Category: Mochimochi Land News

Knitting Mochimochi Reviewed in Knitty

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Anna

I was thrilled to just discover a review of Knitting Mochimochi in the current issue of Knitty!

In the review, Amy Singer says the book made her “squeal out loud.” Just the reaction I love!

Knitty has a very special place in my heart—Amy contacted me personally in 2007 when I was just starting out as a designer, then she published one of my very first patterns in the Fall issue of that year! Having a pattern published in Knitty gave me some much-needed confidence in my design work and also brought a ton of new readers to my blog. It was such a great experience, and I’m sure I’ll be submitting another design before long.

By the way, I’m loving a lot of the patterns in the new “First Fall” issue, especially Lanesplitter and Mad for Plaid!

Interview on Knit Spirit

Posted on July 9, 2010July 9, 2010 by Anna

Thank you to Gaëlle for interviewing me on Knit Spirit! Knit Sprit is a popular French knitting blog, and it definitely makes me wish I had paid more attention in my high school French class so that I could read all the interviews, recipes, and more. Gaëlle was nice enough to post the interview with me in both French and English, so that post at least doesn’t require Google Translator.

(I’m pretty sure the word “crazy” in the title of the post refers to my toys, and not me. Mostly sure.)

In the interview, she asked me about my best and worst memories from writing Knitting Mochimochi, which really made me think back on the whole process from some of 2008 and half of last year. (I have way more good memories than bad!)

A Year of Tinys

Posted on July 7, 2010July 6, 2010 by Anna

As I mentioned the other day in the post about my Tiny Sun, it has been a whole year since I began the “Tiny” series here on the Mochimochi Blog!

For those of you who weren’t with me a year ago, in July 2009 I was looking for a fun challenge for the month, and I decided to try knitting a new tiny toy every weekday and posting it here on my blog. I hesitantly started with a Tiny Brain, but then it was easy to continue with all the helpful suggestions that people gave me in the comments. When the month of July was over, I was still getting lots of super ideas, so I thought I’d continue the series with a new tiny knitted toy each week. I’ve surprised myself by keeping it up ever since then, without (as far as I can recall, at least) a single week missed!

I thought it would be fun to put together a visual with all of the Tinys that I’ve made over the past year. It’s a total of 70 teeny-tiny Mochimochis! Here they are in alphabetical order.

I’ve thought about stopping the series now that it’s been a year, but I would be a little sad to do so. There are just so many Tiny possibilities left in this world! I could also start on some other type of series, but nothing that I’ve come up with so far (like knitting giant things, for example) has quite gotten me excited enough. But if you’ve had your fill of tiny knitting and you have an idea for something totally different, I would love to hear it!

I’ve also been happy to get lots of inquiries about patterns for these tiny toys. I do plan to release another set of Tiny patterns sometime soon, so please keep an eye out for it! (I’m pretty certain that the Tiny Gnome and Tiny Frog will be two of the four patterns, but I’m still undecided about the other two…)

Book Signing at Lion Brand Studio July 27th

Posted on July 5, 2010July 7, 2010 by Anna

I’m very excited to announce that I will be at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC July 27th for a Knitting Mochimochi book signing!

Like other visitors to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, I am in love with the beautiful space, and so I can’t wait to be there with the full collection of toys from my new book.

I’ll be there at 6 pm on Tuesday, July 27th, so please come by if you’re in the city! There will also be raffle drawings—fun! See more info on the Lion Brand Yarn Studio website.

Knitting Mochimochi Errata

Posted on July 2, 2010October 17, 2014 by Anna

pencil_oops A few people have kindly pointed out some small mistakes in Knitting Mochimochi, and I’m listing the corrections here.

If you think you found a mistake, or if you just have a question about one of the patterns, you can email me anytime at info [at] mochimochiland [dot] com. I will keep updating this page.

Page 19: Gauge, Step 3
In first two sentences of Step 3, the “bigger” and “smaller” are reversed. They should read:

If your stitch/row counts are significantly smaller than in the given gauge, switch to a smaller-sized needle and try again.
If your stitch/row counts are significantly bigger than in the given gauge, you have a couple of options.

