Author: Anna

It’s Mystery Kit Time Again!

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Ready for a MYSTERY? The 2014 mystery preview kits are here!

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Now through July 31st, purchase two kits and/or books from the Mochimochi Shop, and you’ll receive one of these mystery kits for free!

Want some hints about what’s inside? All three are new, never-before-seen designs for adorable tiny creatures. One is feathered, one is furry, and one is… something else. In my completely biased opinion, these are the best mystery kits yet!

Order two kits and/or books, and a randomly-selected mystery kit will automatically be sent with your order. (You don’t have to add it to your shopping cart.) Order four kits/books, and two different mystery kits are on their way. Order six kits/books, and all will be revealed!

Once the mystery kit special is over, these patterns won’t be available until later this year. So don’t miss out!

Mofutans the Mochi Bunnies

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New character crush! San-X, the Japanese character goods company, has a delightfully weird set of characters that the blog Super Cute Kawaii recently introduced to me: Mofutans, the bunnies made of mochi!

If there ever was a thing that you would apply the word mochimochi to, it’s these guys! They literally chew on each other like mochi.

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What’s even cuter, on the official Mofutans website San-X has posted a call for people to send in photos of their rabbits, and the company is illustrating (mofutan-ing) the photos and posting them on Twitter.

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So now you know what my newest Twitter follow is.

Come Work for Me!

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After seven years of running Mochimochi Land mostly on my own (with help from John and lots of other awesome people), I feel that it’s finally time to hire someone for part-time help. This is a big step!

I’m looking for someone in the Chicago area who is willing to come to Lincoln Square once or twice a week for a few hours at a time. Duties may include assembling kits, going to the post office, organizing samples, helping out at events, and possibly blogging and social media. Knitting skills and a passion for cute stuff are a must; photography and social media skills are a plus. Ideally you don’t have cat or wool allergies.

If you’re interested, please email me at info [at] mochimochiland [dot] com with the subject line Part Time. Tell me about yourself and include a link to your website or Ravelry page. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Audrey’s Literary Bromance

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Audrey saw my recent call for Huge & Huggable mochi photos, and she and her brother did something a bit more ambitious!

Yes, everyone needs a friend—even giant knitted pencils. I love the way that Audrey used simple props and words to tell this cute and touching story!

The slideshow is impressive on its own, but I would also like to mention that Audrey is 11 years old, which makes it extra impressive. So she gets TWO free patterns for sharing her creativity with us!

Keep sharing photos of your huge mochis in our Flickr group—Everyone whose photo I share on the blog this summer will receive a free pattern of their choice!

The Biggest Twig

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Yesterday I spent a couple hours on my porch working on a new piece of the Wooly Woods. This one will be the biggest Twiggin home yet!

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If you weren’t visiting this blog when I was preparing for my show last year, I gathered twigs and branches that had fallen near my home in Brooklyn during Hurricane Sandy, and I used those as forms for sculptures, wrapping the twigs in colorful yarn and placing little characters (many of whom were a species I call Twiggins) on them.

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It was one of my favorite projects ever, and it occurred to me after moving to Chicago that I could continue it here—Chicago is known for begin especially windy, after all, and that means more twigs for me to gather! (Yes, I know that the “windy” in “windy city” is referring to politicians, but I’ve found that it is also a windy city in the literal sense.)

So I’ve started gathering twigs in my new home, and it didn’t take long before I spotted the really big twig that had fallen in a storm. I love seeing it transform into something a bit more magical.

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This piece may make its debut at VK LIVE in October, but I should also mention that I’m going to be leading a workshop with this same theme in Ann Arbor next month! If you’ll be in the area, please join me on July 12th at the city library for a fun session of knitting with nature. All are welcome to wrap twigs (much smaller than my big twig!) in colorful yarn, and those who knit will be supplied with patterns to make creatures to live in their twig. It should be fun for all ages and skill levels! Check out the Ann Arbor District Library website for more information.

If You Happen to be in South Korea This Summer…

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Some hand-knit Mochimochi goodies will be for sale in Hyundai department stores located in Seoul for four weeks this June and July!

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(I can’t read the details on the announcement, but I trust that Korean speakers can!)

My tiny characters, mini gnome scenes, and postcards will be part of a pop-up shop organized by Everyday Mooonday, a gallery focused on character art that recently opened in Seoul. The gallery owner, Diny, saw some of my knitted artwork in NYC when the both of us lived there, and I was so happy that she kept me in mind for this opportunity. I only wish I could visit in person!

Among the pieces I just shipped out to Seoul is this tiny hand-standing gnome.

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Along with the recent publication of Super-Scary Mochimochi in Korean, this is making me feel that Mochimochi Land and Korea might just be a good match. I hope to get some photos of the pop-up shop once it’s open, and share them here!

New Mochimochi Classes at VK LIVE Chicago

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Update: The “Knit a Tiny Snowman Scene” class has been cancelled. (Sorry!) But the other two are going ahead as planned!

Registration is now open for this October’s Vogue Knitting LIVE Chicago! Last year I got to experience VK Live Chicago as an artist in the gallery (and as a brand-new Chicago resident), and this year I’m slated to teach three classes PLUS have a presence in the art gallery again. It’s going to be quite a weekend!

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Check out my class descriptions after the jump.

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