I was lucky enough to have three fabulous testers help out with the Stackable Cats pattern, two of whom have shared their results with me!
Kounting Sheep made a darling trio of musically-inclined cats…
… stacked just high enough for the littlest one to reach those piano keys!
And Hannah of BitterSweet chose beautiful shades of blue for her “column of kittens.”
Love them!
Thank you to you both, and also to Marti for your help with the pattern!
I was disheartened to find on my Japan trip that Tarako Kewpie seems to be no more. The doll dressed up as a nasty fish egg condiment that had taken the country by storm just one year ago had gone the way of Dango Sankyoudai.
But there is good news! As the ad I blogged about a earlier this month indicated, Kewpies have morphed into a Hello Kitty-like blank canvas ubiquitous to all department stores, kiosks, and souvenir shops.
Though Tarako Kewpie is gone, we now have Mushroom Kewpie and Beer Kewpie, among hundreds of other variations. You can even get Kewpies dressed up as popular anime characters.
The craft mecca Yuzawaya now has a whole wall of naked Kewpies in multiple sizes for people to dress up as their food or beverage of choice.
I suppose you can also get these in the U.S., but it seems that the Japanese have claimed Kewpie as their own. Could it make a comeback here?
I’d almost forgotten about this odd poster, which we were seeing all over the Tokyo subway stations a couple of weeks ago.
The English is an accurate translation of the Japanese—it’s just…pretty strange. (Right?) If you look closely, you’ll see that it adds “please share your seat with others” at the bottom. Seems like they could have just stuck with that line.
Yes, the Stackable Cats are finally here! This simple pattern includes three sizes for maximum stacking fun. Techniques include provisional cast on, knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, short rows and mattress stitch.
Buy the pattern as a PDF download here!
Update: Thanks so much to both Kristen at Plush You and Michelle at CRAFT for announcing the Stackable Cats!
My jewelry-designer friend Audrey recently made the most beautiful pair of earrings out of handmade Japanese paper and sterling silver.
I love how they look so incredibly light—the use of the paper is just inspired. (Now if only I wore earrings…)
The earrings are part of her collection, which can be found in her Etsy shop. (I also blogged about her shop when she opened it last year.) Audrey specializes in mixing industrial and natural materials with traditional elements of fine jewelry. The result is beautiful designs that balance strength and delicacy.
I think her jewelry would make an awesome Mother’s Day gift for a hip kind of mom!
Check back soon, or sign up for the mailing list (email info@mochimochiland.com) to receive a notice as soon as the pattern is available!
One of the strange things about vacations is that stuff happens while you’re away! Much of it is just work piling up, of course, but sometimes there’s a pleasant surprise mixed in with the multiplying “to-dos.” Such is the case with a new profile of Mochimochi Land on Venuszine.com!
Venuszine.com is the website of the hip magazine Venus Zine, which covers a refreshing mix of women in music, art, film, fashion, and DIY culture. Contributor Sara Graham, who is an avid crocheter herself, just happened to be at the Martha Stewart taping that my toys and I attended in February, and she got in touch with me shortly after that.
I’m extremely flattered by Sara’s nicely written profile about my work, and it’s an honor to be presented on Venus Zine’s website along with so many other fascinating women in art and DIY culture. Thank you Sara!
Hello from New York! I was a little reluctant to leave Japan so soon, but the weather in NY is absolutely gorgeous, so I’ll take it. (I’ve been up since 3:30 this morning, so I got to see the beautiful morning light hit the buildings outside our window.) I also didn’t bring any knitting on the Japan trip, so I’m looking forward to picking up the needles after two weeks without.
I just finished downloading the last of my photos, and I realized I took more pics of Okinawa than I thought. So this will be the non-hermit crab Okinawa post.
First, something cute (of course!). An ad for Okinawan “snow salt” cookies at the Naha airport on the main island. (They’re really yummy.)
Iriomote-jima, where we stayed for three nights, has more than just beaches and crabs. It’s also known for its dense jungle and waterfalls. It’s not known so much for its goats, but this one was roaming around just looking to get into trouble.
John was careful not to touch him, so that he could avoid a customs nightmare when returning to the states. (It ended up being a nightmare anyway, but that’s another and not very interesting story.)
And here we have some mangrove roots.
Iriomote-jima was covered with dense mangrove forests, and the guide on the boat tour we took discussed the main three types of mangrove trees in detail, on and on, throughout the 25-minute trip. I now feel like I know all there is to know about mangroves, but only in Japanese.
After our boat tour, we took an hour-long hike to see a waterfall (sans tour guide, thankfully). On the way, I spotted this gorgeous bark.
I don’t recall what kind of tree it belongs to, but I loved its pattern.
Also this cool unfurling vine.
Here’s a shot of the waterfall we hiked to, plus a funny crow who was very interested in us.
And lastly, I found this ad at the airport at Ishigaki-jima to be pretty fascinating.
Never mind the fresh water gushing down the pristine waterfalls of a nearby island, give me the water of America! I have a feeling that this particular campaign wouldn’t do so well in its place of supposed origin.
The majority of my remaining pictures from Japan are of cute ads I found, so I’ll be posting those soon too.