Monkey Goes to California

Monkey is heading to California. My friend, Carol, and her husband are first-time grandparents! Yea! I'm so happy for them. Their little grandson came a bit early. There is a history of sock monkeys in their family so when I saw this pattern I knew I had to make it for their little fellow.

The pattern is from Susan Anderson's new book, "Itty-Bitty Toys". I made him from the sock yarn leftovers from Carmen Banana. I followed the pattern except that I added the scarf. His neck looked kind of naked. Even though he is heading to southern California, he is, after all, an Illinois native.

Monkey has his own bag to travel in. The fabric is from Moda. The sock monkeys on the fabric are in beach attire. They are hilarious!

Until I knitted the hair and then embroidered the face, he didn't have much personality. Suddenly, he had a lot of character. That curly hair is a pain to knit, but it was worth it.

Carol likes him and his traveling bag. She even put on a monkey hat for the photoshoot. She is going to stay for a whole month, cuddling her new little grandson and pampering his mom and dad. That is just fantastic!