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New Mochimochi Classes at VK LIVE Chicago

Posted on June 18, 2014August 20, 2014 by Anna

Update: The “Knit a Tiny Snowman Scene” class has been cancelled. (Sorry!) But the other two are going ahead as planned!

Registration is now open for this October’s Vogue Knitting LIVE Chicago! Last year I got to experience VK Live Chicago as an artist in the gallery (and as a brand-new Chicago resident), and this year I’m slated to teach three classes PLUS have a presence in the art gallery again. It’s going to be quite a weekend!

Check out my class descriptions after the jump.

Continue reading “New Mochimochi Classes at VK LIVE Chicago” →

Yoshi’s Wooly World Concept Art

Posted on June 16, 2014June 15, 2014 by Anna

If my Twitter feed is any indication, knitters and crocheters are pretty psyched about Yoshi’s Wooly World, the new game Nintendo just announced that’s coming out in 2015.

Adorable, right?

This is the second yarn-themed Nintendo game in recent years (Kirby’s Epic Yarn came out in 2010), so I take this as a good sign that knitting and crochet still have a solid pop culture presence, and there is plenty of crossover between gaming and crafting. Awesome!

Just a few days after I first heard about Yoshi’s Wooly World, a couple of nice people on on Twitter let me know that a little piece of Mochimochi Land made an appearance in Nintendo’s public announcement about the game. When discussing the game’s development, the Nintendo presenter showed this image, among others.

They added yarny Yoshis to Gnomes vs Snowmen! The photo looks like it came from my display at Vogue Knitting Live in Chicago last year, so someone must have taken it from the event’s website.

I don’t have any more information than that, but I just had to share this fun discovery! It’s very cool to think that my art may have had some small influence on how the game designers envisioned the wooly world of Yoshi. I’m looking forward to playing the game next year!

Introducing Farfalla the Flying Narwhal

Posted on June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 by Anna

The newest pattern in the Mochimochi Shop is a little bit make-believe and a lot bit magical!

In fact, Farfalla the Flying Narwhal is a little more make-believe than I had thought, because I’ve been referring to her as female, and someone on Facebook just informed me that only the male narwhals grow tusks… I guess this gal just can’t be boxed in!

It’s hard not to love a narwhal, but when I was thinking about designing one, it took me a while to figure out how to make mine a little special. It was my sister-in-law Jenna who initially suggested giving a narwhal wings, way back in… April of last year. So this one has been in the works for a while! Thanks, Jenna!

Another cool thing about this project is that the photo shoot for it got me to finally visit the Chicago beach! I realized that it was less than a 10 minute drive from my apartment—I had no idea. My sister just happened to be in town last week, so I recruited her as a hand model. Thanks, Leah!

Farfalla is an intermediate-level pattern, and techniques include knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, a little stranded colorwork, and mattress stitch. I recommend using worsted-weight yarn (like Cascade 220) and size 5 DPNs, but as with any toys, you can scale up or down using a different yarn weight and needle size.

The pattern is now available as a PDF download for $6 in the Mochimochi Shop.

Knit one for you, and one for someone who doesn’t believe in magic… maybe now they will!

Huey Li’s Cheeseburger Eddie

Posted on June 10, 2014June 10, 2014 by Anna

Hungry? Open wide…

No, way wider!

Huey Li shared this epic pic in our Flickr group recently, and it makes me giggle every time I see it, so I had to share.

It also makes me think that we need more photos of the BIG mochis from Huge & Huggable Mochimochi! So here’s the deal: You add your photos of Huge & Huggable projects to our Flickr group, and if I feature them here on the blog, I’ll send you a free pattern of your choice! (Photos with people about to eat the toy, or vice versa, get bonus points!)

And if you don’t have a copy of the book, you can get the Arthur pattern for free on the Lion Brand website (registration required).

The Gnomes Get a Garden

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Anna

Now that spring is in full swing, I’m getting to garden for the first time in my life in our new backyard. A few weeks back I planted some zinnia seeds that my mom sent me, and it looks like they’re finally coming up!

garden1

Of course, the gnomes didn’t hesitate to take over and claim this as their own work.

