My friend Beth (formerly of the blog "The Knitting Freak") had her baby shower yesterday, at the Four Seasons Tea Room in Sierra Madre.  It was a little bit of a drive, and I perhaps took the wrong freeway exit and got a little bit lost on top of it, but what a cute place!  I've only had a "real" tea once before, and I just love all the pretty service dishes, the tiny sandwiches, and most especially the scones.  What a great custom.  I'd like to go back and explore Sierra Madre again; there is a cute, small town-y main street with an unusually high percentage of arts-related businesses.  This looks like a fun outing for the next time my mom comes to town.  The mountains seem to jut up right from the edge of town, sharp and beautiful. 

Going to a baby shower means I have a good excuse for making cute little baby things.  Beth is a brilliant crafter and designer herself, so I wanted to make her some sweet, practical, fun gifts.  I tried Criminy Jickets' "Garterlac Dishcloth" pattern (to be used as washcloths- I wrapped these with some teddy bear soap).  These are quick, fun, and look great.  I chose to use two colors for the washcloths, as you can clearly see.  I like the checkerboard look, but I think I would stick to a solid color if I was making one for the kitchen, since I generally use a little more force when scrubbing dishes then I would when washing a wee bairn, and there were lots of (cotton, unsticky) ends to weave in.  This was my first experiment with entrelac- why, I don't know, because I've always thought it looked cool and wanted to try it- and I thought that I would be able to carry up the ends on the sides and wouldn't have to cut.  If you've done entrelac before, you'll know that I just didn't work out how the rows went, and you switch colors "every row," leaving the yarn you would want to carry up on the opposite side... anyway, I had to cut, which is fine.  I first saw this pattern on Tricky Tricot, and I'm glad Michael pointed to it, because I've been enjoying the blog- not just the dishcloth pattern- ever since. 

Beth's nursery is going to be in a sock monkey theme for her little boy- how fun is that?  And as a crafter, I'm thankful, because it made it pretty easy to figure out what to make...

My first sock monkey!  Oh, how I love him.  I got the instructions here, and lots of inspiration from The Sock Monkey Drawer, which has brilliant handmade sock monkeys (handmade for a very reasonable price, I think, if you're looking to buy a sock monkey)... last year, the artist behind Sock Money Drawer, Kimlan Cornell, made a series of Spooky Sock monkeys for Halloween.  They are so funny, and there is a gallery on the Sock Monkey Drawer website.  I loved her sock monkeys because they were all so different, and it was nice to see some that were made from unusual socks.  I tried to make a very cute, kid-friendly face on mine; the sweetness didn't kick in until I embroidered the mouth.  That's when I fell in love with the little guy.  He's a happy little fella.

The contest is still open- you guys have some serious crafty book knowledge (but of course!).  Check out the entry below for the details and the prizes, and good luck!