Author: Anna

Win a Rainbow of Yarn from Knit Picks

Posted on by Anna

OK mochi makers, you now have two weeks and some change to enter our annual photo and video contest! Now, why would you take precious time out of your busy November schedule to create a visual masterpiece* with your toys? Because it’s really fun, and it’s a great way to be a part of the Mochimochi community, and also because this:

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This year our top photo winner will receive a Candy Rainbow Yarn Sampler from Knit Picks! With TWENTY balls of candy-colored Palette yarn, you could make 400 tiny mochis and still have enough left over to knit tiny sweaters for them all. (Please, whoever wins, do this!)

Our second and third place winners will also each receive $10 gift certificates to Knit Picks, which can go a long way there!

I’ve expressed my love for Knit Picks here many times, and I’m so happy to have them back as a sponsor. If you’re not familiar with them, Knit Picks is a website that sells a huge variety of yarn, needles, patterns (including patterns by indie designers—who receive all profits!), and basically all the tools you’d ever need for knitting. I’ve used and loved many of their yarns, but my favorite will probably always be the fingering-weight Palette yarn. Whenever anyone asks me what yarn to use with my tiny mochi patterns, I always suggest Knit Picks Palette as a great one to start with because it’s affordable, it feels nice to use, and it comes in soooo many pretty colors. Here’s one of my TWO drawers devoted to Palette.

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And as several of you noticed when I shared a photo of my new bulletin board earlier this year, it prominently features the catalog open to the Palette page for easy reference.

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Normally, Knit Picks only ships to the US and Canada, but because our photo contest is open to everyone worldwide, we’ve arranged it so that even winners who live outside of North America can receive prizes. So this is a great opportunity for those of you in far off lands to nab some Knit Picks goodies.

Thank you to Knit Picks for being our awesome returning sponsor!

* If my use of the word “masterpiece” intimidates you, please know I was using it facetiously.

Don Quixote Scenes for Teatro alla Scala

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Now and then I get an opportunity to work on a commercial project, and I’ve been looking forward to sharing this one for a while. Earlier this year, Milan advertising agency TITA asked me to create tiny knit characters and dramatic scenes from Don Quixote for a ballet produced by Teatro alla Scala. I recently received samples of the 8″x8.5″ brochure that my photographs became, which was distributed to the ballet audience in September. It’s such a thrill to see them in print!

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The photos depict the major scenes from the famous story, starting with Don Quixote’s literary inspiration, to his adventures with Sancho Panza (knitted windmill included, of course), to his courting of Dulcinea.

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This was the first time that I’d taken on a commercial project that involved my photographing characters in nature—I was really happy to get the experience, and I think the whole thing turned out nicely. And I had a blast making my versions of a tiny Don Quixote and the other characters!

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I should probably say that I don’t have plans to make patterns available in the foreseeable future, but they might turn up in in a book or somewhere else someday.

You can see all of the photographs from this project over at my art website.

Adventure Time Crafts Giveaway

Posted on by Anna

Update: Congrats to our winner!

Now that you’ve had the weekend to spend contemplating just how much you want those lotion bars from Milk+Honey and planning just how awesome your photo contest entry will be, I have a whole other cool giveaway for you today!

About a year ago, my editor, Caitlin Harpin, mentioned to me that she was working on a book full of Adventure Time-themed crafts. My first thought was how can I suddenly become the author of this book?, but Caitlin assured me that she was working with a very talented crafter who specializes in felt toys. A year later, I have Adventure Time Crafts: Flippin’ Adorable Stuff to Make from the Land of Ooo in my hands, and it’s way cooler than I imagined! And that author was none other than Chelsea Bloxsom of Love & A Sandwich! (Or, more specifically, the book was written by Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum with Chelsea Bloxom.)

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If you’re not familiar with Adventure Time, it’s a Cartoon Network show that’s in the genre of “sort of for kids but also really for adults.” Finn the human and Jake the dog get up to wild adventures in their magical land of Ooo, where adorable creatures can take on surreal and psychedelic aspects at any moment. It’s a must-see for anyone who likes cute and strange stuff—like me!

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Adventure Time a show that inspires its fans to get creative, so a craft book seems like a no-brainer. And Chelsea does such an excellent job of presenting a wide range of projects using different materials and skill levels that it seems like anyone can find something to make. My favorites are definitely the super cute felt projects!

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These crocheted cozies reminded me of the Great Cozy Debate we had here last year. (I think these confirm the “cozies are awesome!” side.)

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I am seriously tempted to photograph every page and share the whole thing, but just take my word that it’s all really awesome and cute.

Now for the giveaway! I have an extra copy of Adventure Time Crafts to send out to one lucky person. To enter, please leave one comment to this post telling us your most adventurous crafting story. Everyone worldwide can enter. I’ll choose a winner next Monday, November 17th!

Win Luscious Lotion Bars from Milk+Honey

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How are your photo (and video) contest entries coming along? Perhaps you need a little motivation to get started? Creativity is its own reward, of course, but I also like to provide motivation in the form of cool prizes that we have in store for the winners. And this year we have a new sponsor: Milk+Honey, makers of beautiful, all-natural lotion bars!

