Author: Anna

Eep! Tiny Sheep!

Posted on by Anna

tinysheep_announce1

Happy Chinese New Year—it’s now officially the year of the sheep!

To celebrate, why not turn your yarn back into itty-bitty sheepies? The pattern is now available in two forms, as a PDF download and as a giftable kit that makes two sheep.

tinysheep_announce2

The inspiration behind this design is pretty obvious—I can’t count the number of requests that I’ve gotten for this high-fiber animal over the years. But I’m kind of glad that I waited until this year to make it, because my tiny designing skills have come a long way, and I wanted to get this one just right!

tinysheep_announce4

The techniques that the pattern uses are your standard tiny mochi techniques—knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, I-cord, and picking up stitches (just for the tail). But I added a new technique: brushing, a tip I picked up from June of PlanetJune.

tinysheep_brushing

I recommend using a 100% wool yarn to help get your sheep the fuzziest they can be. For the samples in the photos, I used a combination of Cascade 220 Fingering, Knit Picks Palette, and Cascade Heritage yarns (for the faces and legs).

And if you’ve got wool scrap yarn, this pattern is perfect for using up leftover bits—just use a larger needle size to scale it up.

tinysheep_announce3

Happy shepherding!

A Potpourri of Tiny Roses

Posted on by Anna

The tiny roses are popping up like pretty weeds on Ravelry—as of today there are 40 of them listed!

Let’s marvel at how each of these tiny roses, although made from a very simple free pattern, is a unique and beautiful creature. (The Little Prince was right, of course!) Kittrin’s Mr. Rose, for example, may have walked right out of a Super Mario Bros. game, while DQknits’ Tiny Rose strikes me as a little hand-dyed diva.

tinyrose_roundup1

lolypoplolpop1’s Not-As-Tiny Rose, below, seems like a bit of a tough guy with a soft heart, and beckjohn’s Tiny roses are siblings who have nothing to say to each other right now because they’ve been arguing about tap vs. distilled water and they’ve each realized that they’re never going to change the other’s mind.

tinyrose_roundup2

Unsurprisingly (but delightfully!) QueenofSheeba went and knitted up a whole colony of glamorous tiny roses,

tinyrose_sheila

And in our Flickr group, Knit Mermaid is killing me with this spot-on Baby Groot.

tinyrose_knitmermaid

So many loved ones are going to be delighted/nonplussed this weekend. Valentine’s Day is two days away, the pattern is free and super quick—if you haven’t yet, hurry up and knit a tiny rose!

Time-Lapse Video of Animation Setup

Posted on by Anna

We made a stop-motion animation yesterday—coming soon! Maureen had the foresight to shoot a time-lapse video as we were setting up and beginning to animate.

This was just the start of our production—about three hours of animating followed. Many more nails were bitten along the way. But I think it’s going to turn out cute!

Free Pattern: Tiny Rose

Posted on by Anna

This is an intermediate-level knitting pattern for everyone to enjoy. Please check out the Mochimochi Shop for more patterns that you’ll love!

You can download a PDF version of this pattern via Ravelry.

tinyrose1

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and you know what would really make your sweetheart swoon? That’s right, a tiny anthropomorphic plant made of yarn. This itty-bitty rose knits up in an hour or less, so you can dole out the love all over the office or make a mini bouquet for your one and only.

Techniques included I-cord and knitting in the round on double-pointed needles. Fingering-weight yarn is recommended, but just about any yarn with corresponding needle size will work great.

Continue reading “Free Pattern: Tiny Rose” →

Two Fave New Apps: Monument Valley and Petting Zoo

Posted on by Anna

It’s been a long time since I talked about something besides knitting on this blog, so let me tell you about two apps that have been making my iPhone fun lately!

The first is the puzzle game Monument Valley, which is an all-around beautiful experience. You play a silent little princess navigating a surreal landscape of Escher-like towers and blocks that work in mysterious ways.

monumentvalley

The mechanics of it reminded me a little bit of the game Fez, but Monument Valley differs greatly in its approachability and ease: the puzzles start without the delay of a boring tutorial, and build in difficulty to something challenging but not frustratingly so. It’s a game that I think has a calming effect on most people, which is something I always appreciate my phone doing. Really, I enjoyed Monument Valley so much that I didn’t want to “waste” it by playing it while waiting in line at the grocery store. I played it at the end of the day when I could let myself get drawn in by its strange little world.

The other app I’m digging lately was recommended to me by Kay Gardiner of Mason Dixon Knitting, of all people.

pettingzoo1

It’s called Petting Zoo, and it’s an “interactive picture book” by Christoph Niemann, the illustrator responsible for some amazing features on the New York Times website, among other things. I suppose the primary audience for this app is young children, but I’m not ashamed to say that I find it delightful as an adult. Its simple concept: line drawings of animals that you poke and prod to make them respond in amusingly elastic ways. The actions start with simple concepts, like “pet the stretchy dog”, then get gradually more surreal and unexpected. (The melting panda is a favorite of mine.)

pettingzoo2

I’m enjoying this app so much that I’ve been using it sparingly, trying to delay the end (which I haven’t seen yet) as long as possible. I’m looking forward to sharing it with my 3-year-old niece the next time I see her, but in the meantime I’m happy to enjoy it as a 33-year-old.

Both of these apps cost money, but are extremely worth it. Oh, and why am I talking to Kay Gardiner about apps? Because I was telling her I was thinking about making one. How fun would that be???