Mochimochi Land

Suddenly Rainbow Gnomes

Anna — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:55:13 +0000

Sometimes my morning goes in a completely different direction from what I had planned. Today I was expecting a couple quiet hours of prototype knitting, but instead I started looking at some photos from last year, and then somehow I ended up with this screen in front of me.

So now I’m working on new buttons with colorful rainbow gnomes! You can expect to see them in the shop soon. (For now, you can get a variety pack of tiny mochi buttons.)

Phil’s Chicken Yarn Shop

Anna — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:10:16 +0000

The only thing better than a friendly local yarn store is a local yarn store run by friendly chickens!

This is Phil’s adorable entry in our recent Fine Feathered Photo Contest. It was heartbreaking not to include it in the top three, but all that cuteness and attention to detail gets a big honorable mention from us! (And the gnome button portrait is just genius.)

Don’t forget to keep adding your photos of Mochimochi knits to our Flickr group—they’ll appear in the gallery page of this website, and they’ll automatically be eligible for our big photo contest in the fall.

Sock Machine Dreams

Anna — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:20:12 +0000

I spent Saturday with my mother-in-law Bonney (who’s now on Twitter, you guys) at the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival. It was so nice to go to a fiber event just for fun!

We saw cotton-candy roving wool…

And the world’s saddest photo contest…

(Actually the photos were really good—it was just the display that broke my heart.)

And we saw a sock knitting machine at work! Of course the most interesting thing was the thing that I forgot to take a picture of, but it looked like this:

It’s made by the Erlbacher Gearhart Knitting Machine Company, which is based in Missouri. Jim from Good Karma Farm showed us how it works, and we were mesmerized. I actually saw more than one of these at the festival, so it must be a popular choice among serious sock makers.

There was a brief moment when I fantasized about using such a machine to crank out hundreds of mochis for my next installation. But that dream died when I reminded myself about all the shaping that I do, and the tiny scale that I prefer, not to mention the price of the machine. But if I ever need to make a boatload of giant snakes, I know just what to get!

If you haven’t seen one before, here’s a demo video of a vintage machine at work.

Are you sock knitters tempted?

Snowmom Parenting Tip

Anna — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:00:10 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day!

Wai Sek Moi’s Tiny Rockstar Chicken

Anna — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:18:33 +0000

It’s been a crazy kit-making week in Mochimochi Land! (It would be way crazier without my dad’s yarn-winding contraption.) Thanks so much to everyone who has placed an order. Your mysteries are on their way…

Today I’d like to share one of our absolute favorite entries from the Fine Feathered Photo Contest that didn’t make it into the top three: The Adventures of Chick and Hen by Wai Sek Moi.

Chick chillin’ out

Chick ‘n Hen going to work

Makeup [note the framed photos on the wall!]

Rockin’ It!

On the road

Curtain call—The End

John and I just love the incredible detail this knitter has used, employing all sorts of materials to complete the scenes. And a tiny rockstar chicken is a pretty awesome character. Great inspiration for the weekend!