Winning caption by Mahria:
Mochi Man! He’s faster than a 10 rushed holiday projects! More powerful than an angry knitter’s frogging furor! Able to steek 3 sweaters in a single attempt!
Tiny Superhero to the rescue! Distressed citizens want to know: what is this little guy’s superpower? Leave your caption suggestion in the comments, and the cutest/funniest one will win a free PDF pattern from the Mochimochi Shop on Monday!
I just got back from an amazing trip to Seattle on Monday! My primary reason for the trip was Urban Craft Uprising, the big craft show last weekend where I had my first-ever craft show experience as a vendor. The show—and the whole trip, really—way exceeded my expectations. I was lucky enough to have my mother-in-law Bonney and my sister-in-law Jenna along with me, so we made a mini-vacation out of it that turned out to be a crafter’s dream weekend.
Among other things, we paid a visit to Schmancy, the vinyl and plush toy store in downtown Seattle, where Plush You! is held every year.
Kristen Rask is the owner (and one of the organizers behind Urban Craft Uprising)—she really has a gift for finding talented artists and bringing them together in successful ways. A true curator!
I’ve blogged about Schmancy before, but this was my fist time to visit in person. My wallet was definitely lighter by the time I left the store.
Next we were invited for a special visit to Cascade Yarns by Shannon, the lovely lady who provided yarn for my book and my installation this year.
It was pretty unreal to see the place where all of the gorgeous yarns come from. Since their products are so popular, I was expecting a big company, but in actuality they have fewer than 20 employees, and we even got to have lunch with the wife of the founder of Cascade.
Everyone there was so nice, and many of them had made Mochimochi toys! Tammy had a pair of Bed Bugs right on her desk.
Shannon was kind enough to take us on a tour of the warehouse, where each color of every yarn they make is on glorious display.
I probably said “Oooh! Look at that color!” about 50 times as we went through each aisle. Even Bonney, of the world’s biggest stash, was in awe.
We might have even gotten to take a few samples home with us…
And finally, Urban Craft Uprising was an incredible experience! The many talented vendors, the nearly 10,000 visitors, the awesome playlist that Moxie (president of UCU) put together to make the whole place happy… And here’s what my little table looked like!
My sister-in-law (who was a huge help at the event, along with my MIL) took some way better pictures that I’ll post soon.
I was a bit nervous to get out there in front of the general public with my silly knitted stuff, but everyone was so nice and enthusiastic!
I left out a ton of stuff that we did in Seattle, but this blog post would take me all day if I included everything. I love Seattle and I can’t wait to go back!!
Oh my gosh! Luv-able + Hug-able opens this Thursday! There are soo many delightful plushes in this year’s show, and the setup is well underway at gallery hanahou. Gabriel let me take a couple pics of him hard at work with my cell phone:
(Can you spot my little wearable guys on the table?)
And guess what? A special pre-sale just started for VIPs like you, my blog readers! That means you get to see all the plushes before anyone else and even buy them before the general public. Download the PDF catalog to see it all. (The ordering info is on the last page of the PDF.)
There are many to choose from, but are a few of my favorites in this year’s show…
“Funnel Cake Wearing his Tattoo” by ChrisCreatures:
“Little Audrey” by Evangelione:
And “Octowreath” by Hine Mizushima:
If you’re in NYC, please join us this Thursday evening 7-9 pm at gallery hanahou for the opening!
Thank you to everyone who voted in the final round of the Mochimochi Photo Contest! Way more than ONE THOUSAND of you cast your votes on the ten adorable and imaginative photos of Mochimochi toys. It was a ridiculously tight race for 2nd and 3rd place, with a pretty clear 1st place winner.
But first, it’s judges’ choice! This photo didn’t make it into the top three, but John and I want to honor it just the same for its very clever use of Mochimochi toys. It’s An Evening with Harold & Betty by onna stick!
(You’ve gotta love that zombie making off with a skein of yarn!)
And now for third place: Nuclear Bed Bugs by DutchMoeder!
Yaay! You get a $10 gift certificate to Knit Picks and a $10 gift certificate to the Mochimochi Shop!
Second place goes to Rain Dance by cupcakefields!
Woohoo! You get a $10 gift certificate to Knit Picks, a $15 gift certificate to the Mochimochi Shop, and these fabulous prizes from Japan!
And finally, first place goes to…
Chaos of Snowmen by flightsofyarn!
Congratulations!!! As the first place winner, you get a $50 gift certificate to Knit Picks, a $25 gift card to the Mochimochi Shop, AND this big heap of goodies straight from Japan!
Thank you so much again to everyone who submitted photos in this year’s contest and everyone who took part in the voting. And a big thank-you to Knit Picks, who has generously supplied prizes for the second year in a row!
The photo contest is one of our favorite things that we do all year in Mochimochi Land, and we plan to carry on the tradition with our 5th annual contest in 2011! All photos uploaded to the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group until then are automatically entered in next years’ contest, so it’s never too early to get knitting and clicking!
This is what happens when I leave my husband and cats at home alone for a few days!
Don’t forget—Sunday is the last day to vote in the Mochimochi Photo Contest finals!
When he’s feeling sad and lonely, Tiny Sandwich likes to hold the mayo.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to vote in the Mochimochi Photo Contest finals! The polls will close at midnight on Sunday.
This is a big month for Mochimochi “Real World” edition—on December 12th (Sunday) I’ll be bringing Mochimochi Land to the BUST Craftacular in NYC!
It’s being held at New York City’s Metropolitan Pavilion (125 West 18th Street, NYC) on December 12, 2010 from 10:00am – 8:00pm. Entrance is $2 at the door.
As you know if you’ve spent much time on my website, most of what I do involves designing a sample and then concentrating on taking photos and creating PDFs, but for this event, I’ve been getting really hands-on with small batches of knited tiny creatures that I’ll be selling in person. Because contrary to my hopes for the world, most people do not knit, but some still might like to have a Tiny Bee of their own. I’ve also been putting together some tiny knit kits, and I’m excited to see knitters’ reactions to them.
So if you’re in New York this weekend, please come find me and say hi! (I’ll be sharing a booth with Toasty Time!)
Update: The voting is now closed, and we’ll announce the winners very soon. Thank you for your votes!
The polls are now open for the final round in the 2010 Mochimochi Photo Contest! Using your 500+ comments on the semifinalist photos as a guide, we’ve narrowed the field of 20 semifinalists down to the final 10.
As always, you can vote for as many photos as you want: vote for your favorite three, top four, or more if you like! But choose wisely, because you only get to cast your ballot one time. (John will be watching the voting activity and keeping an eye out for ballot-box stuffing to make sure the final tally is fair.)
Simply check the box next to each photo you’d like to vote for. Then click the “Submit Your Votes!” button at the bottom of this post. Voting will be open through midnight on December 5th, then we’ll announce the winners on December 6th!
Update: Voting is now closed. The winners will be announced tomorrow (Monday). Thanks for all of your votes!
Nuclear Bed Bugs by DutchMoeder
Springing for an Upgrade by mariannes_stuff
An Evening with Harold & Betty by onna stick
Tums + Tubby by anilrac
Earl the Squirrel and Wally by cori.buchholz
Chaos of Snowmen by flightsofyarn
Rain Dance by cupcakefields
Bat in Flight by Eskimimi
Dust Bunnies Run Away! by kyoti
O’Feathers Meets With the Enemy by Deadly Knitshade
