Author: Anna

Crocheted Abode a la Mode Giveaway Winner

Posted on by Anna

Thank you for sharing your mouth-watering creations, everyone! We got 55 comments on the post with Twinkie Chan’s interview. And our randomly-selected winner of Twinkie Chan’s new book, Crocheted Abode à la Mode, is…

Commenter number 55, Barbara!

I sewed a huge donut in the 8th grade. It was a giant pillow for my bedroom and it took bags and bags and bags of stuffing.

I love that this giant donut maker is our winner! I have a feeling that the book will not be wasted on Barbara.

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Thank you to Twinkie Chan and to her publisher, Creative Publishing International, for making the giveaway possible. Now everyone who isn’t Barabara, go buy Crocheted Abode à la Mode!

Make Room for Jumbo Mushrooms

Posted on by Anna

Maybe you have already figured out who Jumbo Gnome’s big new friends are…

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Jumbo Mushrooms!

Now Jumbo Gnome finally has someone to play hide-and-seek with and maybe win.

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As much as I love knitting teeny-tiny things, sometimes you just have to go big! Like with Jumbo Gnome, I knitted these guys using Knit Picks Biggo yarn, which is lovely and fluffy and oh-so huggable. Bulky yarn also means that they knit up quickly, and you can make them way smaller (if you are so inclined) just by using fingering-weight yarn and size 1 needles.

The three mushrooms are made separately, so that means there are endless ways to combine them as you like. And the pattern also includes instructions for spots!

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Even Mochimochi Land’s tiniest inhabitants can enjoy these big plushy mushrooms.

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I can’t wait to see your versions on Ravelry! The pattern is now available as a download for $6 there and also here in the Mochimochi Shop.

Twinkie Chan Interview and Giveaway!

Posted on by Anna

Update: Congratulations to our giveaway winner!

Every now and then I interview someone who surprises and inspires me with what they do. Twinkie Chan, the crochet genius who specializes in kitschy food-themed creations, has been one of those people for years. I met her at Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle back in 2010, when we were scheduled for back-to-back book signings, and I’ve been following her ever since. (She’s impossible to forget with her candy-colored hair!)

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Twinkie Chan has a new book out that anyone who loves crochet and/or cute stuff will be excited about, and I took the opportunity to score an interview and offer a giveaway of the book. Enjoy our conversation, then see how to enter the giveaway in the comments below.

(As you can see, the tiny ninjas are hoping to pick up some tips on how to steal from a crocheted cookie jar….)

Continue reading “Twinkie Chan Interview and Giveaway!” →

Group Show: Hello Kitty & 99 Friends

Posted on by Anna

Sanrio has now created a total 100 adorable characters over the years, and to celebrate this achievement, PiQ has invited 100 artists to each re-create one of them in their style. I was thrilled to be invited to participate in this group show, and for my character I chose a little-remembered group called Polar Picnic.

There aren’t too many images of thee guys online, but it seems that there are always a few listings on Ebay, so that’s where I started.

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Penguins and Polar bears are right in my wheelhouse. Here’s the Mochimochi Land version.

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I couldn’t resist include Kitty Chan herself—she’s hiding toward the back of the piece, disguised as a snowman.

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I’ll add more photos of details soon! I can’t wait to see the other works in the show.

HELLO KITTY & 99 FRIENDS
APRIL 16TH-MAY 14TH
PIQ GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL
SHUTTLE PASSAGE

New Studio

Posted on by Anna

I cleaned up the new basement studio just enough for a lovely photo!

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This is the only angle you get, because all other views reveal unsightly cardboard boxes brimming with craft materials, props, stuffed animals, yarn, you name it.

It’s relatively bright for being in the basement, and now I get a nice view of people walking down the street. The cats love it because it’s carpeted, and they’ve never had carpet to scratch up before! (Fortunately it’s really durable carpet.)

Sheila’s 100 Monkeys

Posted on by Anna

How much fun are these ONE HUNDRED tiny monkeys that Sheila knitted?

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Sheila (QueenofSheeba on Ravelry) started with the Tiny Monkey pattern from Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi and added an itty-bitty mouth flap for the classic sock monkey look… 100 times over!

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I love the scenes she’s made with these little guys. Check out her Ravelry project page to zoom in and see exactly what they’re all up to.

Thank you to Sheila once again for the inspiration!

New Kits: Tiny Robot, Tiny Ninja, and Tiny Walrus!

Posted on by Anna

Update: We had a silly glitch in our shipping calculation for the robot and walrus kits, so if you’ve had trouble purchasing earlier, please try again now. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Finally, last year’s mystery kits are now revealed and available in the shop!

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What do robots, ninjas, and walruses have in common? I suppose they’re all creatures that are not to be trifled with. I know I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with any of them!

But really, these guys are just designs that I’d had in mind to make for a while—I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten a request for a tiny ninja pattern. I’m pretty charmed with how it turned out!

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And yes, there is a tiny robot pattern in Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi, but it was time for an upgrade. So this one is technically Tiny Robot 2.0. These resemble the evil robots that you may remember from Gnomes vs Snowmen, the show I did at gallery hanahou in 2011.

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As for tiny walruses, they’re just CUTE, don’t you think?

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It’s also thanks to Eat Sleep Knit that the tiny walrus design exists—they originally commissioned it as part of their 2015 Yarnathon giveaway patterns.

Each kit comes with a pattern, fingering-weight yarn (Cascade Heritage), and stuffing to make two robots or walruses or three ninjas in multiple colors. You’ll need to provide a set of US size 1 double-pointed needles and a small tapestry needle.

These three designs are only available as kits right now (sorry!), but YES, the digital patterns will be coming eventually.