Author: Anna

Pattern sales supporting refugees

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Update: Thank you for helping us raise $210, which we matched for a total of $420, for refugees!

While some of us are stressing over who is and isn’t “knitworthy” this time of year, others are starting completely over in a new country. I’ve been reading about the needs of newly arrived refugees in the Chicago area—it’s everything from furniture to English classes to food support.

For the month November, all proceeds from sales of my Homely and Hut pattern, Tiny Thanksgiving patterns, and Tiny Sugarplum Fairies pattern will go to support refugees who are resetting in the Chicago area. (Purchases of these patterns from both the Mochimochi Shop and my Ravelry Shop apply.)

And if you can, I hope you’ll support a resettlement organization in your area. (Here’s a list of organizations working in many states in the US.)

Introducing Tori the Tiny Triceratops

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She’s cute, she’s Cretaceous, she’s Tori the Tiny Triceratops—ready to be knit by you! Tori is all about flaunting her crest and living the vegetarian lifestyle, and her pattern is all about using yarnovers for simplicity and elegance: yarnover holes guide you in foot and horn placement, and the crest is a picot pop that completes her perfectly prehistoric look.

Tori’s pattern is available exclusively in the Knitrino app, which you can get in your favorite app store. It’s an interactive pattern with charts, photos, and video! Right now you can also purchase a kit for Tori that includes gorgeous Hand Dyed Diva yarn, plus sign up for a virtual dinosaur workshop with me on December 5th!

If you haven’t used Knitrino before, definitely give it a try—it’s intuitive to use and comes with a fun and very welcoming community. And it’s the most portable way to knit patterns on the go—especially tiny ones! It doesn’t hurt that Knitrino’s creators, sisters Andrea and Alison, are just the best people you could meet.

I personally LOVE this pattern, and I have a feeling that, once you knit a Tori, you will want to knit more(-y), and more(-y)!

Knit gnomes and alpaca with me on December 10th!

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I’m returning to Virtual Knitting LIVE next month with some popular classes on December 10th! Come join me in knitting gnomes or alpaca… or both!

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Knit a Tiny Gnome
In this two-hour class, we’ll cover intermediate techniques used in my tiny gnome pattern: joining I-cord legs, knitting with 2, 3, and 4 double-pointed needles, switching colors, attaching I-cord arms, and embroidery tips. Your gnome can be clothed or gnaked—your choice!

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Short Rows in Toy Knitting: Tiny Alpaca

Learn to tackle more advanced knitted toys with wrap & turn short rows! We’ll discuss this technique as it applies to toys and get started on knitting a tiny alpaca that incorporates it. In addition to short rows, we’ll cover picking up stitches, I-cord limbs, and face embroidery. By the end of the class you’ll be on your way to finishing your first alpaca, probably with whole herd to follow!

Technique Requirements: Circular knitting

👉 See the Vogue Knitting LIVE website for more info and registration! (Classes are listed under my name, Anna Hrachovec.)

10th Anniversary of Gnomes vs Snowmen

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Ten years ago today, the gnomes and snowmen of Mochimochi Land faced off in an epic battle. Snow heads rolled. Gnomes were squashed flat. Santa’s sleigh was commandeered for aerial snowball drops. It was not pretty, but it was pretty cute.

These events took place for a few weeks at the wonderful gallery hanahou (RIP!) in NYC in 2011, thanks to Koko Nakano and her team, but they live on in our memories. And in some photos!

Continue reading “10th Anniversary of Gnomes vs Snowmen” →

Spooky Spooky Winners!

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I hope everyone had a very happy Halloween! Ours was extra cute this year because we got to enjoy some very cool entries in our first-ever Spooky Spooky Contest! I had originally planned to select three winners, but picking three just wasn’t possible! So we ended up with four.

Without further ado, in no particular order, here are our SPOOKY SPOOKY WINNERS!

I love spooky things by Jennaferhay

How fun is this arrangement of assorted spooky characters!

Patterns: Candy Corn, Tiny Terrors, Tiny Fall patterns, and Tiny Ghost from Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi

That time of year when Mochimochi Land characters get Spooky Spooky by Frauborgmann

(Click to play video!)

So much drama and terror in this little video. Bravo!

Patterns: Tiny Gnome, Sophie & Chanel, Octopus from Adventures in Mochimochi Land, Spooky Ookie Cats

Witchy Tableau by Antipodeanstitchwitch

This adorable scene is comprised of some exquisite Mochimochis and mods!
(This fiber artist’s original creations are also amazing—check them out!)

Patterns (via the knitter’s caption: I modified the What-to-Werewolf [from Super-Scary Mochimochi] to make my witch. The white mouse is based on the Tiny Armadillo pattern [from Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi]. I also used the Tiny Owl, Plucky Mushrooms, Tiny Cacti and Cat in a Life Preserver patterns.Oh!! I also scaled down the free snail pattern to make a teeny tiny snail (it’s munching on the pot plant).

Fright Night by Aliceisknitting67

(Click to play video!)

OK Alice’s entry is beyond spooky and hilarious! Well done!!

Patterns: Tiny Gnome, Tiny Balloon from Adventures in Mochimochi Land, and Alice’s imagination!

How great are these!!! Check out all the spooky spooky entries (there are many more fantastic ones!) at the #Spookyspookymochimochi hashtag.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered! You are all such an inspiration to me!

It’s a Spooky Spooky contest!

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Let’s share some delightful frights with a spooky Mochimochi contest! Your creation can be wearing a costume, or just somebody who’s spooky all on their own!

👻 Tag your Instagram post with @mochimochiworld and #spookyspookymochimochi

👻 Use a Mochimochi Land pattern as your base—modifications are great! (Any pattern from one of my books, from the Mochimochi Shop, or a free pattern from my blog counts)

👻 One entry per person, please!

👻 Three winners will each receive a $50 Mochimochi Land gift card!

👻 Deadline is October 30th 👻

Happy October

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Happy October! 🎃
(Hope you’re not sick of pumpkins yet!)

Making this GIF was a little animation challenge for me—I wanted to see if I could incorporate a burst of photos (to capture pumpkins falling quickly) into an otherwise straightforward stop-motion animation. It kind of worked! I also briefly considered knitting an umbrella, but ended up just painting a paper cocktail umbrella because I had other stuff to do. 😬