It occurs to me that gardening might be a bit like knitting, in that you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want, and it’s a rewarding pastime either way. I’m starting simple with these seeds, plus basil, tomato, and pepper plants that I just put in yesterday. I can’t wait to see what it all looks like in another month or two!

Gardeners: maybe I

Petit Lapin Love

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Anna

If you’re a regular reader, you know I’ve been working on a new book (look for it in 2015!). I turned in the manuscript on Monday, and as much as I enjoy writing books, it felt like the last day of school. Freedom!

I celebrated by visiting Rotofugi, a designer toy store and gallery here in Chicago, where I was excited to find an exhibition of works by mr clement, one of my favorite artists and vinyl toy designers.

mr clement is most well known for his rabbit character Petit Lapin, who appears in most of the pieces in the show. Lapin’s simple design makes him easy to fall in love with, but what I most love is the way his minimalism cuts both ways—it hides a darker side that peeks through in many of mr clement’s paintings and sculptures.

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Many of the paintings were sold, but I was really tempted by those that hadn’t. The show is up through June 14th, so I guess there’s still time!

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lapin4

lapin5

I also had the pleasure of hearing mr clement speak at last year’s Pictoplasma Festival in Berlin. It was fascinating how much the artist resembled his character in his modesty and shyness. Check out the show if you’re in Chicago! (You can also see all the pieces from the show on the Rotofugi website.)

Winners of the 2014 Mochimochi Photo Series Contest

Posted on June 2, 2014June 2, 2014 by Anna

Exciting day! It’s time to announce the winners of our 2014 Mochimochi Photo Series Contest!

First, I want to again thank everyone who participated in the contest. We were really impressed by the funny, sometimes touching, and all very creative stories that you put together with your mochis!

And a big thank-you goes to our contest sponsor, Happy Go Lucky, for beautiful prizes of mini skeinbows! If you haven’t yet, please check out the Happy Go Lucky shop, and also the interview I did with Julie Lindsey, the awesome lady behind the yarn.

And now for the top three winners, as selected by John and myself. (It’s a hard job, but at least there were no tears this time.)

See the winning entries after the jump!

Continue reading “Winners of the 2014 Mochimochi Photo Series Contest” →

What I’m Knitting To: RuPaul’s Drag Race

Posted on May 30, 2014June 5, 2014 by Anna

It’s summer, it’s Friday, no one with any sense is on the internet, so I’m going to talk about RuPaul!

I started watching (and knitting to) RuPaul’s Drag Race a few years ago after a friend recommended it to me. It took me about three episodes to get hooked, and my love for the show and its creator have only grown stronger as the seasons have continued. (Season six just ended, and the show has been renewed for season seven.) I’m convinced it’s the perfect reality show: drag is all about artifice and drama, after all, so Drag Race is non-guilty pleasure to watch, a joyous winking celebration of show business in its high and low forms.

And RuPaul is a guru under all that glamour—one of his great sayings is “we’re all born naked, and the rest is drag,” meaning that whoever you are, what you project to the world is something constructed by yourself and your culture, so no one can really claim that their style, lifestyle, or gender is more authentic than anyone else’s.

RuPaul is everywhere these days, from NPR to the New York Times to Marc Maron’s podcast, and he now has his own podcast in which he gossips with Michelle Visage, his best lady friend. Amidst the talk about wigs and juicing and other things I can’t relate to at all is a lot of wisdom about being true to yourself and aspiring to create something original and meaningful.

I don’t generally get too excited about celebrities or even dresses and high heels, but I find myself making an exception for RuPaul and the other talented drag queens that have been on Drag Race. Some full episodes from the latest season are on the Logo website, and you can also purchase (gloriously un-bleeped) episodes via Apple TV.

And now I would love to turn the question to any of you who happen to be on the internet this Friday: What shows, podcasts, audiobooks, etc are you knitting to these days?