Category: Mochimochi Land News

Craft Industry Alliance Podcast interview

Posted on by Anna

I recently had the honor of being interviewed on the Craft Industry Alliance podcast!

The podcast is hosted by Abby Glassenberg, co-founder and president of CIA. So Abby is a pretty big deal in the crafts industry, but I’ll always know her as a plush maker—back when I was working at gallery hanahou in NYC, Abby was one of the artists we invited to take part in our plush toy show! As I talk about on the podcast, that show was one of the big influences on my journey of knitting toys, and it shaped my thinking about plush toys as objects of art and design, and not just kids’ playthings. (Although toys made for kids are awesome too, of course!)

As I expected, Abby was really easy to talk to, so I hope that makes for an enjoyable listen. Thank you Abby and Craft Industry Alliance for having me on!

It’s Lambie season!

Posted on by Anna

The newest pattern in Mochimochi Land is instant Easter kitsch: a teeny-weeny lamb cake!

Inspired by all the weird lamb-shaped cakes I’ve eaten and baked in springtimes past…


…Lambie is a quicker-than-it-looks project that requires very little purling (you turn the piece inside out right before finishing) and no seaming to speak of (a 3-needle bind-off takes care of that straight back).

👉 The pattern is now available as a PDF download here on my website and on Ravelry.

Use any basic yarn along with a small helping of eyelash yarn for the coconut grass. Samples are knit in Knit Picks Palette and Red Heart Scrubby, using double-pointed needles in sizes 1 (2.25mm) and 5 (3.75mm).

Lambie is small enough to fit inside an Easter egg, traditional enough to be a bitty centerpiece at your holiday table, and cute enough to embellish your Easter hat! I’m hoping to see a bunch of adorable Lambie photos on the internet soon (especially if you put it on a hat!)

My thanks to Marilyn Passmore for her tech editing, and to Bonney Teti and Kristine Brandel for their quick-turnaround testing!

If you’ve ever attempted to bake one of these in its full-size glory, you know that even when things go well, there’s always something a bit wonky about them. (Mine usually ends up with a chopstick jabbed into his head for extra support.) That’s what I love about lamb cakes and knitting toys in general—each is unique and lovable in its own weird way.

I hope you love this project as much as I do!

A new book! You can preorder it!

Posted on by Anna

I have news for people who love yarn or cats or both: I have a new picture book featuring knitted cats coming out this fall!

Catside Up, Catside Down is a picture book filled with knitted cats demonstrating different prepositions with accompanying rhyming text. 😸 I’m hoping that knitters who love cats will especially love it!

You can see a bit inside the book and find links to preorder it at the Macmillan website.

Local yarn stores! If you run a yarn or other non-book shop and are interested in carrying the book, please contact MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com for order information. The ISBN is 9781250841261.

Hoppy New Year

Posted on by Anna

via GIPHY

I hope your new year is hopping with fun ideas and plans for the coming months! Here’s to 2023! 🐰✨

In celebration of this year of the rabbit, I have a new kit to help you to get 2023 started off on the right rabbit’s foot—by knitting two lucky little bunnies!

(This pattern will be available as a PDF download soon too.)

And how about some extra new year’s motivation in the form of a sale? Use the code RABBITRABBIT for 20% off all patterns, kits, needles, and notions in the Mochimochi Shop. (Code also works in Ravelry.)

Hoppy knitting! 🐰

Say hello to Holi-Log!

Posted on by Anna

via GIPHY

Introducing the sweetest new friend in Mochimochi Land, the Mini Holi-Log! This little treat of a design is destined to be the life of your holiday gathering. Just look at her adorable lil face! And her mushrooms! And her holly! And sprinkles!

Use the code YULEBEMERRY after adding $5 or more in products from the Mochimochi Shop, and the Mini Holi-Log pattern will magically appear in your cart!

Holi-Log’s elegant wood grain is made using a fun technique: basically knit and purl at random!

Other techniques used in this cozy little project include knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, I-cord, a little bit of mattress stitch for assembly, and French knots for holly berries. (These last two are shown in video tutorials linked in the pattern.)

You’ll need some woody-brown yarn (about 24 yards), some creamy white (about 8 yards), and a teeny bit of green, red, and black for details. Any weight of yarn and corresponding needle size will do, but the sample shown is made using fingering-weight yarn and size 1 (2.25mm) double-pointed needles.

