Month: December 2013

2013 Mochimochi Favorites

Posted on by Anna

It’s been another super year here in Mochimochi Land. 2013 was our seventh year, if you can believe it—that’s a lot of mochis!

Let’s wrap up 2013 with a quick look at some favorite happeningss on the blog.

**Favorite New Pattern**

Luvbots

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I’m a little bit in love with these guys, but it might just be the puns they inspire in me.

**Favorite New Contraption**

The Mark Hrachovec Yarn Winding Machine

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This thing saved my sanity this year. Instead of spending hours winding the bobbins for my tiny kits, I can spend minutes! My dad is the best.

**Favorite Tiny Mochi**

Tiny Butterfly

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This little guy was praised by poets! I haven’t written pattern for him yet, but I’m hoping to do so in 2014.

**Favorite Funny Mochi Scene**

Knitjvf’s Zombie-Killer Birds

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The most original way I’ve seen zombies defeated!

**Favorite Crazy Fun Projects**

I had TWO favorite crazy fun projects this year.

The Wooly Woods

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Because of course it’s a good idea to knit things on top of delicate twigs and ship them all to Germany for a show! (As ill-advised as this all seemed at times, it actually turned out great!)

Nickelodeon Holiday Animations

Anna Hrachovec for Nickelodeon: Holiday 2013 IDs from Anna Hrachovec on Vimeo.

The coolest project to wrap up 2013 with!

**Favorite Knitting Debate**

To Cozy or Not to Cozy?

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It’s the ultimate question that divides knitters these days. (As it turns out, everybody thinks they’re a little silly but ultimately harmless.)

**Favorite Mochimochi Mods**

Sarah’s Disney Knits

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This young knitter started with some shapes from Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi and took them in an awesome direction!

**Favorite Animated GIF**

Caveman Family Meeting

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This year I started making some longer stop-motion animations, but the looped action of a GIF remains of of my favorites forms of expression.

**Favorite Personal Project**

A little kitty for my niece!

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I love having a niece to knit things for! Apparently the kitty (now named Nickus) gets to go on many adventures with Nora.

**Favorite Random Cute Things**

Hello Kitty Re-Ments!

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I just sent one of my last boxes out to the winner of the 2013 Mochimochi Photo Contest.

Conor Finnegan’s Fear of Flying

I was inspired by many kinds of art this year, but this short animation really stands out to me.

Those were just a few of my favorite things from 2013. Oh, and I didn’t even mention my new book, which was one of the most exciting things to happen this year!

But what keeps Mochimochi Land going and growing is the participation of all of you, in the form of your comments and emails, your photos of mochis that you’ve knit, and the way that so many of you have shown up at events and said hi in person! If anything, I want to foster more community here in 2014, and I hope to have more projects that we can all participate in.

Thank you for a wonderful year, everyone! Let’s make 2014 magical together!

Kitschy Christmas Dog Giveaway

Posted on by Anna

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays! I’ve been taking some much-needed time away from my computer and spending it instead with family, food, and furry creatures.

Speaking of which, it’s almost the last day of the year, and I’m finding myself with not one but TWO kitschy Christmas dogs from 1940s Japan.

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One of these guys is destined to become a late Christmas present for someone I know, but one of them could be yours! I’d love to hear about your favorite thing that you knitted this year. Tell us about your favorite 2013 knitting project by leaving a comment, and I’ll randomly pick a winner on January 3rd.

If I can manage to sit in front of my computer for long enough, I’ll share my favorite project of 2013 tomorrow!

Winners of the 2013 Mochimochi Photo Contest

Posted on by Anna

After hundreds of photos submitted, hundreds of comments on the semifinalists, and hundreds of votes on the finalists, THE RESULTS ARE IN for the 2013 Mochimochi Photo Contest!

But first, we want to thank each of you who participated in our favorite Mochimochi Land tradition. Mochimochi Land wouldn’t be the fun crazy place that it is without the creativity and love that all of you bring to it through your knitting, your photo sharing, and your commenting. You all are the BEST!

Big thanks also go to our sponsors, Knit Picks and Craftsy, for providing great prizes this year! So did my lovely mother-in-law Bonney—thank you, Bonney!

Now let’s celebrate our winners!

We’ll start with our Judge’s Choice Award. This is the photo that didn’t make it into the top three, but that John and I personally think deserves special attention. This year that photo is Snowman Friends by Emily!

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We just love the simple charm of this photo. Nice job, Emily!

In third place is the delightful Best Beard Contest by The Happy Cupcake!

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Yay!! You win a $10 gift certificate to Knit Picks, a 25% Craftsy discount, a $10 gift card to Mochimochi Land, and these goodies from Bonney Teti’s World’s Biggest Yarn Stash in Wilmot, New Hampshire!

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(See more adorable Best Beard Contest photos at The Happy Cupcake’s Flickr page.)

In second place is the cheerful Bird Conga by Bonnie!

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Yippee!! You win a $10 gift certificate to Knit Picks, a 50% Craftsy discount, a $10 gift card to Mochimochi Land, and these goodies from Bonney!

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(See more rainbow penguin antics at Bonnie’s Flickr page!)

And now for our top winner… it’s Giant Squid Love by Jill Watt!

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Woohoo!! And well deserved, Jill! You win a $50 gift certificate to Knit Picks, a free Craftsy class, a $20 gift card to Mochimochi Land, and these goodies from Bonney!

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Congratulations to these very clever knitters! And that wraps up the 2013 Mochimochi Photo Contest—thank you again to all who participated!

Feeling inspired? It’s not too early to enter next year’s contest! All photos added to the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group will automatically be entered in the 2014 Mochimochi Photo Contest. And we’re also bringing back our springtime photo series contest, so keep an eye out for that in a few months.

