I’ve been obsessively checking out all the Knitting Mochimochi creatures that are popping up on Ravelry every day since the book was released—there are so many fantastic ones already!

One of my favorites is this adorably plump Confused Moose made by Alice of Kathryn Ivy.

It’s amazing how the size and placement of the features can give a toy such a different personality—to me, this guy looks like the “Muppet Babies” version of the original. And the Malabrigo yarn that Alice used is gorgeous! Somehow I’ve never used Malabrigo myself, but now I really want to give it a try now.

If you’ve made a toy from Knitting Mochimochi or any of my other patterns, be sure to add your photo to the Mochimochi Friends group on Flickr! It will appear on the Mochimochi Land gallery page and it will also automatically be entered in the next Mochimochi Photo Contest.

None of my patterns would be what they are without my amazing group of testers. That includes the new patterns in Knitting Mochimochi of course—not only did my testers do a great job of trying out the patterns and helping me edit them, but they also were able to keep it all under wraps for a whole year!

Two of my testers recently reviewed Knitting Mochimochi on their blogs, and they both also happened to post a photo of their version of Neck Nuzzler from the book. Fun!

Oiyi wrote a really thorough review on her blog Oiyi’s Crafts. Her Neck Nuzzler looks quite similar to mine (only better, let’s be honest).

She used the recommended yarn in the pattern to knit this guy, and he turned out great! I always looove seeing Oiyi’s photos of tests that she’s done for me. She’s such a meticulous knitter (of course!), and she’s also a fantastic photographer.

Along with the review, Oiyi is doing a giveaway of Knitting Mochimochi on her blog! You can enter to win a copy of the book by leaving a comment on her review post—deadline is July 9th.

Hannah at Bittersweet Blog is another top-notch tester. Like Oiyi, she’s a talented knitter and photographer. She also is way ahead of me as the author of several books about making vegan desserts that everyone can get excited about.

Hannah admits her biased opinion in her review of my book, but her kind words about it have me really touched nonetheless.

And check out her Neck Nuzzler on this elegant model!

Thank you so much to Oiyi and Hannah and to allll of my wonderful testers!

As some of you have anticipated, the pattern for the couches that I made a while back for Plush You SF (sans mini Dust Bunnies) will be in Knitting Mochimochi! The pattern is called Grouchy Couch, and it is one of the more involved projects in the book, incorporating stranded color knitting and a number of pieces to assemble with mattress stitch.

Among the brave testers who tried out the pattern for me last year is beforesunrise, who knitted up this awesome black-and-neon-pink couch with crazy googly eyes!

Her Grouchy Couch makes me think of a darker Pee-Wee’s Playhouse from an alternate universe. (Speaking of which, did you hear that Paul Reubens is bringing his live show to Broadway in the fall? No tickets for me, but it still makes me happy.)

Testers—if you tested a pattern from Knitting Mochimochi, you can now share your project photos on Ravelry (and don’t forget the Mochimochi Group on Flickr)! There isn’t a Ravelry listing for the book yet, but you can list the book as the source of the pattern, and please link to it on Amazon in your project description.

Josh emailed me with photos of a happy accident that he had with the Tiny Lion pattern—when he had some trouble making the mane for his pink lion, he just turned it into a little pig instead!

Way to go, Josh!