As those of us in the Northern Hemisphere approach the darkest part of the year, we’re wishing you warmth and light and coziness among your favorite creatures and comforts!

New tiny apatosaurus pattern in Knitrino

Posted on by Anna

I’m so excited to share with you my newest tiny dinosaur pattern, Amy the Apatosaurus! You can now find her pattern in the portable Knitrino app, where they also have a limited number of apatosaurus kits available featuring lovely Hand-Dyed Diva yarn.

Knitrino works on iOS and Android devices, so to get the pattern or kit, install Knitrino or click the apatosaurus link from your phone. 📱

Amy is the third tiny dinosaur pattern I’ve debuted with Knitrino, and as with the others, I focused on unique construction to build a classic jurassic body type. Amy is knit the round, with flat sections for the belly and back, a smattering of short rows for the head curve, and mattress stitch to seam her graceful neck. It’s a quick pattern that will give you plenty to chew on, herbivore-style.

New to Knitrino? You can use this code for $3 off your first purchase:

MOCHILOVE

Knitrino offers curated patterns and kits crafted for mobile phones: click a stitch to see how to do it, highlight your current place, see only one size at a time, and match charts to your yarn colors. There are no PDFs, no importing, just purchase your pattern and go!

I love this app because it makes patterns portable, with built-in resources, and it’s a perfect fit with my tiny designs. Plus, it was built by sisters Alison and Andrea, terrific people who really understand knitters!

I’ve debuted two other dinosaur patterns with Knitrino—Tina the Tiny T-Rex and Tori the Tiny Triceratops—and they’ve brought those patterns back to the app for a limited time right now too! So you can get all three in your pocket. 🦖💕

Happy dino knitting!

Enrollment NOW OPEN for Knit Stars Season 7

Posted on by Anna

Today’s the day! You can now enroll in the Knit Stars Season 7 Masterclass Event, featuring courses by me and a slate of brilliant knitting teachers and artists! Enrollment is only open for ONE WEEK.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m so excited to finally share my new class all about knitting toys big and tiny. You’ll truly have the keys to the kingdom with this class—because you’ll knit a huggable castle and a bunch of characters to go in it! 👑
Plus you’ll come away with a better understanding of how toy designing and construction works, along with the basics on how to animate your knitted friends. All with video modules that you can watch at your own pace and keep forever.

Along with my masterclass, with Season 7 you’ll also get to virtually travel the world and take classes with a bunch of amazing Knit Stars who are masters of all things knitted: Lisa Borgnes Giramonti, Mieka John, Mary Martin, Lotta Lundin, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Summer Lee, Fatimah Hinds, Xandy Peters, Patty Lyons, and Lauren McElroy.

To learn more about what we’re all up to in Season 7, tune in to the webinar we’re doing at 2pm CT on Sunday, October 9. I hope to see you there!

Making this masterclass has been one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in my knitting journey, despite my weird face in this behind-the-scenes photo. 🤪 I hope you’ll join me! See the Knit Stars website to sign up!

A new Knitty pattern for u and us (it’s a uterus!)

Posted on by Anna

While I’m not pleased about the events that prompted this project, I am pleased to introduce a new (and FREE) pattern in Knitty, everyone’s favorite online knitting magazine. It’s the Fumin’ Womb, the tiniest, angriest little uterus ready to take on anyone who wants to tell her what to do in 2022.

It almost feels like this project doesn’t need any explanation, but I’ll say that I’ve been suppressing my rage every day since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, followed by all the state restrictions and talk of national bans on abortion in the United States.

So when Knitty asked me to design a tiny uterus for their 20th Anniversary issue (congratulations to Knitty! 🥳), inspired by recent events and their much-loved Womb pattern by MK Carroll (from the Winter ’04 issue), I was grateful to have a creative way to channel my rage.

Techniques used in this pattern include knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, grafting, picking up stitches, and I-cord. I used Hand Dyed Diva’s Homegrown Sock in Pink Petunia for the main color (get a skein and make a bunch of uteruses!), and Knit Picks Palette (a favorite basic of mine) for the gloves and details. (Yarn scraps from other projects work great too!)

Thank you to Amy Singer and Kate Atherley and everybody at Knitty, thank you to my tech editor, Marilyn Passmore, thank you Kate O’Leary for modeling in the photos above, and thank you to Kristine Brandel and Bonney Teti for pattern testing!

I hope you enjoy the pattern, in whatever way you’d like. It’s in great company in this issue of Knitty!

(This version is coming soon too!)