Here’s another gorgeous snail, by Milkyrobot.
Not a word I usually apply to snails, but—lovely!
Monthly Archive for March, 2008
I just had the honor of being interviewed by Kristen Rask for the Plush You! blog.
Kristen asked great questions about me and Mochimochi Land, so it was a lot of fun to do. And the interview includes a giveaway! Leave a comment on Kristen’s post by March 31st and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $15 Mochimochi Land gift certificate.
Thanks so much, Kristen!
Update: I just went over the the Plush You blog and saw some of the incredibly nice comments you guys have been leaving. I know there’s a gift certificate in it for you, but I’m still really moved by the nice things people have been saying. Thank you, everyone!
Just two days left until spring is officially here, and Mochimochi Land is getting a head start with a brand-new pattern: Butterfull, the world’s fattest butterfly!
Butterfull knits up quickly, with techniques including i-cord, mattress stitch, and duplicate stitch. And nothing says “spring” like a bouquet of dead flowers, right?
You can buy the pattern as a PDF download here!
I’m now offering printed versions of Mochimochi Land patterns to yarn shops and other wholesale buyers! The patterns are printed in full-color on card stock, with step-by-step instructions and photos. Please email me at info@mochimochiland.com for more details.
If you or someone you love has a yarn store, I hope you’ll consider carrying Mochimochi Land patterns!
My sister and I got my mom an iPod shuffle for her birthday last year. She was mildly appalled when I showed her the iTunes store, where you have to buy music? I thought you kids all got it for free on Napster, which is illegal and wrong, by the way!
I asked her what song I should find on iTunes for her, and her immediate request was “Legendary Chicken Fairy,” the most psychedelic song title I’d ever heard. It turned out to be an actual song, by country duo Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan, who wrote songs mostly about birds in the ’70s. My mom started signing along to the iTunes clip:
Chicken fairy in the sky
Mother Goose’s butterfly
Do whatsever’s necessary
Legendary chicken fairy
Sing a song that’s sanitary
Take my wish o big canary
Legendary chicken fairy…
Then my dad joined in from the kitchen. It was weird and kind of cute. But once the moment passed, my mom refused to pay money for the music by these people who apparently had some part in my parents’ courtship. (”Where’s all that free music I’ve heard about?”) We found some NPR podcasts instead. So for Christmas last year I gave my parents Life and Death (And Almost Everything Else), which includes “The Legendary Chicken Fairy” among its 29 tracks. It got a laugh, if not a long listen.
But it’s actually an impressive collection of songs. (I had bought the album for myself before getting another one for my parents.) Most of them are clever and melodic, and some are rather beautiful. A lot of them are about birds. I would recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor, and maybe kids.
This is a free and easy pattern for everyone to enjoy. Please check out the Mochimochi Shop for more patterns that you’ll love!
When they’re not vying to determine which species will slowly take over the world, snails and slugs make cute house pets. Knit some up for your friends and hide them in unusual places.
The pattern, which calls for fingering weight yarn, is a tiny bit fiddly, but very fast and super cute!
You’ll need:
- Koigu yarn or other fingering-weight sock yarn in as many colors as you like
- Size 1 or 2 double pointed needles
- Tapestry needle
- Tiny bit of black embroidery thread and needle
- Tiny bit of polyfil or yarn scraps for stuffing
Gauge: N/A!
Abbreviations:
k = knit
st(s) = stitch(es)
rnd(s) = round(s)
dpn(s) = double-pointed needle(s)
—–Pattern starts here!—–
Snail / Slug Body
Cast on 4 sts onto one dpn.
Work one round in i-cord fashion: kfb, k1, kfb, k1 (6 sts)
Now, distriubte the 6 sts onto 3 dpns and join to work in a rnd.
Next rnd: kfb, k2, kfb, k2 (8 sts)
Knit 18 rnds.
Stuff a tiny amount of polyfil or scrap yarn into the open end, to form a head-like bump in the piece.
Break yarn and draw tightly through sts.
Antennae
Cast on 2 sts onto one dpn, and work 9 rows in i-cord. Break yarn and draw through sts.
With your tapestry needle, thread the antennae through two sts on the top of the head of the body, placed 3 sts from the end you closed off.
Weave the loose ends of the antennae back through the i-cord and out through the body below. (It might be a bit tight, but do the best you can.)
For each eye, make two of the tiniest stitches in black embroidery thread just below each antenna. (I don’t recommend using french knots, because they will slip right through your knitting.)
If you’re making a slug, you’re done! For a snail, continue on with a contrasting color for the shell.
Snail shell
Cast on 12 sts onto 3 dpns and join to work in a rnd.
Rnd 1: knit
Rnd 2: [kfb, k2] to end (16 sts)
Rnds 3-9: knit
Rnd 10: [k2tog] twice, k to last 4 sts, [k2tog] twice (12 sts)
Rnds 11-25: knit
Break yarn and draw tightly through sts.
Making up shell
Weave loose end of at the tip of the shell back through the piece. Stuff and roll tightly into a coil. Work yarn through the coil with a tapestry needle to secure. Work yarn back through toward the open end of the shell and secure with a few stitches of mattress stitch.
Sew open end of shell to snail body with backstitch. And there’s your snail!
Whose side are you on??
My husband and I bought some “Super Soft Dough” a few weeks ago to entertain our 3-year-old nephew, who was coming to visit for the evening. It turned out to be a success, keeping him entertained for a full 10 minutes out of the 4 hours or so that he was here.
I’ve since been the one to get the most entertainment out of the stuff, which has suddenly become my new favorite medium. (We kept it here, since our nephew tactfully declared “I have lots of this at my house,” when John presented it as a gift.) I love several things about it: it smells nice, it dries quickly, so you have to do something with it right away instead of sitting back and thinking about what you’re going to make, and the neon colors are fab.
Last night I made some nature scenes with it—I liked the effect of landscapes and animals in blindingly hot colors. Tonight I made a swimming pool.
It’s a fun way to brainstorm without the scariness of a blank page, and really relaxing too, since you can only have so much control over the crumbly substance. I recommend picking some up the next time you pass by a toy store, if you don’t already have some.
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