Now and then I get an opportunity to work on a commercial project, and I’ve been looking forward to sharing this one for a while. Earlier this year, Milan advertising agency TITA asked me to create tiny knit characters and dramatic scenes from Don Quixote for a ballet produced by Teatro alla Scala. I recently received samples of the 8″x8.5″ brochure that my photographs became, which was distributed to the ballet audience in September. It’s such a thrill to see them in print!

The photos depict the major scenes from the famous story, starting with Don Quixote’s literary inspiration, to his adventures with Sancho Panza (knitted windmill included, of course), to his courting of Dulcinea.

This was the first time that I’d taken on a commercial project that involved my photographing characters in nature—I was really happy to get the experience, and I think the whole thing turned out nicely. And I had a blast making my versions of a tiny Don Quixote and the other characters!

I should probably say that I don’t have plans to make patterns available in the foreseeable future, but they might turn up in in a book or somewhere else someday.

You can see all of the photographs from this project over at my art website.

I’m so excited to announce that a selection of tiny mochis hand-knitted by yours truly are now available at Rotofugi, the designer toy store and gallery in Chicago!

Rotofugi features toys and artwork by many of my favorite artists (like Mr. Clement, Shawnimals, and Heidi Kenney, to name a few), so it’s a big honor to have a small place among them. When I returned on Friday after dropping them off on Wednesday, I was psyched to find my tiny gnomes, vikings, owls, and pandas right next to Chris Uphues’s awesome heart figurines.

It’s never been my aim to produce tons of mochis for sale, but instead I like to have a small selection available at venues that I’m personally excited about, and Rotofugi is one of those. But if you live far from Chicago, you can also find some hand-knit mochis in my shop, which I’ve just updated with more designs!

Wow, thank you for an awesome pattern launch last night! Even with an initial glitch with the pattern page (that had John and me freaking out for a few minutes—thanks to those of you who alerted us to it), we had a terrific response!

And now for the official-official announcement: The Tiny Woodland pattern collection is now here!

Tiny fox, owl, tree, and hedgehog can be knit up in a matter of hours with minimum yarn. Have a free weekend? You can knit a whole forest! The pattern collection is available as a PDF download for $6 in the shop. (Want them on Ravelry? Just send me a quick email when you check out with your Ravelry name, and I’ll add the patterns to your library when they’re available, in about a month.)

These projects are great for scrap yarn, or pick up a kit to make three owls, hedgehogs, or foxes for $12 a pop.

Because woodland creatures have a tendency to be some people’s all-time favorite animals, I put extra work into getting the designs just right. I also wanted the photos to be just right, so when it was time for the photo shoot I called in Soupy to do what he does best: Soupyvise.

It’s like supervising, but it’s nonverbal, and he might destroy what you’re trying to do without warning.

Here’s something else I tried as a main image.

I liked the idea of shooting down on the projects, kind of in a Wes Anderson style, but I just couldn’t get the lighting right, and the burlap texture (which is the same as the background in the top photo) was too distracting and also made the image look slightly crooked.

And yes, I did have to hot glue the tiny owl to the twig. Oh, the sacrifices my mochis make for their art!

Anyway, I think the world is becoming a little more adorable this weekend thanks to all of you who are getting the patterns. Thank you!

Are you an experienced sales rep looking for something fun and different to present to your stores? Are you an on-the-go professional business cat?

If you answered “yes” to one of those questions, I want to talk with you!

I’m currently looking for sales reps for my line of tiny knitting kits for all regions of the US except California and New England. As my collection has grown, more and more local yarn stores are carrying the kits, but they (and Mochimochi Land in general) are still new to many in the knitting world, and I need some help spreading the word!

I prefer to work with reps who are are already working with yarn and other knitting-related companies and are looking to add to their mix of products. If this is you, please contact me at info [at] mochimochiland [dot] com. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!