Super-Scary Mochimochi Preview: What-to-Werewolf

Time to start showing some stuff from my new book—I’ve been waiting so long for this!!

It’s really hard to choose which scary mochi to start with, but I have a lot to say about this guy…

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Meet What-to-Werewolf! He’s a teen werewolf who improvised a costume for those waxing and waning nights when he still wants to be on the prowl.

His wolf hoodie is completely removable, revealing an otherwise ordinary boy.

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Teeny-tiny people notwithstanding, I rarely knit human dolls, so this guy’s special for that reason alone. It’s even more rare that I knit separate clothes for dolls, so that made this project extra fun.

And let’s talk about that mirror photo! It was one of the most difficult we had to shoot—it turns out that doing a mirror shot and making it look like it’s in a miniature bedroom is tricky! Thankfully my photographer Brandi Simons had worked with me on my previous two books, and she knows how to create just the right environments around my toys.

First we had to find the right size and shape of mirror. That wasn’t too hard, but once it was photographed, the black-framed locker mirror looked just like an iPad. So to make it more mirror-like, Brandi tinted the frame brown and sharpened up the rounded corners in Photoshop. We also needed some miniature versions of stuff that a teenage werewolf would have in his room, and we ended up going with a combination of random little stuff (thank you, Wal-mart cheap party favor section) and things we printed out for mirror decor.

Here’s the photo again, annotated:

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It was a huge relief when everything came together, thanks to Brandi. I feel so lucky to get to work with such a crafty photographer. I hope come September some of you will be knitting and photographing your own What-to-Werewolves!

Super-Scary Mochimochi is now available for pre-order from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Starting September 18th, it will be in local yarn stores throughout the US, and signed copies will be available from the Mochimochi Shop too.