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Announcing the 2011 Mochimochi Photo Contest!

Posted on by Anna

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Needles ready? Camera set? It’s now officially time to enter the 5th annual Mochimochi Photo Contest! Woohoo!

Once again, we’re looking for the cutest, funniest, most interesting photos of Mochimochi Land toys. All you have to do to enter is upload your photo(s) to the Mochimochi Friends group on Flickr by Monday, November 21st.

Winners will receive cute goodies from Japan and gift certificates from our generous sponsors Knit Picks and Schmancy!

Eligibility

To be eligible, your photo must contain at least one knitted toy made from a Mochimochi Land pattern. This can be a pattern from the Mochimochi Shop, a pattern from Knitting Mochimochi or Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi, or one of the free patterns on the Mochimochi Blog. The pattern may be modified, but not beyond recognition from the original design.

How to enter

Simply upload your photo(s) to the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group. If you don’t have a Flickr account, it is free and easy to register (though we recommend signing up as soon as possible, because it takes a little time for your account to be approved for sharing photos in a group). You can upload as many photos as you want, within reason.

(All photos uploaded since the deadline of the 2010 photo contest last year are already entered in this year’s contest!)

Deadline

The last day to enter the contest is November 21st, 2011. We’ll announce the semi-finalists shortly thereafter here on the blog, then everyone will be able to vote for their favorites! So be sure to check the blog in November.

Prizes!

First place prize will be a bunch of cute goodies from Japan, a $25 gift certificate to the Mochimochi Shop, a $50 gift certificate to Knit Picks (thank you Knit Picks!), and a $25 gift certificate to Schmancy (thank you Schmancy!).

Second place prize will be a handful of cute goodies from Japan, a $15 gift certificate to Mochimochi Land, and a $10 gift certificate to Knit Picks.

Third place prize will be a $10 gift certificate to Mochimochi Land and a $10 gift certificate to Knit Picks.

So get those needles clicking and those cameras snapping!

Gnomes Gnomes Gnomes

Posted on by Anna

Before they get assigned roles in the epic battle, let’s enjoy this pile of 100 or so gnomes, shall we?

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And here’s the official show info!
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In association with this year’s Pictoplasma NYC festival, gallery hanahou is excited to bring you the second installment of Anna Hrachovec’s miniature knit world, Mochimochi Land. The battle begins November 3rd, as a part of the Pictoplasma Character Walk!

Show dates: November 3rd – 18th
Opening reception: Thursday, November 3rd, 6-8pm
RSVP: info@galleryhanahou.com
(Please note: You do not need a Pictoplasma pass & there is no admission fee to view this exhibit)

gallery hanahou will soon be overtaken by the tiny gnomes, snowmen, and the fuzzy bunnies that inhabit Mochimochi Land! Fiber artist Anna Hrachovec will create a miniature epic battle scene rife with cuteness and chaos as sworn enemies, Gnomes and Snowmen, fight it out for control over carrot supplies and herds of cuddly bunnies, with as much pathos and violence as knitted toys can summon.

Inspired by the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Norman conquest of England, the installation is a study of iconic characters and their physical limits within the technical constraints of knitting. The three dimensional, linear scene plays out along the walls of gallery hanahou in a series of 40+ panels.

Melting snowmen, flattened gnomes, candy cane fights, and a super-secret third invader are just some of the fun that awaits…

We hope you can experience the chaos that will ensue at the opening on November 3rd!

This show presented in partnership with:

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Tiny Baked Potato’s Least Favorite Holiday?

Posted on by Anna

Listen up! Tiny Baked Potato has a message for the month of October:

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Dear Ghosts, Goblins, and all related paranormal beings,
This Halloween, could we please avoid doing the Monster Mash?
Sincerely, Potato.

That cute caption was contributed by InStitches! For being our favorite this week, you win the pattern for Boo the Bat!

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We have a big announcement coming up tomorrow—be sure to check back for it!

Tiny Baked Potato

Posted on by Anna

Winning caption by InStitches:

Dear Ghosts, Goblins, and all related paranormal beings,

This Halloween, could we please avoid doing the Monster Mash?

Sincerely, Potato.

I can’t believe there are still more projects from Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi that I haven’t yet featured here on the blog! Tiny Baked Potato is one of them.

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Potatoes are so much fun! Now I’ve made Tiny Old Potato, Tiny French Fries, Tiny Tater Tot, and Tiny Baked Potato. I suppose I could keep going with the potato-based foods if I wanted to.

I wonder if Tiny Baked Potato ever wishes he had been cooked differently… Time for a Tiny Baked Potato caption contest!

Leave your caption in the comments, and we’ll choose our favorite on Monday. Since Halloween is coming up soon, the winner will get the PDF pattern for Boo the Bat!

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Hope to see some of you at Rhinebeck tomorrow! You’ll be able to find me in the author area of Building B in the afternoon.

Gnomes and Snowmen vs Me

Posted on by Anna

My Gnomes vs. Snowmen show is just about three weeks away now, and I’m in full adrenaline mode trying to stay on top of the work I need to do for it. Here’s a look at my primary work station over the past week:

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The contraption in the foreground is my newest love, a knitting machine! I finally took the plunge and got the Silver Reed LK 150 model that’s available from the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. It has pretty much transformed how I think about knitting, at least knitting that I have to get done really fast.

I’m going to have to blog about it in more detail later, because I need to get back to knitting right now!

Oh, I’ve received a few requests for the Tiny Pumpkin pattern. I wish it was something that I could publish before Halloween, but I have to be realistic about what I can take on this month. (I already have a big list of projects to work on once I finish the show.) But I promise that you haven’t seen the last of Tiny Pumpkin! In the meantime, don’t forget that I put a free pattern for candy corn on the blog last year. They’re zero calories!

Tiny Pumpkin Says Put the Knife Down

Posted on by Anna

Tiny Pumpkin may look helpless, but he’s actually an organizer of tiny pumpkins everywhere, as caption contest winner Amanda tells us!

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Tiny Pumpkin, President and CEO of 2 Cute 2 Carve, a non-profit, knitted, incorporation.

(Pictured with Tiny Pumpkin are his Director of Pumpkin Resources and his Vice President of curly vines.)

For her cute caption, Amanda wins the pattern for Gobbledyghost!

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Thank you to everyone who contributed their captions!

Tiny Pumpkin

Posted on by Anna

Winning caption by Amanda:
Tiny Pumpkin, President and CEO of 2 Cute 2 Carve, a non-profit, knitted, incorporation.

I don’t know about you, but I’m really excited for fall! So is this guy:

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Tiny Pumpkin is inspired by the season, of course, but also by this predecessor that I got last year from a very sweet knitter who worked in a giant jack-o-lantern.

Time for a Tiny Pumpkin caption contest! Leave your captions in the comments (one per person), and we’ll choose our favorite on Tuesday. The winner will get the PDF pattern for Gobbledyghost!

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