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The First-Ever Mochimochi Class!

Posted on by Anna

Yesterday was the first-ever Mochimochi class, held at Loops in Tulsa!

I was a little nervous at first—I’m so used to conveying knitting techniques through typing and photos, and not through speaking and demonstrating—but the Loops staff put me totally at ease, and the class attendees were wonderful!

Everybody got started on their own Looper using double-pointed needles and some simple toy-making techniques.

loopsclass1

loopsclass2

Thank you to everyone to who was there for the class. I’ll be back at Loops tomorrow for another one—I can’t wait!

A New Knitting Bag

Posted on by Anna

Hello from Owasso, Oklahoma! It smells like grass here.

Today my lofty goal was to finally make it to Dwelling Spaces, the newish hipster design store in downtown Tulsa that I’ve been hearing so much about on my past couple of trips here. I had been meaning to visit for some time now, and I’m glad I did! It was even better than I had imagined, nicely stocked with locally made goods, designer toys, kitchen-y things, etc.

I bought up an armful of goodies for New York friends, and a couple things for myself, including this lovely tote by felix & jayne, locally made by Cristi Jayne Martin:

felixjayne

I’m what I call a “loosely organized” knitter, which means that I threw a couple balls of yarn in my suitcase for my trip here. So I’m excited to have a shiny newly-made-from-vintage-fabrics bag to carry around. I love the detailed stitching of it too:

felixjayne_detail

felix & jayne goods appear to be only available in Oklahoma at this time, but Cristi has an Etsy shop set up, so perhaps people outside of the area will be able to nab her handmade bags and other nice things sometime soon. I just emailed her to find out if she has plans for it.

At this time, Dwelling Spaces has an online shop set up with a small selection of “Tulsa”-branded goods. Also hoping they add to it soon!

Delightful Faerie Water from Taco Bell

Posted on by Anna

Oh what a magical place those KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut combo restaurants are. Yesterday I stopped in one in Massachusetts (it was the middle of a long drive), and along with my delicious seven-layer burritos, I was served water with the most charming pink hue.

pinkwater

It came from an ordinary soda machine, one of the kinds that doesn’t have a designated “water” tap, but instead has a tiny “water” button that shares a nozzle with fruit punch. The the punch dye must have seeped in just enough to tint the water, resulting in the glorious beverage you see above.

The water tasted basically normal, until I had been out of the restaurant for an hour or so, when its greasy KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut aftertaste seemed to become more pronounced.

New Pattern and Classes at Loops This Week!

Posted on by Anna

I’m thrilled to announce that the pattern for Looper is now available at Loops!

looper_yellow

Looper is a new Mochimochi Land pattern created especially for Loops yarn store in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where it will be exclusively available through the end of 2008. Looper is a cuddly creature with a prehensile tail, perfect for looping around doorknobs, bedposts, and you!

looper_blue

In addition to the Looper pattern, Loops is also now carrying a variety of other printed Mochimochi Land patterns in its online shop. So for those of you who prefer paper and ink over printing out a pdf, now you can order online.

Also, if you’re in the Tulsa area this week, I’m teaching the Looper pattern as a class on Thursday (6/19) and Saturday (6/21), with a “pattern signing” (ha) open to the public on Saturday at 3 pm at Loops. (Check out the Loops class schedule for class information.) I hope to see you Tulsans there. Bring your Mochimochi Land toys!

My Newer Favorite Tee

Posted on by Anna

My newer favorite tee has a lot in common with my older new favorite tee: they both came from a Graniph spree in Japan, they are both pink (not my favorite color), and they both depict cute animals who could fry you with their bionic eyes.

graniphbear

I’ve also already managed to stain this one, like I did the older one, with some ramen broth or something. Sad!

The Electric Company

Posted on by Anna

Did you hear that Seseame Workshop is producing new episodes of The Electric Company?

I don’t have any specific memories of the show, which was in reruns on PBS by the time I was around to see it, but it must have made an impression on me, because everything I imagine about childhood in the ’70s seems to be based on the show: cheery diversity, music that was both educational and smart, and swirling animations in yellows and reds.

Here’s a delightful clip with Morgan Freeman that I could watch over and over again. I love its totally analog quality.

The new episodes are supposed to begin airing this fall.