Thank you for a wonderful book release last week! I’ve been eagerly checking Ravelry and Facebook and Twitter to see the new Adventure mochis that you’re posting online. (Please also share them in the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group!)

Today I have some projects to share made by Joan Foster, a good friend of Mochimochi Land who’s been doing very creative things with my patterns over the years. (She’s really motivated me to up my game when it comes to dioramas and the like.) While I’m a firm believer of toys existing for their own sake—or rather, existing to be played with, or to be admired for their cuteness, or to be assembled into fantastical scenes—I know that more practical-minded people out there want toys that do practical things, or at least functional and specific things. And I totally get that!

With this functional angle in mind, I asked Joan to create some non-narrative projects using the creatures from Adventures in Mochimochi Land, and she came up with three really fun ideas.

Idea #1: Assemble a chess set!

Most tiny mochis can make for fun game pieces, and you can really get creative in choosing the roles that they will play in a game of chess, along with color coordinating them all for teams. This set is composed of the magically delicious characters found in Sweet City: mallow bunnies are the pawns (they’re so easily gobbled up, after all); mini microwaves make good bishops (zapping right through those diagonal squares); Biscuit is the queen for her heroic role in “The Hungry Donut”; and ferocious gum-gum bears are the kings. (Or maybe it’s the other way around for the kings and queens?)

For pieces that aren’t so capable of standing up on their own, you can stitch them to buttons to use as stable bases.

Idea #2: Make a mobile!

There’s something about a handmade mobile that’s just irresistibly adorable, and the projects in each of the stories in Adventures give you automatic themes to choose from. Of course, the skyward setting of “The Lighthearted Lovers” is perfect for this project.

Wrap a floral wreath with yarn for a hanging structure, center the action around a carnival tent, then have fun adding balloons and clouds and rainbow birds. (Joan knitted the blimp from the story in fingering-weight yarn instead of worsted to make it a perfect size for a tiny elephant perch.)

Idea #3: Party decorations and favors!

An “under the sea” birthday has certainly been done before, but adding hand-knit sea creatures to the festivities might make the occasion a bit more memorable. I think most kids (or adults) wouldn’t turn down a mini dolphin, crab, or puffer fish as a party favor, and the treasure chest and the joyful oyster, two more projects from “The Underwater Election,” can even hold goodies to give out.

Huge thanks to Joan for coming up with the concepts and executing these adorable ideas!