Archive for October, 2009

Too-Cute Boos

Have you made your Boos yet this year? More and more of them are popping up on Ravelry. Here are some recent ones that caught my eye!

btownknitter made these colorful Boos to hang in a kindergarten class. How cute!

boo_btownknitter

And ekinneywy’s autumnal Boo is nicely captured in this photo.

boo_ekinneywy

If you’re a member on Ravelry, check out all the Boos—there are over 300 of them! And all you Boo knitters (or any other Mochimochi Land toy knitters), don’t forget to enter the photo contest by November 16th!

Tiny Pancakes

tinypancakes

They actually prefer the word “flapjacks” (except for the one in the middle—he’s from the UK).

Tiffany suggested tiny pancakes in the comments, so she gets a free pattern. Thanks, Tiffany!

Power Owlets

Check out these Oscillating Owlets made by the fabulous testers who gave the pattern a trial run last month!

Rikke made a pair of pretty, neutral Owlets. I like their subtle cuteness!

owlets_rikke

And after testing the pattern as written, Jennifer made a whole menagerie of Owlets hanging out on a tree of her own design. Wow!

owlets_jennifer

Apparently she’s added even more Owlets to the tree since she sent me that photo.

Jennifer’s project was particularly interesting to me because my original concept for the pattern somewhat resembled what she ended up with. Oscillating or not, they sure are cute!

Thank you to Rikke, Jennifer, and Jessica for the testing help!

Ossu! Shugeibu Opening Tonight

ossuinvite

Isn’t that umbrella bird the cutest? You can see it and tons of other unusual creations by Shoichi Ishizawa and Ossu! Shugeibu at tonight’s opening of “Before and After,” at gallery hanahou in NYC! Stop by the gallery from 7-9 pm tonight (10/14) for the opening party with a surprise participatory event.

There’s also a workshop this Saturday at the gallery where you can make your own walking and barking robo-dog for $29.99. Email info@galleryhanahou.com to sign up!

Before and After: hijacking everyday stuff to craft incredible creations

with Ossu! Shugeibu, the macho crafting club from Japan

October 14 – November 13

gallery hanahou

611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC

M-F noon – 6 pm

Sat by appt only

Ossu! Shugeibu, translated into English as Yo! Crafting Club, is fueled by a mix of testosterone and pure creativity uninhibited by rules or conventions. Using repurposed materials and freestyle techniques, founder and president Shoichi Ishizawa inspires his myriad club members – men and women who have participated in his workshops – to create surprising craft art without any prior experience in the traditional crafts.

“Before and After” will feature unusual creations handmade by Ishizawa himself, but the guerrilla crafting guru is passionate about recruiting new members to his club and has plans to get everyone involved!

Visitors to the October 14th opening will be encouraged to join in on a participatory handmade “happening,” then Ishizawa will lead a workshop on October 17th in which participants will each make a hand-sewn robotic dog. Come join the Yo! Crafting Club!

Opening party (with surprise participatory event!) – October 14 (Wed) 7 – 9 p.m.

Robogurumi robot dog workshop (only $29.99!) – October 17 (Sat) 1 – 4 p.m.

Email info@galleryhanahou.com to sign up!

ossudogs

It’s Time for Another Mochimochi Photo Contest!

photocontest09_announce

Get your needles and camera at the ready for the 3rd annual Mochimochi Photo Contest!

Once again, we’re looking for the cutest, funniest, most interesting photo of a Mochimochi Land toy. All you have to do to enter is upload your photo(s) to the Mochimochi Friends group on Flickr by November 16th.

Like previous years, winners will receive cute goodies from Japan and gift certificates from Mochimochi Land, PLUS this year they will also get gift certificates from Knit Picks!

Eligibility

To be eligible, your photo must contain at least one knitted toy made from a Mochimochi Land pattern. This can either be a pattern from the Mochimochi Shop or one of the free patterns on the Mochimochi Blog. The pattern may be modified, but not beyond recognition from the original design.

How to enter

Simply upload your photo(s) to the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group. If you don’t have a Flickr account, it is free and easy to register (though we recommend signing up as soon as possible, because it takes a little time for your account to be approved for sharing photos in a group). You can upload as many photos as you want, within reason.

Deadline

The last day to enter the contest is November 16th, 2009. We’ll be announcing the semi-finalists shortly thereafter here on the Mochimochi Blog, then everyone will be able to vote for their favorites! So be sure to check the blog in November.

Prizes!

First place prize will be a bunch of cute goodies from Japan, a $25 gift certificate to the Mochimochi Shop, and a $50 gift certificate to Knit Picks (thank you Knit Picks!).

Second place prize will be a handful of cute goodies from Japan, a $15 gift certificate to Mochimochi Land, and a $10 gift certificate to Knit Picks.

Third place prize will be a $10 gift certificate to Mochimochi Land and a $10 gift certificate to Knit Picks.

Update: Thank you to the Craft blog for helping to spread the word!