Author: Anna

Super-Scary Mochimochi Preview: Little Miss Widow

Posted on by Anna

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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Save the Clowns

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I hate to start off the week with a difficult topic, but it’s come to my attention that there is some anti-clown prejudice in Mochimochi Land. Just look at how desperately clumsy this clown has become because no one would laugh at him.

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It doesn’t have to be this way.

I think the only way we can begin to heal the hurt is through education and dialog, but the clowns think they can win everyone over by performing tricks.

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Let’s make this a safe space for clown hijinks.

Zephrbabe’s Tiny Napoleon

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I never really thought of Napoleon Bonaparte as crush-worthy, but I’m swooning over this little guy knitted up by Zephrbabe!

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She used the Tiny Gnome pattern as a starting place, then took it in a completely different direction with custom color changes and shaping, along with some perfectly placed embroidery.

And that hat? According to her Ravelry page, it’s the Tiny Sailboat turned upside down!

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(Both the gnome and sailboat patterns can be found in Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi.)

He’s just the perfect historical figure for tiny mochi-fying, don’t you think?

It’s genius modifications like this that get me excited for our big photo contest coming up this fall. All you have to do to enter is add your photos of knits made from Mochimochi patterns in our Flickr group. Everything added to the group since last year’s contest is automatically entered in the next one! (You can see the details from last year’s contest here.)

For those of you in the US, enjoy the long weekend!

Cute as a…

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Look what adorableness came in the mail yesterday!

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Starting this week, all orders of physical goods (books, kits, and hand-knitted tiny mochis) from the Mochimochi Shop will now come with a gnome button! I should probably say “while supplies last,” but I got a whooole bunch of these guys, so I expect them to last quite a while.

I’d been wanting to include little gifts with mailed packages for a while, without finding just the right thing, when it finally occurred to me that I could have something special made just for Mochimochi Land. So much more fun!

Speaking of shipping, I’ll be out of town for a couple of weeks starting Monday for some exciting photo shoots with my favorite book photographer. So all physical goods (again, that’s books, kits, and hand-knitted mochis) purchased between September 3rd and 18th will be shipped on the 19th. This won’t affect PDF pattern purchases at all.

I’ll try to take some fun-but-non-spoiler photos during the shoots and share them here on the blog!

Pictoplasma Talk in NYC this November

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Big news: the character art curators of Pictoplasma have invited me to speak at their NYC conference this November!

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Last year I had the honor of being part of the Pictoplasma “character walk” gallery series with shows in Berlin and NYC, and they also featured my work in their new Character Compendium. But it was still a surprise to be asked to present my work on a stage shared by artists I admire so much, like Ryan Quincy, Julia Pott, and Gemma Correll. I’m so excited and nervous and it’s still two months away!

You can read all about the NYC conference on the Pictoplasma website—there’s an early bird offer on the conference pass if you buy it before September 15th. If you work in a creative field or you’re just a character enthusiast, you’ll want to check it out!