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Announcing the 2020 Mochimochi Photo + Video Contest

Posted on by Anna

Update: More wonderful entries featured in our BONUS awards!

Update: Congratulations to the winners!

Update: The submission deadline has passed. THANK YOU FOR THE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS! A team of Special Guest Judges will be announced soon, and winners will be selected later in September.

Update: Another new prize to announce! Each winner will receive a copy of Bites of Terror, the hilarious, creepy-cute book by Cuddles and Rage, aka Liz and Jimmy Reed!

Update: We have a new prize to announce! Each winner will receive the ebook SpillyJane Knits Mittens from the always clever indie designer SpillyJane! 

The 2020 Mochimochi Photo + Video Contest is now officially open for entries!

This year’s theme: Escape into Mochimochi Land!
We want this summer’s photo contest to be a refreshing departure from the world, and there’s no better way to escape than through stories! Use your knitted friends from Mochimochi Land to tell a story through a series of photos or a video. (We’re using “story” very loosely here—it can just mean that something HAPPENS.) We’re looking for cuteness, humor, creativity, and escapism. Enter through your favorite social media platform (see below for details). Deadline is August 31st!

Winners will receive generous gift cards to some of our favorite small yarn stores (all capable of shipping internationally), plus “goodie bag” packages with lots of surprises.

Eligibility

This contest is open to knitters worldwide who are 18 years or older.* To be eligible, your photo series or video 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 one of the Mochimochi books by Anna, or one of the free patterns on the Mochimochi Blog. The pattern may be modified, but not beyond recognition from the original design. (The use of Photoshop is OK, and other toys/characters, including other knitted toys, are welcome to appear in your photos or video too!)

Categories

There are 3 categories to enter: Photo Series, Short Video, and Super Short Video.

PHOTO SERIES is a series of 3-10 photos. You could think of this as a short sequence showing unfolding action or emotion, or as a kind of “comic book” format for storytelling, with or without dialog.

SHORT VIDEO is a video that’s at least 20 seconds long, and up to 2 minutes long. It can be puppetry or stop-motion animation. Make a Mochimochi movie! Please avoid making this merely a slideshow of photos.

SUPER SHORT VIDEO is a video or animated GIF that under 20 seconds long. It can be puppetry or stop-motion animation, but no slideshows for super-short videos. Please avoid making this merely slideshow of photos.

Note that we’re looking for humor, cuteness, and originality—not necessarily the most professional-looking photos and videos. We want everyone to enter!

IMPORTANT: We may share/repost any photos or videos entered into the contest on social media, the Mochimochi Land newsletter, or on the Mochimochi Land website, but only with credit and only in relation to promoting the contest (no commercial use).

How to enter

PHOTO SERIES: There are four ways to enter a photo series. Please choose just one platform, and enter up to three series of 3-10 photos in each series.

1) Post your photos on Instagram with the hashtag #mochiphotocontest20. Post the photos together in one post if possible, or title and number each photo in the captions if posting separately.

2) Post your photos to the Mochimochi Land Facebook page with the hashtag #mochiphotocontest20. Post the photos together in one album.

3) Post your photos on Twitter with the hashtag #mochiphotocontest20. Post the photos in a thread in order (preferably numbered), or post separately with a title and number as a caption for each.

4) If you can’t or don’t wish to use social media to enter (understandable if your accounts are private), you can send your photos as an email attachment to info@mochimochiland.com with the subject PHOTO CONTEST ENTRY.

SHORT VIDEOS (20 seconds to 2 minutes long) and SUPER SHORT VIDEOS (under 20 seconds): Enter up to 3 videos in each category. Here’s how to enter a video.

1) Post your video to Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #mochiphotocontest20. (Make sure your post is PUBLIC.)

2) Post to GIPHY (if it’s a GIF) or a video site like YouTube or Vimeo. After posting your video, please email a link to the video to info@mochimochiland.com with the subject line VIDEO CONTEST ENTRY. Please do NOT send the video as an attachment.

Deadline

The last day to enter the contest is August 31st, 2020. We’ll announce the finalists shortly thereafter here on the blog.

Prizes!

We’ll pick one top winner in each of the three categories. Each winner will receive a $100 gift card to one of our favorite yarn stores: Gather Here in Cambridge, MA, Knitty City in NYC, or Yarnify in Chicago. The gift cards will be usable online, of course!

Like many local yarn stores right now, these three are working to help their communities while also working hard just to stay in business—and these three are very special to me personally.


