Category: Mochimochi Land News

Cute as a…

Posted on by Anna

Look what adorableness came in the mail yesterday!

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Starting this week, all orders of physical goods (books, kits, and hand-knitted tiny mochis) from the Mochimochi Shop will now come with a gnome button! I should probably say “while supplies last,” but I got a whooole bunch of these guys, so I expect them to last quite a while.

I’d been wanting to include little gifts with mailed packages for a while, without finding just the right thing, when it finally occurred to me that I could have something special made just for Mochimochi Land. So much more fun!

Speaking of shipping, I’ll be out of town for a couple of weeks starting Monday for some exciting photo shoots with my favorite book photographer. So all physical goods (again, that’s books, kits, and hand-knitted mochis) purchased between September 3rd and 18th will be shipped on the 19th. This won’t affect PDF pattern purchases at all.

I’ll try to take some fun-but-non-spoiler photos during the shoots and share them here on the blog!

Pictoplasma Talk in NYC this November

Posted on by Anna

Big news: the character art curators of Pictoplasma have invited me to speak at their NYC conference this November!

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Last year I had the honor of being part of the Pictoplasma “character walk” gallery series with shows in Berlin and NYC, and they also featured my work in their new Character Compendium. But it was still a surprise to be asked to present my work on a stage shared by artists I admire so much, like Ryan Quincy, Julia Pott, and Gemma Correll. I’m so excited and nervous and it’s still two months away!

You can read all about the NYC conference on the Pictoplasma website—there’s an early bird offer on the conference pass if you buy it before September 15th. If you work in a creative field or you’re just a character enthusiast, you’ll want to check it out!

Super-Scary Mochimochi Preview: Toaster Ghost

Posted on by Anna

What happens when you shove one too many frozen waffles into your rickety old toaster? You’ll end up with a big burned mess! Then once the smoke clears, you may find yourself confronted by…

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Toaster Ghost!

It’s the next preview from my upcoming book of monster knits, Super-Scary Mochimochi! (And that awesome photo is by Brandi Simons, of course!)

I have a special love for anthropomorphic knitted appliances, so I made sure to find a way to fit an undead one among the creepy characters in this book. Toaster Ghost is an interactive toy, complete with slots that you can place burned pieces of toast in!

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The pattern uses a number of techniques to get just the right shaping, and I think it’s a fun, challenging project for intermediate knitters.

Toaster Ghost would make a lovely companion piece to TV Guy from Knitting Mochimochi or even Flushie! Now I just need to design a knitted refrigerator, and you’ll never have to leave your craft room…

Super-Scary Mochimochi is now available for pre-order from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Starting September 18th, it will be in local yarn stores throughout the US, and signed copies will be available from the Mochimochi Shop too.

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One more Super-Scary preview is coming up in a couple weeks, so stay tuned!

A Tiny Glimpse of Fall

Posted on by Anna

As you’ve probably noticed if you’re a long-time reader of my blog, my “tiny challenge” has gone from a weekly feature to just an occasional one. (Two years of weekly Tinys was a pretty good run!) But making new tiny mochis a little less often means that I have a little more time to actually write up the patterns and get them out into the world.

So more tiny pattern collections are on the way, and I did a little photo shoot with the next batch yesterday. Here’s a peek!

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It was surprisingly easy to find pretty yellow leaves in my neighborhood to serve as autumnal props. I really can’t wait for fall, especially since cooler weather means that my new book is coming out soon, and then this tiny fall collection is coming in October!

Super-Scary Mochimochi Preview: What-to-Werewolf

Posted on by Anna

Time to start showing some stuff from my new book—I’ve been waiting so long for this!!

It’s really hard to choose which scary mochi to start with, but I have a lot to say about this guy…

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Meet What-to-Werewolf! He’s a teen werewolf who improvised a costume for those waxing and waning nights when he still wants to be on the prowl.

His wolf hoodie is completely removable, revealing an otherwise ordinary boy.

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Teeny-tiny people notwithstanding, I rarely knit human dolls, so this guy’s special for that reason alone. It’s even more rare that I knit separate clothes for dolls, so that made this project extra fun.

And let’s talk about that mirror photo! It was one of the most difficult we had to shoot—it turns out that doing a mirror shot and making it look like it’s in a miniature bedroom is tricky! Thankfully my photographer Brandi Simons had worked with me on my previous two books, and she knows how to create just the right environments around my toys.

First we had to find the right size and shape of mirror. That wasn’t too hard, but once it was photographed, the black-framed locker mirror looked just like an iPad. So to make it more mirror-like, Brandi tinted the frame brown and sharpened up the rounded corners in Photoshop. We also needed some miniature versions of stuff that a teenage werewolf would have in his room, and we ended up going with a combination of random little stuff (thank you, Wal-mart cheap party favor section) and things we printed out for mirror decor.

Here’s the photo again, annotated:

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It was a huge relief when everything came together, thanks to Brandi. I feel so lucky to get to work with such a crafty photographer. I hope come September some of you will be knitting and photographing your own What-to-Werewolves!

Super-Scary Mochimochi is now available for pre-order from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Starting September 18th, it will be in local yarn stores throughout the US, and signed copies will be available from the Mochimochi Shop too.

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More Super-Scary previews are on their way in the coming months, so stay tuned!

Announcing New Tiny People Patterns!

Posted on by Anna

Throw the tiniest disco party ever with the newest patterns in the Mochimochi Shop!

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I’ve been on a little bit of a tiny human kick lately, so it only made sense to put together some of my favorites in a Tiny People set! These little guys knit up super fast with fingering-weight yarn and size 1 needles, or use any kind of scrap yarn to make them—you only need a little bit!

The patterns are available as a PDF download for $6 in the Mochimochi Shop.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Posted on by Anna

Thank you, everyone, for the sweet birthday wishes! And a special thank you to the Common Cod Fiber Guild for making it a truly awesome birthday!

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Tiny Cupcake mod by Victoria Bell

Hey look at that, today’s both my birthday and also Friday the 13th! To celebrate my favorite kind of birthday (the Friday the 13th kind), I thought I’d spread the happy with a one-day discount.

Enter THIRTEEN at checkout today and get 13% off your entire order from the Mochimochi Shop. This discount is good for today only!

I’m spending my birthday in Boston, where I’ll be giving a presentation this evening at the Common Cod Fiber Guild (please join us if you’re in the area!), and then next week I’ll be taking a trip to Maine to see family. I can’t wait!

Because I’m on vacation for the next week, all physical products ordered from the shop will ship on July 23rd. (PDF patterns will arrive via email as usual.)