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“Hang in there” cat workshop in Ann Arbor August 12th!

Posted on by Anna

We’re hanging’ in there in this hazy midwestern air this week 😶‍🌫️

On a less miserable note, I’ve got a pattern update and an upcoming “hang in there” workshop to share!

I’m planning to make kits for this persistent little guy in different cat colors. More on that soon!

And if you’re in the Ann Arbor area, I’ll be doing a workshop around this project later this summer! Please join me for a “hang in there” cat knitting event at the Ann Arbor District Library on August 12th! I’ve done quite a few workshops at this wonderful library over the years, and I’m thrilled for my post-covid return.

Plus! If you’re in the area and happen to be into classic Simpsons and/or pop culture trivia, you can join my husband, John, for a fun evening of trivia later in the day on August 12th.

One more thing—If you find yourself walking around Ann Arbor this summer, you might happen upon one of my Huge & Huggable friends, which are hanging out at various establishments around town as part of the library’s summer game. Say hi to Omelet if you run into him!

The Wooly Woods was a while ago!

Posted on by Anna

The Wooly Woods happened TEN YEARS AGO this spring!

This was a project that started when Superstorm Sandy came through Brooklyn, where I was living at the time, and among its milder effects were lots and lots of downed trees and branches in nearby Prospect Park. I saw a lot of beauty in the scattered wood, and started taking pieces home to use as little landscapes for my creatures to play in.

It was a meditative pleasure covering the twigs with colorful stripes of yarn, and I loved finding nearly endless ways to use the happy twists and bends in the wood as places for perching, nesting, and play.

The pieces were displayed at smallspace gallery in Berlin, where the show was part of the character walk accompanying the Pictoplasma festival. (The gallery is no more, but Pictoplasma is still going strong!)

I still love this concept, and I’ve come back to it a couple times over the years. (I also still have several pieces hanging in my house.) And I still feel like there’s lots more to with wool and woods! How fun would it be to fill a space with more branches and creatures hanging every which way around you? There could also be adorable stumps with little scenes happening on them 😀

The only tricky thing is shipping, but after this show I felt like if I could figure out how to ship delicate twigs from NYC to Berlin, I can ship anything 😤

Thank you to Jenna Teti for many of these images! More after the jump.

Continue reading “The Wooly Woods was a while ago!” →

New Fumin’ Womb kits

Posted on by Anna

Update: You’ve helped us raise $980 for abortion funds so far—thank you! The money has gone to Chicago Abortion Fund and Roe Fund in Oklahoma. We’ll continue to send all proceeds from sales of the kit to these and other abortion funds.

We’ve got new Fumin’ Womb kits featuring Hand Dyed Diva yarn!

Show your unflagging support for reproductive rights by knitting a tiny angry uterus 😡

❤️ Half of the proceeds from sales go to abortion funds ❤️

The pattern was originally published (and still available for free!) in the Fall 2022 issue of Knitty. The HDD Homegrown Sock is the recommended yarn in the Knitty pattern—I love the bright, organic verve of this hand-dyed Pink Petunia!

We debuted these kits at YarnCon, where they sold out quickly! We sent half the proceeds to the Chicago Abortion Fund—along with proceeds from our Fumin’ Womb sticker, we raised $210 that weekend.

We’ve got a limited supply for now—get yours in the Mochimochi Shop!

via GIPHY

Join me for a virtual Fiberside Chat!

Posted on by Anna

As you can see, I’m elated to have been invited by Longmont Yarn Shop to be a part of their virtual Fiberside Chat series later this month!

I’ll be chatting about how Mochimochi Land came to be, why it’s good for even the most serious knitters to knit toys, and how you can create any little person or creature you want with some toy knitting basics. I’ll also demonstrate my top tiny toy knitting techniques and will even get into some animation tips. Plus, your questions!

You can register for this event via the Longmont Yarn Shop website. See you on April 30th!

YarnCon recap

Posted on by Anna

I just had a fabulous weekend at YarnCon!

I love this event—the friendliest people turn out, and it’s full of the DIY spirit thanks to all the lovely indie yarn dyers. And I did buy a whole lot of yarn… like, the most yarn I’ve ever bought at one time 😬

It was a blast putting together Mochimochi Land for the first time in 3+ years.🌳

Thank you to YarnCon, to my booth babe (and so much more) Kristine Brandel, and to everyone who came out 🥰

More photos after the jump!

Continue reading “YarnCon recap” →

Craft Industry Alliance Podcast interview

Posted on by Anna

I recently had the honor of being interviewed on the Craft Industry Alliance podcast!

The podcast is hosted by Abby Glassenberg, co-founder and president of CIA. So Abby is a pretty big deal in the crafts industry, but I’ll always know her as a plush maker—back when I was working at gallery hanahou in NYC, Abby was one of the artists we invited to take part in our plush toy show! As I talk about on the podcast, that show was one of the big influences on my journey of knitting toys, and it shaped my thinking about plush toys as objects of art and design, and not just kids’ playthings. (Although toys made for kids are awesome too, of course!)

As I expected, Abby was really easy to talk to, so I hope that makes for an enjoyable listen. Thank you Abby and Craft Industry Alliance for having me on!

It’s Lambie season!

Posted on by Anna

The newest pattern in Mochimochi Land is instant Easter kitsch: a teeny-weeny lamb cake!

Inspired by all the weird lamb-shaped cakes I’ve eaten and baked in springtimes past…


…Lambie is a quicker-than-it-looks project that requires very little purling (you turn the piece inside out right before finishing) and no seaming to speak of (a 3-needle bind-off takes care of that straight back).

👉 The pattern is now available as a PDF download here on my website and on Ravelry.

Use any basic yarn along with a small helping of eyelash yarn for the coconut grass. Samples are knit in Knit Picks Palette and Red Heart Scrubby, using double-pointed needles in sizes 1 (2.25mm) and 5 (3.75mm).

Lambie is small enough to fit inside an Easter egg, traditional enough to be a bitty centerpiece at your holiday table, and cute enough to embellish your Easter hat! I’m hoping to see a bunch of adorable Lambie photos on the internet soon (especially if you put it on a hat!)

My thanks to Marilyn Passmore for her tech editing, and to Bonney Teti and Kristine Brandel for their quick-turnaround testing!

If you’ve ever attempted to bake one of these in its full-size glory, you know that even when things go well, there’s always something a bit wonky about them. (Mine usually ends up with a chopstick jabbed into his head for extra support.) That’s what I love about lamb cakes and knitting toys in general—each is unique and lovable in its own weird way.

I hope you love this project as much as I do!