Photo credit: David Trudell
Each winner will receive the ebook SpillyJane Knits Mittens from the always clever indie designer SpillyJane! 


Each winner will also receive a copy of Bites of Terror, the hilarious, creepy-cute book by Cuddles and Rage, aka Liz and Jimmy Reed!

Needles ready? Cameras set? Take us away to Mochimochi Land!

* “Family” entries involving creative kids are welcome!

Some Not-Crappy News

Posted on by Anna

January 2023 Update: Thank you for helping us raise $500 for Chicago Food banks in 2022 and $264 in 2023!

January 2022 Update: The bluebirds raised $400 in the second half of 2021! $200 went to the Irving Park Food Pantry (which I just learned had to close temporarily this week due to a fireworks-related fire), and $200 to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Thank you, knitters! The bluebird donations and updates will continue on an annual basis from here out. (Stay tuned for other short-term fundraisers that pop up in the meantime!)

6/4/21 Update: $55 given to Care for Real for April and May sales. Thanks, everybody!

4/2/21 Update: $100 raised through Bluebirds of Crappiness last month! I just sent the funds to The Love Fridge.

3/1/21 Update: Thanks to your Luvbots and Bluebirds of Crappiness pattern purchases, we raised $306 for the Greater Chicago Food Depository in February. Luv it!

1/3/21 Update: Good news: Thanks to your Generosi-trees and Bluebirds of Crappiness pattern purchases, we raised $1,360 for Chicago food support in December!

12/1/20 Update: In October we raised $840 thanks to your purchases of the Boo the Bat pattern, and November’s total was $309, which helped supplement some Tiny Thanksgivings. Thank you! Stay tuned for December’s fundraising pattern!

9/2/20 Update: August’s funds ($150) are going to Co-Prosperity Sphere’s Bridgeport Community Kitchen. Thank you!

7/31/20 Update: $1,660 raised for Chicago food pantries to date!
The portion you helped raise in July (just over $200) went to MASK (Mothers Against Senseless Killing) for their August baby supplies pantry drive. Thank you!

🐦 First, thanks to your Bluebirds of Crappiness pattern purchases, we raised another $430 for Chicago food pantries in June. That makes a total of $1,455 raised in two months! I’m dividing this month’s proceeds between Care for Real and I Grow Chicago. ⁣⁣
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🐦 And second, now people who don’t knit can purchase a Bluebird of Crappiness made by me! Each bluebird will have its own unique colors and hairdo. Half of the proceeds from sales of these knitted bluebirds will go to Chicago pantries.
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Thank you for helping us support our Chicago community!

What the World Needs Now*

Posted on by Anna

This year, for World Wide Knit in Public Day, I’m revisiting an old classic.❤️ One of the very first knitted things that I designed (way back in 2007!) was a simple heart. I’ve just updated the pattern with new circular knitting instructions to accompany the original flat instructions. This new version of quick little Hearts is now available as a free download! 

These little hearts really are quick to make (especially the circular version)—I made this garland in under 3 hours! (I can’t compete with my kids’ paintings for eye-catching-ness, but still I’m happy to contribute to our colorful street window.)

Credit goes to Stacey at Knit Picks for prompting me to revisit this pattern! And thanks to Marilyn for tech editing, and Amanda, Dorien, Deb, Lalie, Linda, and Bonney for testing the new version!

Happy World Wide Knit in Public Day! Please wear a mask, give yourself space, and be safe. ❤️
  
* People working toward a more equitable, less police-centric, anti-racist, anti-transphobic society. And a vaccine, would be very nice! Also: love.

You’ve raised $1025 with Bluebirds of Crappiness

Posted on by Anna

These Bluebirds of Crappiness are showing extra plumage because, thanks to your pattern purchases, we raised $1025 in May for Chicago food pantries!

I made an initial donation of $825 to the Greater Chicago Food Depository after the first week of sales, then followed up with $200 more at the end of the month. The ongoing anti-racism protests have motivated me to match that second chunk with a donation to My Block, My Hood, My City‘s Business Relief Fund, which is helping Black-owned businesses that have suffered damage in the recent looting in our city (largely done by out-of-state people unrelated to peaceful protests).⁣
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All proceeds from pattern sales of Bluebirds of Crappiness are still going to Chicago-area food pantries. You can find the pattern in the Mochimochi Shop or on Ravelry.
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I’m also thinking about selling some hand-knitted bluebirds for those who don’t knit… I’ll post about it here if I decide to do that. For now, I still have a big list of people in my life to knit them for as the crappiness continues!