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Happy October

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Happy October! šŸŽƒ
(Hope youā€™re not sick of pumpkins yet!)

Making this GIF was a little animation challenge for meā€”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. šŸ˜¬

Upcoming Virtual Seminar and Classes with River City Yarns

I’m thrilled that River City Yarns in Edmonton, Alberta, has invited me for some online events in October and November! Check out the seminar and ALL NEW classes below. (Click on the event name for full information and registration.) Hope to see you there!

Saturday Seminar on October 9
This will be a fun chat with me all about knitting tiny toys! I’ll also talk about how I make them move in my stop-motion animations and GIFs, and you’ll get the inside scoop about what’s coming up in Mochimochi Land.

Knit a Tiny Cat! Saturday, Saturday, October 30

In the spirit of Halloween, letā€™s knit tiny cats together! In this class, we’ll cover toy knitting techniques like working with a small number of stitches on double-pointed needles, I-cord limbs, and picking up stitches for ears and a tail. You can choose if youā€™ll make a walking cat or a seated cat. Weā€™ll also discuss embroidered variations and how to customize your cat by breed.

Tiny Gingerbread Friends, Saturday, November 20

Get an early start on your holiday knitting with quick, tiny gingerbread friends (also known as Crumbles)! This intermediate project incorporates several toy knitting techniques into a very small package: joining legs into a round on double-pointed needles, picking up stitches, and icing embroidery. The more you make, the faster they go!

Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi 10th Anniversary

Do you remember this book?

Somehow, itā€™s been TEN YEARS since Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi was published!

My second book of knitting patterns captured my new obsession with knitting tiny little creatures. That obsession had started out as a mere short-term project to see if I could design and knit a new ā€œtiny thingā€ every day for a month, and when that month passed, I just kept goingā€¦

ā€¦until it seemed that I might as well make a book out of all these little creatures! It wasn’t quite so simple as that, but I had a lot of support from my then-editor at Potter Craft, Joy Aquilino. She helped me select around 20 of the best from this project, along with some new additions, to turn into patterns for a new book.

My tiny designs have evolved quite a bit since, but I consider the projects in Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi to be Mochimochi Land classics, and theyā€™re a great starting place for knitters who are new to small projects on DPNs.

Brandi Simons, who did the photography for my first book, Knitting Mochimochi, did a terrific job again with this book. The best part of the process was the way we worked together to figure out the simple props and backgrounds, and I assisted her with all the shoots too. Here’s Brandi getting the Tiny Computer ready for his close up.

The Tiny Gnome had some help from toothpicks and fishing line to make him and his mushrooms look just perfect.

(Seriously, I learned so many of my photography tricks from Brandi during these shoots!)

This tiny trash can is a project that didn’t make it into the book…

…but if you want to knit it you can find it in Tiny Mochis Collection 3.

Here I am adjusting the strings of these Tiny Ghosts. (This might have been the last time I was photographed with zero gray hairs!)

…and later, of course, I made one of these ghosties into one of my favorite GIFs.

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A lot more work went into this book besides the photography, namely, testing by some very talented and sharp-eyed knitters, many of whom are still test knitting my patterns! Oh boy how the time has flown.

I still see people’s projects that they make from this book all the time, and they make me just as happy as when the book first came out. If you’re able to use Ravelry, check out all the favorited projects that knitters have linked to the bookā€”all 165 pages of them!

You can still get a copy of Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi from a bunch of booksellers, both online and in person, plus hopefully your local library has it too! An ebook version is also available.

Since Teeny-Tiny, I’ve probably designed enough tiny things to fill at least three more books. And I do think it would be fun to write another book of patterns sometime! For now, I’m working on something that’s technically in the fiction category, and having great fun with it. More on that…eventually!

Pet Bugs patterns and kits are here!


Pet Bugs are the cutest little mutants you’ll ever knit! The new, intermediate-level pattern collection features four adorable insect/mammal mashups that knit up quickly for near-instant companionship: Doggerpillar, Bunnybee, Hamsterfly, and Snitten (snail cat, obviously!)

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Along the with downloadable patterns, kits for all four cuddly bugs featuring yummy Hand Dyed Diva yarn are also now in the shop.

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Three of the four Pet Bugs were the mystery kits in Juneā€”if you got those, you can now complete your collection by adding the Snitten Kit, which comes in four different fun color combos!

The concept for these weird little buggies came from my friend Kate O’Leary, who encouraged me to knit a bunnybee (she suggested it like it was something you see all the time). When I finally delivered on her request, the little bunnybee was so cute I had to make more furry bug combos, and Pet Bugs were hatched!

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Thank you to Kate, and thanks to my superb tech editor Marilyn Passmore and super test knitter Amanda for help making the patterns the best they can bee!

Join me for virtual classes in September!

Virtual Knitting LIVE is back on in September, and Iā€™m teaching two tiny toy knitting classes!

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September 11: Tiny Toy Knitting Basics: Unicorns and Rainbows
In this class, weā€™ll knit a tiny unicorn together, covering all the techniques from start to finish: knitting on double-pointed needles, I-cord legs and horn, and embroidering a magical mane and tail. Weā€™ll also go over how to use mattress stitch to shape knitted tubes into a little rainbow, so your unicorn can have a friend! (Sorry, frog is not included in this class!)

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September 12: Short Rows in Toy Knitting: Tiny Alpaca

Learn to tackle more advanced knitted toys with wrap & turn short rows! Weā€™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, weā€™ll cover picking up stitches, I-cord limbs, and face embroidery. By the end of the class youā€™ll be on your way to finishing your first alpaca, probably with a Cheez-its-munching herd to follow!

Technique Requirements: Circular knitting

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

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September 19: Knit a Tiny Gnome with me!

In this class you will learn to knit a tiny gnome, a project that can be modified into all kinds of different little people! In this class we’ll cover all the techniques used in the tiny gnome pattern. Your gnome can be clothed or gnaked – your choice!

More information and sign up at the String Theory website.

Tina The Tiny T-Rex is now a PDF download

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She’s fierce, she’s fabulous, and now Tina the Tiny T-Rex is available as a PDF pattern download! There are lots of fun techniques packed into this one tiny dino (short rows! I-cord arms! extreme tail shaping!), and videos will help you along the way. Plus, Tina loves to party, so the pattern includes instructions for THREE festive holiday hats!

If you’ve already purchased the interactive pattern from Knitrino, check out your pattern in the app for a discount on the PDF. šŸ˜‰

Mysteries revealed!

Big reveal time! The Mystery Surprise Kits wereā€¦
Pet Bugs! šŸ› šŸ¦‹ šŸ
See them in action on Instagram!

I hope those of you who got the kits were pleased with your cute weird knitting projects šŸ’œ

Now that the Bunnybee is out of the bag, the patterns and kitsā€”plus one last surpriseā€”are coming to my shop soon! For now, the ONLY places you can find them are at Cheers To Ewe (who is also responsible for the lovely Hand Dyed Diva yarn included in each of these kits) in Huntersville, NC, and Knit & Bolt in Minneapolis.

Thanks to my friend Kate O’Leary for sparking the whole concept with her Bunnybee obsession āœØ

Keep an eye out for these patterns and kits to come to Mochimochi Land officially later this summer, along with yet ANOTHER fun mystery-surprise!