I wasn’t totally happy with the Tiny Goat that I made last month (the curly horns just weren’t working for me), so for the first time I’m posting a Tiny Thing revision!
I definitely prefer it with the shortened horns, beard, and nose, so I’m glad I gave it another go. If I were to go back and revise every toy that I think could use some changes, though, it would take months!
I’m so excited that the release of Knitting Mochimochi is now just two weeks away! It was a full year ago that I turned in all of the materials for it, so it feels like I’ve been waiting forever and the wait is almost over!
I have a few updates about it that I wanted to share with you because there is a lot going on.
Signed copies
I will be selling some signed copies here on my website! I would have announced this sooner, but it was only recently that I was sure about it. They’ll be in the Mochimochi Shop starting June 29th for $20 plus shipping, and will only be available for shipping within the US. (But if you live elsewhere and really want a signed copy, I may be able to do international shipping on an individual basis.)
Free pattern
If you’re on Ravelry, you may have noticed that the Baby Gators pattern from the book is available for free! You can get the pdf pattern from CrafterNews right now, and I’m also going to publish it here on the Mochimochi Blog soon.
Release party
There will be a little release party/trunk show at Brooklyn General on July 11th (a Sunday), 2-6 pm. If you live in the New York area, I would loooove to see you there! It also happens to be right around my birthday (July 13th), and for my birthday I want people to show up on the 11th. Please come!
I will also be at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC on July 27th for a signing!
Interviews, giveaways, and such
There are a few fantastic websites and blogs who are going to help spread the word about Knitting Mochimochi with some reviews of the book, interviews with me, and giveaways. I’ll keep you updated about those when they happen!
Since I posted the free pattern a couple weeks ago, it hasn’t taken long for some Tiny Perching Pigeons to start popping up around the web!
Embeeknits’ Sweetie Bird must have some super-strong feet to hold up all that cuteness!
She used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease to give her birdie a little extra heft.
Mangs whipped up a quartet of Hogwarts House Pigeons to sit in a tree.
Love the fun colors!
And Becca of Nutmegknitter made a sweet little pink pigeon who has found a most peculiar perch!
I love seeing all these cuties, and I would love to see yours too! If you’ve made a Tiny Perching Pigeon, take a photo and add it to the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group! You’ll see it appear in on Mochimochi Land gallery page, and it will be automatically entered in the next Mochimochi Photo Contest (coming soon!).
Also, If you’re in the London area, come make pigeons with me and Stitch London next Monday (June 21st)! Details here.
Contrary to popular belief, their French is really quite terrible. Quelle horreur!
Many of you have suggested that I knit some Tiny French Fries, but Linsy was the first to do so last July, so she gets a free pattern!
Tomorrow (June 11) is the last day of “Lost at Sea,” the show of aquatic-themed fiber art at gallery hanahou in NYC. If you can manage to stop by the gallery today or tomorrow before 6 pm, it’s well worth the trip!
The pieces in the show will remain online for a little while longer—you can check them out at the gallery online shop.
I snatched up this Plankton Pal made by Jenny Harada earlier this week. I just love her kooky plushes!
There are also a couple of pieces by me still available, plus lots of beautiful embroidery by amazing artists. This was a great show to be a part of—many thanks to curator Kristen Rask for including me!
Update: It looks like John will be reviewing Work of Art weekly on the A.V. Club! You can read all of his reviews here.
If you’re a fan of Project Runway-style reality shows, you might be interested in checking out tonight’s premiere of Work of Art, a new “creative challenge” show, on Bravo at 11 pm.
I’m pretty unsure how well an art-based competition show will work over the course of a season, but that’s part of what intrigues me about it. John reviewed it on the A.V. Club website, so you can see what he has to say before setting your DVR. (I caught a peek at the preview copy the other day as he was watching it, and thankfully the scary clown on an easel is not the best it has to offer.)
The Tiny obsession is still going strong here in Mochimochi Land, and the other day I attempted to take it to the next level by knitting with two strands of embroidery thread and sewing needles.
It was a complete bust! I just couldn’t get the cotton thread to cooperate, and the needles were pretty slippery too. Very frustrating. I’m certain I’ve heard of people using this technique and succeeding, so I must have been doing something wrong.
So now I’m dying to ask all of you if anyone out there has tried and succeeded at knitting with embroidery thread on sewing needles. Or, if like me you’ve tried and failed, please share your story too!
If you’re in the London area, join me and Stitch London on June 21st for a super-fun Tiny Perching Pigeon Party!
I’m visiting the UK for the first time this month, and pigeons seemed like the perfect thing for me to bring from one city with a love/hate relationship with these little guys (New York) to another. I originally came up with the Tiny Perching Pigeons especially for this trip, so I hope to see lots of pigeon-makers there!
We’ll meet up in St. James’ Park (On the grass by the café called ‘Inn the Park’) at 6 pm, then after knitting some pigeons we’ll head over to Trafalgar Square for a crazy-cute photo op with our friendly flock. Bring your pigeons ready-made (find the pattern here) or make one with us! See more info on the Stitch London blog.
By the way, as this is my first time to London, I would love to get your suggestions of stuff to do and see while I’m there! The big landmarks are already on my list, but if you have a cool shop, neighborhood, or restaurant to recommend, I’m all ears.
I’m looking forward to seeing all you Brit knitters on the 21st!