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Mochimochimochimochimochi

Posted on by Anna

After nine months of knitting, my big colorful installation is up at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio!

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A lot of crazy went into this piece, and so I decided the title had to reflect that spirit. It’s Mochimochimochimochimochi. (Try saying it three times fast?)

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My final count of the colorful little guys was 372, but they’re hard to count now—they’re stitched so tightly together that some of the smaller ones can’t even be seen from the front anymore.

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If you’ve been following this project, you might remember that my original idea was just to knit as many mochis as I could, and then put them all together into one big mass of mochis. As my deadline approached, though, I started feeling less enthusiastic about a purely abstract piece, and I decided to add a couple of larger characters.

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These bigger guys give the finished piece some context, turning the crowd of mochis into a ball pit that they just jumped into.

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I am thrilled to have this up at such a great space, and I have the wonderful people at Lion Brand (especially Patty, Marni, and Edita) to thank for making this happen. Also, a big thank-you Koigu, who provided much of the bright, colorful yarn in the piece.

Mochimochimochimochimochi is on exhibit at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC through the end of October. I hope you will stop by to see it if you’re in the Union Square area!

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I’ll also be doing a book signing at the Lion Brand Studio on September 8th. More info about that soon!

Even Tiny Traffic Cones can be Vain

Posted on by Anna

Being a traffic cone must be tough, and the life of a Tiny Traffic Cone would have to be even harder! Despite all the abuse he gets in his work zone world, however, Tiny Traffic Cone is still concerned with keeping up appearances.

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Does this stripe make me look fat??

That cute caption was submitted by Emi! For her caption, Emi wins a free pattern for Stackable Cats. Yay!

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Thank you all for your many great captions!

Tiny Traffic Cone

Posted on by Anna

Winning caption by Emi:
Does this stripe make me look fat??

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This little guy has a very dangerous job! He’s often taken for granted, but I thought you readers could give him a little support by offering up some cute captions for him. Leave your caption in the comments to this post, and we’ll choose our favorite on Monday!

The winner will get a PDF pattern for something else very orange… Stackable Cats!

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Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi Preview: Tiny Computer

Posted on by Anna

I’m so excited to finally share some previews of my new book, Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi, which is coming out August 16th!

The first project I want to feature is one of my favorite inanimate tiny mochis, Tiny Computer.

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He and his mouse haven’t spoken to each other since 1998, when the mouse mentioned something about a system upgrade.

Tiny Computer is one of the more complex projects in the book, but that’s actually not saying much when everything is about an inch tall—Tinys are all about simplicity. It’s knitted in three pieces, monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and then stitched together. Seaming takes only about a minute, of course! I think most knitters could probably finish the project in under three hours, with fast knitters coming in at under an hour.

I snapped this picture of my photographer Brandi Simons at work during our Tiny Computer shoot. It was fun coming up with simple props to show the scale of the tiny knits, and Brandi just happened to have the perfect mouse to go with our slightly outdated-looking PC.

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I think Tiny Computer would make an excellent desk trinket or ornament for your favorite computer geek!

You can pre-order Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Then on August 16th, you’ll be able to find it in many local yarn stores, and signed copies will be available in the Mochimochi Shop.

Stay tuned for more previews!

Flush with Flushies

Posted on by Anna

As you might be able to tell from looking at him, Flushie is a pattern for daring knitters who are not afraid of multiple pieces!

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I was fortunate enough to have three such knitters help test knit Flushie—their input was invaluable for such a complex project. And they all sent me such adorable photos of their finished Flushies!

Beforesunrise’s Half-Flush settled right in with Grouchy Couch.

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I bet their conversations always end up in an argument over which is the best room, the living room or the bathroom? (You can find the pattern for Grouchy in Knitting Mochimochi.)

Gidgettm’s friendly Flushie just wants to do what he can to help.

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Although I’m not quite sure if he’s up for this daunting task!

Dorien’s Flushie is being put to good use by someone who makes an appearance in Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi!

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(You know, I just noticed all the green mats in these photos. Funny coincidence, I guess!)

Big thank-yous to these brave testers! Many of my testers are coming through these days with a heap of top-secret projects, and I am so grateful to them all!

Tiny Princess Waits for No Man

Posted on by Anna

So here we have our Tiny Princess, waiting for her tiny prince to come…. Or maybe we heard that wrong?

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Tiny Princess is keeping herself busy taking photos with her new camera while she’s waiting for her tiny prints to develop.

And we thought she had been pining for some guy! As Jan points out, Tiny Princess is just waiting for her prints to come. This is the 21st Century, after all, people! (Looks like our Tiny Princess thinks she’s a real Cindy Sherman with her self portrait.)

For enlightening us all, Jan wins a free pattern for Flushie. Yay Jan!

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Thank you to everyone who participated in the caption contest!

Tiny Princess

Posted on by Anna

Winning caption by Jan:
Tiny Princess is keeping herself busy taking photos with her new camera while she’s waiting for her tiny prints to develop.

To add to the category of miniature people with cone-shaped hats (see Tiny Gnome and Tiny Wizard)…

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… it’s Tiny Princess!

As Tiny Princesses do, this one is waiting for her Tiny Prince to come. But she has to keep occupied in the meantime, right?

Tell us what Tiny Princess is up to in her spare time in the captions, and we’ll pick a favorite on Monday! The winner this time will get the PDF pattern for Flushie, the friendliest knitted throne!

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Knit Yourself a Toilet!

Posted on by Anna

It is my great honor to announce the release of the pattern for Flushie the Toilet!

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Flushie wants to be your new intimate friend. This intermediate pattern makes an interactive toy—Flushie’s lid can open and close for hours of potty talk! Perfect for toilet trainees and immature adults of all ages.

A pattern for Professor Plunger is included; additional accessories are limited only by your imagination!

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The pattern for Flushie is available as a PDF download for $7 in the Mochimochi Shop!

** Bathroom Bonus **

Every Flushie purchase through August 7th comes with a FREE pattern for Tubby the Bathtub!

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(A link to download the Tubby pattern will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your Flushie pattern purchase.)