Author: Anna

Mochimochi at NYC Maker Faire

Posted on by Anna

UPDATE: We’ve decided to extend our Maker Faire stay through Sunday, Sept 30, so you can find me and Mochimochi goodies in the BUST Craftacular area both days!

I’m excited to have a bunch more local events coming up this fall—the next one is the NYC Maker Faire coming up next weekend! On Saturday only (September 29th) I’ll be at the BUST Craftacular area with books and kits and a few hand knitted tiny mochis.

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I’ll be sharing a table with the adorable hoodie designer Helene Park of Toasty Time. Please come by and say hi if you’ll be there! All info can be found at the Maker Faire website.

Mix n Match Madness

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Thank you, everyone, for your happy comments and emails upon the launch of Super-Scary Mochimochi! I can’t believe that this is my third book of knitting patterns—how lucky am I that this is what I get to do?!

The book was really a team effort, involving everyone from my editor Betty Wong to my photographer Brandi Simons to the professor who let us have a photo shoot in this chemistry lab, Robert Sheaff. And a whole group of testers helped make sure the patterns were clear and usable—a vital element in the book’s success!

Thinking about the testers for this book reminds me of the fun monsters I saw from them when they were testing the “Mix n Match” section…

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This part of the book includes five body shapes to choose from and a menu of deliciously weird body parts to cobble together any way you please. The guys above look something like this when you take them all apart.

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When I was writing the book, I asked some of my testers to each knit one of these monsters. Because we were on a tight schedule, the simplest way to do it was to have them each knit one of the monsters I had made, putting the same parts together that I had, but I was still wowed to see the wildly different resulting monsters.

This is Marianne’s squash monster. He doesn’t want to be made into a pie!

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Jenna’s colorful tall monster has a tattoo!

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And Kelly made a cute and huggable robot monster.

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I love how they’re all so different from the originals just by using different colors and eyes… imagine the possible combinations that will happen when knitters start mixing up body parts and inventing some of their own!

Thank you to Marianne, Jenna, Kelly, Denise, Jennifer, Jenny, Jessica, Joan, Kari, Kristen, Lisa, Marilyn, Mary, Marti, Rikke, and also Bonney for contributing their testing help for this book. It couldn’t have happened without you guys!

Super-Scary Mochimochi is Here!

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It’s chaos here today in Mochimochi Land, as Super-Scary Mochimochi has just been released and the tiny zombies are going wild!

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No gnome is safe!

You can get your copy of Super-Scary Mochimochi, which is packed with 20+ patterns for the strangest and silliest knitted toys you’ve ever seen, from Amazon, from Barnes & Noble, and in bookstores and local yarn stores across the US. Signed copies are also now available in the Mochimochi Shop (with international shipping).

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And if you’re in the NYC area, please join me this Thursday for a talk and book signing at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio! (RSVP here.)

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I can’t wait to see the monster mochi invasion!

New Tiny People Kits!

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Just added to the Mochimochi Shop: tiny clown, viking, and pirate kits!

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Each kit comes with enough fingering-weight yarn (Cascade Heritage, a nice wool/nylon blend) and polyester stuffing to make 3 itty-bitty clowns, 2 teeny-tiny vikings, or 3 eensy-weensy pirates. They’re perfect for on-the-go knitting and make great gifts for fellow knitters.

And as with all orders of physical goods (books, kits, and original knits), these guys come with a freebie gnome button!

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Right now I’m still out of town working with my photographer on a future book (!!!), so all orders of physical goods will be shipped on September 19th.

Super-Scary Mochimochi Preview: Little Miss Widow

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Just one more week before Super-Scary Mochimochi is on sale in bookstores everywhere in the US! Woo hoo!

I had a hard time choosing which project to feature as the last preview (they’re all my favorite, of course), but I finally decided to share one of the sweetest scary little knits in the book…

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Meet Little Miss Widow! This stylish spider wouldn’t dream of wearing her hourglass on her back—that’s sooo last season. Instead, she’s converted it to a bow on her head, and she can also be worn on your head for an adorable Halloween accessory!

I don’t design a lot of wearable knits, but I loved the idea of a spider you could take with you. My friend and fellow designer Angela Tong helped me work out how to design my first lace pattern (thank you, Angela!), and the pattern for the headband comes in both adult and child sizes.

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And that super cute model? She’s Sarah Simons, my photographer Brandi Simons’ younger daughter. (I told you she was a great photographer—she even comes with her own models!) With those freckles and missing front teeth, there was no way she couldn’t be in the book!

Super-Scary Mochimochi is now available for pre-order from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Starting September 18th, it will be in local yarn stores throughout the US, and signed copies will be available from the Mochimochi Shop too.

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And don’t forget the talk and book signing coming up September 20th at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio!

On Location

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I’ve been in Tulsa since last Wednesday to hang out with family and work with my book photographer, Brandi Simons! My photo trips have been one of the highlights of my year since Brandi and I starting working together for my first book, Knitting Mochimochi, three years back. Brandi is a blast work with, and I’m always in love with the cute, hilarious, and beautiful images she somehow creates. And the fact that she lives across the street from my parents is incredible luck!

Since the books that we work on are always scheduled to come out an entire year later, it makes it difficult to share what we’re doing at the time, but I’ve remembered to snap a few photos with my iPhone this time. I can’t show much of the subjects, but here’s a peek of a couple of the shoots from the past few days.

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Our prop list this time has been impressive, including everything from a rubber duck to a Jolly Roger flag to helium balloons. And we’re shooting in some of the most glamorous locations that Tulsa has to offer, including multiple bathrooms!

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Any guesses of what the featured toy for this location was?

I can’t even express how excited I am about the photos Brandi has taken so far this time. Of course, I felt the same way last summer when she was doing the photography for Super-Scary Mochimochi. I’ll share another photo from that book in the final sneak preview tomorrow! (What-to-Werewolf and Toaster Ghost were the first two previews.) Just one more week before the on-sale date!

Super-Scary Event at Lion Brand Yarn Studio

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NYC knitters: please join me on September 20th for a Super-Scary Mochimochi talk and Q&A at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio!

I am thrilled to return to the studio, this time with all the cute and spooky creatures from my new book. (I’ll also be signing copies, of course!) Space is limited, so please RSVP at the Lion Brand Studio website for this free event.

And I think there are still a few open spots in the Tiny Zombie class I’ll be teaching on September 23rd at the studio. If you’re new to knitting tiny mochis, this is the class for you!

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