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How lovely are these designs?! That’s what first enticed me to try out Milk+Honey’s lotion bars. I actually hadn’t used a lotion bar before trying these, but I was quickly won over by the simplicity of the concept—just massage it in your hands for a few seconds. I’m not a natural products nut, but I like that the ingredients are really simple: beeswax, coconut oil, almond oil, and essential oils.

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Plus, it just occurred to me that the lotion bars really are perfect for using while you’re knitting. With the cooling temperatures (and a recent long weekend spent at a hotel for VK LIVE), my hands have been really drying out lately. This has presented a little dilemma before, because if I rub lotion from a bottle onto my hands, they’re suddenly greasy and too slippery for knitting. But with the kind of lotion bar that Milk+Honey makes, my hands take on a more tacky feel, with no slipperiness, so I can use it and keep knitting. (And they smell nice and lemongrass-y too!)

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Among other prizes, the first-place winner of our photo contest will receive a Milk+Honey gift bag (containing a lotion bar and lip balm) plus two additional lotion bars—that’s a $40 value! The second-place winner will receive a gift bag and one additional lotion bar, and the third-place winner will receive a gift bag.

Thank you to Milk+Honey for providing these lovely prizes! Now let’s see you all EARN them with your cool photos! See full contest details on how to enter.

Being a Busy Bee

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The above is an indication of why things have been quiet here this week. I’ve been busy with a secret project! If all goes well, we’ll get to see the results by the end of the year. Hopefully I’ll find my desk by the end of the year too.

Regular posting should resume tomorrow!

VK LIVE Chicago Wrap Up: Gnomes, Twigs, and Tiny Pumpkins

Posted on by Anna

This past weekend was Vogue Knitting LIVE in Chicago—my eighth VK LIVE! It was a busy four days of teaching, chatting with knitters (lots of new people and familiar faces too!), doing sales in the marketplace, and transporting delicate twigs back and forth across the city.

As usual, I was too busy to remember to take enough photos, but here are a few highlights.

My tiny knitting class Thursday night all showed up in similar outfits, so we just had to take a class photo.

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One of my students showed up drunk, so he had to leave early.

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But seriously, it was a great group of knitters, and we had a blast knitting tiny gnomes and making weird gnome jokes throughout!

My Friday morning toy design class was so much fun too. Everyone took a turn sketching out their toy, and we all talked about how the design could be executed using various techniques. The toy concepts ranged from a cat pillow to a knitted Audrey II! The classroom wall was full of exciting ideas by the end.

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Friday night and for the rest of the weekend, I could be found hanging out with my artwork in the marketplace. Here’s how we ended up displaying the twig sculptures.

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My table (which I forgot to take a picture of, of course) was right next to this, so I got a kick out of hearing the attendees’ reactions to my twigs and their inhabitants—there were lots of squeals of “cute!,” and every once in a while someone would react with shock to the twiggin who’s getting eaten on my new piece.

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(I’ll show more photos of the biggest twig soon for those who didn’t see it in person!)

There were so many cool things to see in the marketplace (including lots of other amazing fiber art), but one highlight that I actually photographed was getting my portrait illustrated by Jana Kinsman!

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Jana was right across the room for me, doing everyone’s portrait for free! I love the concept of her Doodle Booth, and I love that the VK LIVE people thought to bring her in.

And lastly, the Great Tiny Pumpkin Hunt on Sunday was a success! Nine out of ten tiny pumpkins were found within the first two hours, and the last one came in at the end of the day, brought by the vendor whose booth it was at. Apparently people had been walking by the little pumpkin all day and just not seeing it! I tried to get every pumpkin finder’s picture, but somehow ended up with just seven.

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They all seemed pretty happy to keep their pumpkins and get a copy of Huge & Huggable Mochimochi.

Oh, and maybe 50 people told me that they saw the interview in the Tribune! And several even said that it was the way they found out about VK LIVE! That was awesome to hear.

Thank you to the VK LIVE team and all the knitters who came out for an excellent weekend of fun and inspiration!

2014 Boo Harvest

Posted on by Anna

UPDATE: We just hit 1,000 Boos on Ravelry!

It’s become a sort of tradition here this time of year to compile the best of the Boos (made from my pattern for Boo the Bat) that have appeared on Ravelry in the past 12 months. Here are some of my favorites from the project page!

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I originally designed Boo all the way back in 2008, and it continues to be my most popular pattern to this day. As of this posting, there are 998 Boos posted to Ravelry—just two away from 1,000! I think there’s just something about a little bat all wrapped up in his wings that’s irresistible, and it’s also a pattern that allows for plenty of personalization, as you can see!

Halloween is approaching fast, but you only need a few hours to make a Boo! Find the pattern in the Mochimochi Shop.

Top row (from left to right):
MarleenS’s Vleermuisje, laulaula’s Boo the W, roblingt’s Trevor, LiddyLee’s Boo the Bat, bioniclaura’s Bats About You

Middle row:
SlpBeauty’s I Didn’t Know They Did it All with Rubber Bands!, Prana451’s Batty!, tinypurrs’ Pink Moon Bat, blueangelfish83’s Bat mobile, angrymeerkat’s Halloween wreath

Bottom row:
ClarkMelissa’s Boo the Bat, Julia123’s Boo-tiful Sparkles, SlpBeauty’s Boo!, ginskye’s Bat 1 and Bat 2, kerroknits’ Boo the Bat