Year: 2008

Ikebana at the Met

Posted on by Anna

Last Wednesday I went to an ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) demonstration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York. It was amazing.

Ikebana master Nori Noda did five arrangements, ranging from the extremely complex rikka to the anything-goes freestyle, explaining some of the basic principles as he worked. The best photo that I could get afterward with my phone camera was of the freestyle arrangement:

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I’d taken some lessons in the Ikenobo school the last time I was living in Japan, and was really hooked at the time, but I hadn’t found much going on in NY since coming here. It turns out that there are ongoing two-session lessons held at the Nippon Club, which I’m probably going to try out next month.

If you’re more interested in looking than doing, there will be an exhibition (again, of the Ikenobo school) this spring at the Met, from April 30 through May 3.

I have to thank Antonio for his research help!

Two Boos and a Yahtzee

Posted on by Anna

I’m so happy to already see a handful of completed Boos over on Ravelry! Since I released the pattern less than 48 hours ago, I guess that proves just how quick of a knit he is. Super!

Three bats in particular are very special friends, because they were made by three of my awesome test knitters, who were a big help to me in polishing the pattern.

First is this little cutie by Mikkers.

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Her Boo loves to commune with colorful flowers. What a romantic…

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Kountingsheep used acrylic yarn to make her bat, whom she named Yahtzee!

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Isn’t he stylish?

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Because she was knitting with acrylic yarn, which behaves differently from wool, Kountingsheep slipped one stitch at each end of the bat’s wings, and she also used an iron to “kill” the acrylic and stop it from rolling. A great tip!

And finally, a bat from Bonney, my mother-in-law! John, my father-in-law, was nice enough to take some artful photos of her adorable Boo.

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Thank you to Mikkers, Kountingsheep, and Bonney! You are all Boo-rific. (And I am in the mood for terrible puns, apparently.)

BOO!

Posted on by Anna

Say hello to October, and say hello to the newest pattern in the Mochimochi Shop: Boo the Bat!

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Boo’s favorite word is…BOO!
Boo’s second-favorite word? YAHTZEE!

This little bat is a quick knit featuring wraparound wings and feet that can hang from your finger or the nearest tree branch.

Pattern techniques include knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, picking up stitches, and mattress stitch.

Download the PDF pattern here!

Update: Thank you to Jenny at the Craft blog, Lime & Violet, and Kristen at the Plush You! blog for posting about Boo!

Pantless, Sign-Waving, Grease-Stealing Home

Posted on by Anna

I’ll be back in Oklahoma next week to provide some moral support to my dad, who is undergoing some much-needed surgery on his back. (Go Dad!)

In preparation for my trip, I checked out the hometown newspaper to see what’s up. The recent police calls tell me that not much has changed.

5:49 p.m. – Check Person. Headed toward corner liquor store, no pants on. Handled.

4:39 p.m. – Check Person. Walking in between lanes yelling at people holding signs that God will provide. Handled.

10:33 a.m. – Theft Report, Wendy’s. Lock busted off, someone stole grease, third time this happened in past six months. Report.

Prizes Take a Bath

Posted on by Anna

We all know that Tubby can’t resist giving everything in sight a bath.The prizes that PrettyCranium won last month for her photo of Tubby are no exception!

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Looks like everyone’s having a good time.

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PrettyCranium says that when they aren’t getting scrubbed, the toys are keeping her company at her office at work. Great!

iTunes to the Rescue

Posted on by Anna

My favorite person this week is Ryan, a support person for the iTunes Store. He helped me re-download all the music I’d ever purchased from them and lost when my hard drive crashed last month. That’s a ton of music!

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I have 99 songs (5.8 hours worth) with the word “love” in the title!

It’s funny, I get emails pretty frequently from people who have lost patterns they downloaded from my shop, and I’m always happy to send the patterns to them again. But it hadn’t occurred to me that Apple would do the same for their customers. They do!

After contacting their support via this page, I got a detailed email from Ryan explaining how I could download my music again. Then he followed up again the next day just to make sure I understood how to do it. It was easy and very fast. Thank you Ryan! (In case Ryan isn’t an avid reader of my blog, I also sent him an email thanking him.)