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Mountain Making

Posted on by Anna

It’s time to get to work on a mountain for my installation! This will be a mountain that a model train can go through, so it needs to be big and sturdy.

After getting advice from people who know about models and soft sculpture, I decided to get some foam from Canal Rubber (“serving your rubber needs at the same location since 1954”). I feel so cool and awesome when I buy something at these kinds of specialty materials stores, and this time I got to go home with two big blocks of foam!

Soupy found them mildly interesting.

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Carving one of the blocks was pretty easy—I just worked away at it with a serrated knife—but messy! I started carving at around 11 pm last night, and by midnight I was all sweaty and covered in foam. (Well, that sounds more disgusting than it actually was.) But I think I made good progress, the idea being that if I can make a rough shape with a big enough hole in the middle, then I can always add more foam to build up the outer shape before giving it a knitted covering.

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Before I got the foam, I laid out the track the other day and tried to envision the layout as a whole. (It should be super crazy and colorful!) The pile of yarn on the right represents mountains.

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This mountain will probably be the biggest piece in the installation, so I’m eager to make it and see how it’s going to turn out.

Tiny Toaster

Posted on by Anna

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This passive-aggressive appliance holds the toast in just a few seconds too long when he’s in a bad mood.

This was probably the hardest tiny thing to design yet! I had tried and failed before a while back, but after seeing it mentioned in the comments several times recently I just had to give it another go.

The very first person to suggest that I make a Tiny Toaster in the comments was Danielle, way back in July of last year. That means a free pattern for Danielle!

Pocket Protectors on the Job

Posted on by Anna

I spotted this photo on Ravelry the other day, and it made me so happy!

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Guys and knitted toys are one of my favorite things, and I love that this set of Pocket Protectors are doing the job they were designed for.

And then I happened to meet the knitter at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio on Tuesday! Kendra told me about how her med school friend Adam saw the Pocket Protectors (from Knitting Mochimochi) and requested a set from her. And now they’re helping him with his third year rotations. Awesome!

I can’t get enough of seeing people’s photos of their Mochimochi toys, and to meet the knitters in person is even better.

Itty-bitty Elephant

Posted on by Anna

Remember my failed experiment with super-tiny knitting? This time I got it right!

Using lace-weight yarn (Shadow Tonal from Knit Picks) and size 000 (1.25 mm) needles….

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I ended up with an itty-bitty elephant! He’s about half an inch tall, which is about half as big as the original Tiny Elephant.

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Just look how HUGE Tiny Elephant looks now in this actual-size photo. (He is feeling just a tiny bit less special now.)

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Once I had the right material and tools, the itty-bitty knitting was actually a breeze! I could only find the #000 needles in 8-inch length (I got my set online from Angelika’s Yarn Store)—at first I thought they would be awkward to use, but the needles balanced nicely in my hands, and the extra length seemed helpful for keeping the micro-stitches from slipping off the ends.

The hardest part was picking up stitches for the ears and feet. This can be tricky even when working in a larger scale, so I knew I just had to be very patient and keep trying until I got it right. It probably took a little less than twice as long to knit the itty-bitty guy than it took to knit the original Tiny version.

Give it a try if you have a little time, patience, and decent eyesight (or just a willingness to do a lot of squinting)!

A Visit to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio

Posted on by Anna

I had such a great time yesterday at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio! The book signing was of course a lot of fun—I had a blast meeting knitters in person and seeing what they have to say about the sample toys from Knitting Mochimochi. Thank you to everyone who came out!

The staff at the store were all super welcoming. Before the signing, I was interviewed by Zontee for the Yarncraft podcast, which I think went well despite some nervousness on my part (I’ll let you know when it’s up), and then Patty, the Studio Director, gave me a tour of the store and told me all about how their amazing window displays come together. (It’s a big team effort!)

You may have already seen photos of the current Coney Island display that they have up this summer—it’s amazing to see in person.

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I hadn’t really noticed it on previous visits, but they also exhibit fiber art pieces on the back wall of the studio. I was really impressed by the studio’s commitment to creativity and experimentation with yarn.

Thank you to Patty, Zontee, and everyone at the Lion Brand Studio!

I’ll be returning to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio on August 29th to teach a Master Class, so if you are a toy knitting beginner or would like to see exactly how I do it (it also helps if you live in the NYC area), I hope you’ll sign up!

Tiny Collection 3 Patterns are Coming Soon!

Posted on by Anna

I was glad that yesterday’s little guessing game wasn’t over right as soon as it started, but it still didn’t take long for tess b to guess the four Tiny Things that will be in the next pattern collection. (Nice job, tess b!) Here they are, revealed!

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These four patterns are some of my personal favorites from all of the Tinys that I’ve designed over the past year, so I’m excited to get the patterns out there for everyone to use. I chose these four to go together because of their sheer randomness (I love nonsensical groupings!) and the way that they each incorporate very different designs and techniques.

The pattern collection will be available in the Mochimochi Shop very soon!

Guess the Next Tiny Collection

Posted on by Anna

Update: tess b won the little contest by guessing the four patterns correctly! (Check out the comments to see what they are.)

The next Tiny Things collection will be coming to the Mochimochi Shop very soon! Before the big announcement, I thought it would be fun to do a little guessing game about which four Tiny Things will be included in the pattern collection. I’ve listed some hints below, and the first person to guess all four Tinys correctly in the comments will get the pattern collection for free when it’s available!

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Some hints:

The first Tiny lives underground and kisses by rubbing noses together.

The second Tiny has been known to sometimes rain down from the sky when the weather is very strange.

The third Tiny has a history that dates back to Roman times, and it has a connection to Mardis Gras.

The fourth Tiny has had one famous resident, and it is also found on most computers.

What do you think they are? Try to guess all four in the comments!