Month: March 2010

Hippie Harold and Blue-Rinse Betty

Posted on by Anna

Sometimes I come across a toy that I would like to meet in person. Like these Baldees made by Aussie knitter onnastick, Hippie Harold and Blue-Rinse Betty!

baldees_onnastick1

I love how she got all of the details on these guys just right, from the “tie-dyed” pants and glasses on Harold to Betty’s handbag—not to mention the awesome hairstyles.

baldees_onnastick2

onnastick’s Baldees make me think about how fun it would be to customize Baldees for some friends and family. If you do it, send me a photo of your Baldee and the model for him or her to info [at] mochimochiland [dot] com (or point me to your photos on Ravelry or Flickr) and I might post it here on the Mochimochi Blog!

Soupy’s Portfolio

Posted on by Anna

I recently got a fancy new SLR camera, and guess who my primary subjects are? (Here’s a hint—they’re not made of yarn.)

soupy3.10_1

soupy3.10_2

soupy3.10_3

These are all photos of Soupy, who somehow knows what modeling is all about. If I can catch Nipsey in some non-manic moments, I’ll post some new photos of him soon too.

Mochimochi Yarn!

Posted on by Anna

How cool is this: Rhichard at Koigu created a colorway especially for Mochimochi Land! It’s not every day that someone designs a special variegated yarn just for me, so I was thrilled when this package arrived of my doorstep the other day.

mochimochikoigu

I think there’s something very optimistic about this colorway, which I love. It’s definitely special enough to warrant a new toy—any ideas?

If you’re not familiar with Koigu, they make a wonderful sock yarn that comes in brilliant colors (I’ve used it to make many of my Tiny Things), and you can find it in many yarn stores.

Thank you, Rhichard!

Tiny Collection 2 Patterns Now Available!

Posted on by Anna

OK folks, the tiny trend continues in the Mochimochi Shop with Tiny Things Collection 2!

tinys2_announce

These little guys are hugely addictive! You’ve been warned if you start making entire herds of Tiny Vacuums, Tiny Babies, Tiny Lollipops, and Tiny Lions. All use fingering weight yarn and size 1 needles. Techniques include picking up stitches, I-cord, and a little bit of mattress stitch and Kitchener stitch for the vacuum.

And if you’re in a not-so-tiny mood, these projects can be easily scaled up just by using thicker yarn and larger needles—like this!

You can buy the PDF pattern collection for $5 here in the Mochimochi Shop.

Mochimochi Land Needs a New Tagline!

Posted on by Anna

logo_snake

Now that I’ve started adding cross-stitch patterns to my shop and I might someday do other kinds of projects, I’m thinking it’s time for a new Mochimochi Land tagline! Right now, it’s “Knitted toys and people living together in a spirit of tolerance.” I like the subtle humor of this, but I think a tagline that isn’t so knitting or toy-specific might be a good idea.

You guys are creative, so I would love to hear YOUR ideas for a new Mochimochi Land tagline. Please leave them in the comments to this post! It should probably be catchy and cute, but not too cute. (You know what I mean.)

I won’t necessarily use one of the suggestions, but I might! If I choose your suggestion, there’s no prize, but you do get some glory for totally knowing what Mochimochi Land is all about.

Last-Minute Shamrocks

Posted on by Anna

Feeling compelled to add a little green to your outfit today? If you have a few minutes, you can whip up a shamrock pin by making three hearts from my free pattern, attaching them together, and adding an I-cord!

hearts_shamrocks

I blogged about these shamrock pins that veeda made last year, and I’ve since seen one or two more pop up on Ravelry. It’s such a clever idea!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Hearts for Haiti at Churchmouse

Posted on by Anna

I just received happy news from from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas in Bainbridge Island, Washington, who last month sponsored a “Hearts for Haiti” charity fundraiser to help the earthquake victims in Haiti. They offered a collection of hand-knitted hearts (made from my free pattern) for people to purchase with all proceeds to be donated to Partners in Health. The event raised almost $1,200!

Annabella was nice enough to send over a couple of photos from the fundraiser.

churchmouse1

She said there were bowls filled with little knitted hearts all over the shop. Cute!

churchmouse2

It’s so inspiring to see knitters working together to help a very worthy cause, in a very fun way. Certainly when I designed the little pattern in 2007 I had no idea of the potential it had in the hands of others.

If you are interested in using any of my patterns to help raise money for a good cause, please email me at info [at] mochimochiland [dot] com.