Let's make happy
Archive for November, 2007
My Colors Are Back!
Nov 12th
I was recently thrilled to see that Elann.com has at long last renewed their stock of Peruvian Highland Wool.
You may have noticed that I’ve been using this yarn for the majority of my toys. This is primarily because I have a whole lot of it, thanks to my generous mother-in-law. It’s also just a good wool yarn in general—it felts well, it’s not too thin or bulky, and it comes in a nice range of toy-friendly colors. Also, it’s relatively inexpensive.
Unfortunately, I’ve found that it can take a while (a LONG while) for the colors to come back in stock, as I noted back in September when I was frantic for good substitution yarn for the Woodins. Fortunately, there are a lot of great alternatives. But I’m still partial to the Elann yarn, so I recommend that you nab some for yourself while you can!
In other knitting news, Tezzcan just posted the first finished Mochimochi Reindeer to the Mochimochi Friends group on Flickr.
He’s so fat ‘n festive! I love him.
Note to Shane: My email to you was returned, so if you could please get in touch with me through a different email address, then I’ll send you your reindeer!
Plecky on the Rock
Nov 11th
Plecky the pleco made a rare appearance today on top of his rock.
He usually prefers to adhere himself to the aquarium glass, or, on some occasions, wedge himself upside-down under his rock. But today he was on top of the rock, staring at us with his little beady eyes, probably thinking sarcastic thoughts. Too cute!
“Luv-able and Hug-able” Has Opened!
Nov 9th
The opening party for the Luv-able and Hug-able plush show was last night. We had a great turnout, and many people took home new fuzzy friends.
Eloole, who made the above family of adorable creatures, came all the way from Barcelona to join us! It was wonderful to meet them in person.
Here are a few more photos from the opening:
I got my very own table!
Sea creatures by Lizette Greco
Bunnies by Katsutoshi Otsuka
Plushes by Anna Chambers and Betz White
Monsters, robots, and the odd felt camera by Sewn By Blythe
Little “Devils” by Yuriko Sera
Michelle, one of the Craft magazine bloggers, made it to the opening too! She uploaded her own photos here. Thanks, Michelle!
Starting today, the plushes from the show are available for purchase online via the gallery hanahou website. This includes these guys by me:
The show is still up through December 21st, so if you’re in the NY area anytime until then, I hope you’ll come check it out!
Frog Style
Nov 7th
It was all cold and wintry today. Time for something cute!
We picked up these little Frog Style bank toys in Japan a couple years ago, and they’re still one of my all-time favorite toys. They came out of a capsule machine, for just about one dollar.
The tiny charming key opens the “vault.” It’s a rather sturdy mechanism, for a little plastic toy.
Playing with these again has got me thinking about knitted piggy banks…
If you can believe it, here is an even more awesome Frog Style capsule toy:
This frog tells fortunes with teeny tiny baby frogs of various colors hiding inside him, which you receive with a twist of the crank. (Sort of a meta capsule toy, if you will.)
You decode the colors into messages by the key on the back.
These frogs came in several different varieties, to tell your “work luck,” “money luck,” and “love luck,” respectively.
Check out the Frog Style website to see more cute frogs. (I love their nonsense slogan: “Can a frog save the world?”) It looks like they’re concentrating on t-shirts these days, instead of amazing capsule toys. That’s a shame, but the shirts are pretty cute too.
Free Reindeer Pattern with Any Purchase!
Nov 5th
Announcing the first-ever holiday pattern from Mochimochi Land!
Buy any pattern from the Mochimochi Shop now through now January 1st, and the pattern for the Mochimochi Reindeer comes for free! This little guy wants to be the gift for everyone on your list. Luckily, he knits up quickly.
The pattern will be emailed to you separately from your pattern downloads. Please allow 24 hours for it to arrive.
Happy holiday knitting!
