Author: Anna

Don’t make wars—make dinosaurs!

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Just in time for dinosaur hatching season, the adorable Amy Apatosaurus is now available as a PDF pattern!

This Jurassic classic will melt your heart and stretch your knitting skills at the same time. You’ll curve her neck up with a little mattress stitch trick, then bend her head forward with a few wrap & turn short rows. Links to how-to videos are included to help you along the way.

Use any yarn you like (hand-dyed and variegated varieties are fun options) and corresponding needles for a pocket-sized dinosaur that knits up in an afternoon and will live forever in your heart. Samples shown are knit with fingering-weight WoolTribe Homegrown Sock yarn and size 1 double-pointed needles.

🦕 Now available from the Mochimochi Shop and Ravelry! Check out my bio for the links 🦕

The Amy pattern was originally released through the Knitrino app, which is a great place for tiny knitted dinos to be born. (Stay tuned for another new hatching there as well…😆)

You can see some adorable Amys already living their best lives over on Instagram—and tag your own Amy photos with #amyapato to join in! 🦕💕

Thank you to Marilyn Passmore for her tech editing help with this pattern!

Nickelodeon spots from 2013

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Ten years ago I got to work with an incredible team of creative people at Nickelodeon to make a collection of network IDs for the holidays. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and an experience I’ll cherish forever.

Together we came up with the concepts and I worked like crazy to knit up a ton of characters and props, including some Nick stars that I got to render in yarn. 🤩 Then we did an intense 2-day shoot in Times Square to make the stop-motion magic happen.

I remember feeling bittersweet when it was over, because this unique educational and affirming experience was coming to an end, and also because it coincided with my move from NYC to Chicago. It was quite a way to say goodbye to the city!

Then, incredibly, I DID get to work with them again the following year, although the next time I stayed in Chicago and shipped my knits out to the team, who then animated them in NYC.

So much gratitude to Matthew Dunteman, who made the whole thing happen. And to Steph Shank, who was the brilliant mind behind much of it, including those adorable 2-D clips!

Dovetail Holiday Market TOMORROW (12/2)

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Chicago friends, I’ll be vending at Dovetail Brewery’s holiday market this Saturday, 12/2—come on out for some chill holiday shopping!

This will be my first holiday market in…13 years!? 😳😬 I’m pretty excited. I’ll have copies of my new picture book, a bunch of cat kits, a few lil knitted friends, and more.

There will be good food and cool vendors and of course great beer.

Hope to see you there, 1-7 on Saturday 12/2 at 1800 W Belle Plaine!

Book signing & trunk show at The Bloomin’ Spindle

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Chicago Friends! Here I am realistically posing in front of The Bloomin’ Spindle, in real life, with my real new book. Come see me here on Sunday 11/26 at 11am for a book signing and trunk show! I’ll be hanging out until 2pm or so with books, cat kits, and probably some cat animations too.

If you haven’t visited The Bloomin’ Spindle, it’s a gem of a yarn store and well worth the trip from wherever you are.

Hope to see you there!

Introducing Kitty Canes!

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UPATE: The Kitty Canes pattern is now available as a PDF download!

Introducing the 2023 Mochimochi Land holiday pattern: Kitty Canes!
They’re like candy canes…only with 100% more kitty 😻

Kitty Canes’ not-so-secret ingredient is a color-coordinated pipe cleaner that holds the I-cord tail in a twisty bend. Because the pipe cleaner is visible, and because different colorways are fun, we’ve created a limited number of kits for this pattern that let you knit THREE Kitty Canes in three color combos!

Each kit comes with an intermediate-level pattern (an instant download that you get right away), stuffing, and enough fingering-weight yarn to knit three Kitty Canes: Peppermint, Blueberry, and Raspberry.
You’ll need to provide a set of size 1 US (2.25mm) double-pointed needles and a tapestry needle.

Please note: orders placed Thanksgiving week will ship the week of 11/27.

Techniques include knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, I-cord, grafting stitches, picking up stitches, and and some simple embroidery. All key techniques (aside from basic circular knitting) are demonstrated in videos linked in the pattern.

🍬😻🍬🎄🍬😻🍬🎄🍬😻🍬

And yes, a standalone PDF pattern is coming soon too!

Introducing Inside Cat

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It’s cozy cat season, and ny newest pattern is all about getting cozy between the pages of a favorite book! Inside Cat will mark your place in the coziest possible way and offer snuggles when it’s reading time too. The pattern is now available for FREE as a surprise in the Deep Fall 2023 issue of Knitty!

I designed this project to be advanced-beginner friendly, incorporating I-cord, flat knitting, and a bit of circular knitting. Use whatever yarn you like and corresponding needle size—I used worsted-weight yarn (Tosh Vintage in GG Loves Speckles) and a set of size 5 US (3.75mm) double-pointed needles.

If you could use a little guidance, check out this YouTube video I made demonstrating all the key techniques used in the pattern.

Inside Cat was inspired by my new book, Catside Up, Catside Down, and I think it’ll make a sweet gift to accompany the book. In it, cats demonstrate different prepositions, and Inside Cat has a talent for such demonstrations: this stretchy, flat cat can be under, over, around, through, and a great number of other words beyond inside. Show us what preposition positions your Inside Cat is into by tagging your photos #mochimochiland !

This is my FOURTH pattern published in Knitty. (And my second cat pattern! 😸) Knitty means so much to me: early on in my career, Knitty founder Amy Singer exposed me to a community of knitters and encouraged me to pursue designing as a career path. 🥰
Knitty is a wonderful resource, especially as it’s free to everyone! And Knitty can also use your support if you are in a position to help keep this wonderful publication going.

Thank you to Amy, to Kate Atherley, and to everybody at Knitty!

Join me for Knitting LIVE NYC in January

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I’ll be teaching knitting cats, unicorns, and all things stop-motion animation at Knitting LIVE by Vogue Knitting in January! Come join me and a slate of talented teachers and makers in NYC for a long weekend of all things fiber arts!

Here’s the schedule and class descriptions:

FRIDAY 1/26 10:30-11:30 am
LECTURE: STOP-MOTION ANIMATE YOUR KNITTING

Did you know that knitting and animation go together beautifully? Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land will share how she turned her tiny knitted toys into animated stars of the internet and an upcoming television show, all with basic materials and a trial-and-error process. You too can use stop-motion animation to bring your knitted toys and other projects to life—it’s simpler than you may think! Whether your want to add some motion to your social media stories or make a mini movie with characters, this lecture will cover animation basics and tools that will set you up for animation fun.


FRIDAY 1/26 6:00-9:00 pm
CLASS: KNIT A “HANG IN THERE” CAT

Pick up basic toy knitting techniques while making a little friend who feels the way we all do sometimes: just hangin’ in there! This project-based class accommodates knitters who prefer to work flat, those who are comfortable knitting in the round, and those who are somewhere in between. We’ll cover basic increase and decrease stitches, mattress stitch, I-cord, simple embroidery, and more.

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SATURDAY 1/27 6:00-9:00 pm
CLASS: TINY TOY KNITTING BASICS: UNICORNS AND RAINBOWS

In this class, we’ll knit a tiny unicorn together, covering all the techniques from start to finish: knitting on double-pointed needles, I-cord legs and horn, and embroidering a magical mane and tail. We’ll also go over how to use mattress stitch to shape knitted tubes into a little rainbow, so your unicorn can have a friend!

And of course, so many more classes are available from the biggest names in the knitting and crochet world.

Earlybird packages are available (though some are sold out!)—sign up at the Knitting LIVE website. I hope to see you in NYC!