build these things. And then they can chew on them and drag them around their whole childhood. It's personal. It's like what Grandma would have made for you in the '30s." MONKEY BUSINESS

Sock Monkey Project work dates:

1. Today, at Cottonwood Art School (25 Cimino Drive, near America the Beautiful Park), noon to 8 p.m.

2. Dec. 10, at Starbucks (corner of Pikes Peak and Tejon), noon to 8 p.m.

3. Dec. 17, at Starbucks (corner of Bijou and Tejon), noon to 8 p.m.

Instructions: Ryan Ballard will bring socks, stuffing and sundries. Bring fun decorations to personalize your monkey. Plan to stay a few hours. "For Grandma who can sew like mad, it takes like a half-hour," Ballard said. "For me, it takes a couple hours."

Goodies: Local restaurants will provide food, and Starbucks will offer free coffee and hot chocolate, so it should be more fun than a barrel of... well, you know.

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