…but even if they seem trapped, DO NOT go near them. Check back here for updates.
Category: Knitted Things
Watch for Signs
If you see a triangle tail poking out from under a closet door, do not engage; back away slowly and call your local yarn store right away. (You’ll want 3 colors of worsted-weight yarn and some fun fur!)
Something Thwicked This Way Comes…
Remember how I was gearing up to design a very hairy Halloween creature back in August?
It’s ready. It’s coming. Check back next week!
NYC Gnomes
I got to return to NYC over the weekend! It’s been a bit less than a year since John and I moved from there to Chicago, and we couldn’t have picked a better early fall weekend for a visit.
On Monday I found myself with four spare gnomes and a few spare hours in the city, so I decided to revisit four places that are meaningful to me and set a gnome free at each spot. I may no longer live there, but there’s no reason why a few of my gnomes can’t be New Yorkers!
Gnome #1 started his NYC adventure in Columbus Circle, which was my main hub when we lived in midtown Manhattan.
Gnome #2 got was set free on the High Line, which to me represents everything cool and beautiful and ambitious about NYC.
(It also happened to be the second day that the newest portion of this park in the sky was open to the public—it’s really something to experience!)
Gnome #3 was content to be left hanging out at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, which I visited almost every day during the four years that I lived next to it.
And finally, Gnome #4 found a new home on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan, where I got my first job out of college.
I liked the idea of leaving these guys around the city for anyone to stumble upon and take home. I didn’t attach any kind of tags to the gnomes—I wanted the people who found them to just enjoy the discovery and the mystery. (I did share each of these photos on Instagram and Twitter in real time as I left each gnome behind.) This gnome release was partly inspired by the Tiny Bunnies Movement, which I’m happy to see is still active on Ravelry!
When I mapped it out, I see that the gnomes and I covered some pretty good ground in eight hours!
A part of me will probably always miss living in NYC, but it’s neat to think that the city and I will continue to have a connection via my little bearded ambassadors of Mochimochi Land.
Have YOU ever purposefully left a mochi behind somewhere for someone to find?
Biggest Twig Update
Back in June I started work on what would be the biggest twig to date in the Wooly Woods, my ongoing art project that explores the more forested regions of Mochimochi Land.
Here’s what it looked like after a few days’ work.
And here is the fully wrapped big twig, two months later!
Also, here is what I spent those two months looking like, from the twig’s perspective.
Hunched over in concentration is not the most flattering angle for me, as it turns out.
The twiggins who will live in this piece of the Wooly Woods are underway as well.
And now comes the fun part: playing around with the pieces to find the right positions for the creatures and inventing the trouble that they’re getting into, which will include more characters and woodsy elements.
The plan is for this piece and others from my show last year to be on display at Vogue Knitting LIVE in Chicago in October—which I guess is next month!—so I’m feeling good about the progress for that. If you’re thinking of attending, the event is open for registration (and I’ll also be teaching some classes there).
Putting the Fun in Fun Fur
One thing I miss about living in NYC is having the Lion Brand Yarn Studio just a subway ride away. I went there for all my fun fur needs—which admittedly weren’t frequent needs, but I’ve found that when I get the fun fur bug, I want it NOW! (OK, that goes for any kind of yarn that I decide to use, but still.)
So I have at least a week to wait before my novelty yarn arrives in the mail, but in the meantime I dug out what I could find in my stash and was soon reminded why fun fur is so fun.
This creature has so much personality already, thanks to Romance, the softer, more feathery alternative to fun fur that Lion Brand makes. I am so in love with this stuff! I held it together with worsted-weight yarn and used size 8 US needles (just a tip, in case some of you would like to incorporate fur into a toy, which is something you can do with pretty much any non-tiny toy).
I’m thinking that with different colors, a different shape, and minimal (non fur) appendages, this guy could be really cute and spooky and cool.
And if you live in NYC, please stop by the studio and say hi to everyone!
The Gnomes Get a Garden
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!
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
Thank You for Your Photo Series!
Thanks to all of you who entered our 2014 Photo Series Contest! Soon we’ll announce who wins this rainbow of yarn from our sponsor Happy Go Lucky.
Stay tuned for the results!