Safe travels and happy holidays, everyone!

Mochimochi Photo Contest ’13: The Big Vote!

Posted on by Anna

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winners!

It’s finally here: the FINAL VOTE! After much consideration and a lot of help from all of you, we’ve narrowed down the 20 fantastic semifinalist photos to 10 stunning finalists in the 2013 Mochimochi Photo Contest.

Presenting your top 10 photos!

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Which of these, in your opinion, are the cutest, funniest, most original photos of mochimochi toys? Cast your official ballot below! We know that many of the entries have big fan followings (which is great!), so to help make things fair, we’re asking that everyone PLEASE VOTE FOR AT LEAST TWO PHOTOS. But you can vote for even more!

The poll will be open throughout the weekend, and we’ll announce the top three winners on Monday, December 23rd. Be sure to return for the results!


Order by Noon Thursday for Christmas Delivery

Posted on by Anna

It’s been awesome getting all of your comments on our two groups of semifinalist photos. Clearly many of the photos have their fans, but who will make it into the finals? We’ll announce the final round of photos and start the big official vote tomorrow!

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Today I just wanted to make a quick announcement for those of you who may be giving Mochimochi gifts from Christmas this year. If you’re in the US and want delivery on physical goods (books, kits, buttons, etc.) order by noon EST tomorrow (Thursday 12/18) and select Priority shipping.

PDF patterns AND gift cards are always available for instant download, of course!

We’ll also be taking a short shipping break for Christmas: Orders of physical goods placed between December 24th and 29th will be shipped on December 30th.

That’s it for housekeeping! Be sure to check back tomorrow and VOTE!

Semifinalists ’13, Group Two

Posted on by Anna

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winners!

It was awesome to see all the impassioned comments on our last post of semifinalists—thanks, everyone! Let’s keep up the cheering for our next group of semifinalists, which we present to you today.

Like the last group, these are photos that John and I chose for their originality, their storytelling, and their overall cuteness. They are all winners to us, so we need your help narrowing these down for the finals! Take a good look at each, and ROOT FOR YOUR FAVORITES IN THE COMMENTS TO THIS POST.

Here they are, in no particular order, your final batch of semifinalist photos in the 2013 Mochimochi Photo Contest…

Rappelling Gnome by Shannon

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Go, go tiny gnome! We love this dramatic close-up.

Teeny Tiny Lolcats by Monica

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Mochi cats plus internet meme equals happy! We love all the different breeds, too.

Knit Nested Birds by Hannah

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The composition is just lovely. And happy wings!

PTA (Painted Turtles of America) Campout by ForeverWrens

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We love how everyone seems to have a job in this busy scene, except maybe for the guy who’s just sitting on a rock. Adorable!

Thor! by Lucy

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Thor indeed! The attention to detail in this very tiny knit is just awesome.

Giant Squid Attack by Amanda

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It seems inevitable that Squidpocalypse would start attacking the other mochis sometime. The water and clouds are a great touch!

Mochi Burger Restaurant by Sarah

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There’s so much going on here, but we especially love the tiny dog who’s getting a melted ice cream treat.

Hens Playing Quidditch by seakame

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Awesome diorama! The 2D/3D combo is very clever.

Bird Conga by Bonnie

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They’re rainbow penguins and they’re marching in formation! Enough said.

Luvbot Mending Broken Hearts by FatalsAttraction

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There’s something irresistible about this photo. I think it’s how seriously Luvbot is taking his task.

Aren’t these all just the tops? Congrats to these witty knitters!

Don’t forget to leave a comment telling us which of these photos (it can be multiples!) you want to see in the finals. We’ll be taking all of your comments into consideration for the big final vote. The poll will open later this week, so don’t forget to check back and cast your vote!

Semifinalists ’13, Group One

Posted on by Anna

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winners!

It’s semifinalist time in the 2013 Mochimochi Photo Contest!

Today we present to you the first batch of ten semifinalist photos. It’s always really difficult to narrow the entries down, but John and I selected photos of mochis that were unexpected, that told stories, and that showed lots of originality. And cuteness, of course! We also decided not to have more than one photo by the same person in the semifinals this year.

And we need your input to help narrow the semifinals down to the ten finalists! So take a close look at these awesome photos and ROOT FOR YOUR FAVORITES in the comments to this post. Just leave a comment saying which photo or photos you would really like to see make it to the big final vote. Your feedback will really help us out!

Here they are, in no particular order, your first batch of semifinalist photos…

Stormtroopers Knit Droids by Taylor

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We love how seriously these little guys take knitting!

Giant Squid Love by Jill

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Just wow! Some amazing engineering going on here.

Sty Guys by Elly

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Who knew there were so many varieties of Pigs with Wigs? Each really seems to have its own personality!

Poseidon by Shanna

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Lovely scene and a great mod!

Tortoise and Hare: The Deleted Scene by Ilana

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All those tiny shoes! (And that tiny foot measurer!) Awesome.

Snowman Friends by Emily F.

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This one is so charming in its simplicity!

Herding Chicks by Emily

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We didn’t know that tiny armadillos were good herders, but now it just seems obvious!

Polar Bear Plunge by juleenbean

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Such a cute wintry scene! We love the set and the tiny mug!

It Looks Like a Purple People Eater to Me by wooly brain

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Watch out, little guy! We love the composition and colors in this dramatic scene.

Best Beard Contest by The Happy Cupcake

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It’s about time that someone featured one of the big gnome events of the year!

Aren’t these photos just super? Congrats to these clever knitters!

Now we need your help to narrow these down to the finalists. Don’t be shy—let us know which of these especially tickles you in the comments! And be sure to check back on Monday for the next batch of semifinalist photos!