Page 47: Confused Moose
The pattern mentions “larger needles” and “smaller needles,” but you should just use the same needles throughout.

Page 59: Pigs with Wigs
Rounds 34 and 35 say to knit; the instruction for these two rounds should instead be “work as est.”

Page 69: Orbiting Oddity
In the second column, instructions for Rounds 31 and 33 are missing. They are both Knit rounds.

Page 71: Grouchy Couch, Base
At the end of the second column/beginning of third column, there is an incorrect stitch count. Corrected sentence:

Next rnd: With MC, k38, then BO remaining 82 sts, and BO the last st using first st of rnd.

Page 74: Grouchy Couch schematics
A measurement is missing from the Back piece: The full length of the piece measures 9-3/4″.

Page 103: Love Muff, Lining
At the end of the Lining instructions (beginning of third column), the bind off instructions are missing. To finish, bind off all of the stitches.

Later on the page, in the Feet section, a note about the needles is missing. You should use the smaller needles to work the Feet.

Page 109: Feet Eaters, Large Face
The stitch count is off in Rnd 19—you should have 76 stitches at the end of the round, not 80.

Page 119: Micro Mountains, Finishing
In the second column, a note is missing that tells you to stuff the piece before sewing up the cast-on edge.

Page 127: Petite Pencil
The pattern skips from Rnd 28 to Rnd 30. Rnd 30 should be numbered Rnd 29, and so on.

Page 130: Design your own knitted toy, 4. Number It
The last paragraph of the first column is missing a page reference. Corrected sentence:

(See the section on gauge on page 19.)

Release Party Update!

Posted on July 2, 2010July 2, 2010 by Anna

For those of you who live in my area (NYC), I have an exciting little update about the Knitting Mochimochi Release Party that will happen at Brooklyn General July 11th—that’s next Sunday!

Bring some yarn and double-pointed needles (worsted-weight yarn and size 5 or 6 dpns are recommended), and you can make a Bite-Free Bed Bug from the book!

bedbugs_bg

The pattern will be available to anyone who comes, and you will be welcome to get knitting on it right there. Of course I’ll be there to answer any questions about the book and give tips on toy knitting. Should be fun!

The event is free and no signup or RSVP is needed. Just come anytime between 2 and 6 pm!

Interview and One More Giveaway on Plush You!

Posted on June 29, 2010June 29, 2010 by Anna

So today is finally the release date of Knitting Mochimochi! I’ve been anticipating it for so long that it doesn’t seem quite real to me. It’s been so great to hear from many of you who have been receiving your copies in the mail (thank you for pre-ordering!), and I’ve also heard from a few people who have gone into brick-and-mortar bookstores and have found my book there too—somehow, I find that hard to believe! I’ll have to venture out to my local bookstore soon too to see if I can find it on the shelf.

If you are thinking about getting the book but haven’t yet, you may have noticed that signed copies are also now available right here in the Mochimochi Shop! These books only ship to US addresses (sorry!), but if you live outside the US and MUST have a signed copy, send me an email (to info[at]mochimochiland[dot]come) and we can arrange it.

And you also have one more chance to win a copy of the book! Kristen of Schmancy (the awesome vinyl and plush toy store in Seattle) has just posted a little interview with me on the Plush You! blog. She included this dorky picture she took of me last month when she was in town.

Kristen has played a big role in my design work in the past few years—she has been a wonderful mentor, connection-maker, and motivator! So it means a lot to me that she is celebrating the release on her blog.

To enter the latest (and, as far as I know, the last) Knitting Mochimochi giveaway, leave a comment on Kristen’s post over at Plush You! with a suggestion of the next Tiny Thing that I should knit. (I can never get enough suggestions, so I will be reading them avidly!) You have until July 13th to enter!

A big thank-you to Kristen, and also to my publisher Watson-Guptill for being so generous with the giveaway copies!

Knitting Mochimochi Review + Giveaway on Whip Up

Posted on June 28, 2010June 30, 2010 by Anna

More exciting Knitting Mochimochi news!

Whip Up just published a very nice review of my book—I was so happy to read it, because they are always on the cutting edge in crafting.

My favorite sentence from the review:

When I first saw Knitting Mochimochi, all that I could say was “squee!”, a high pitched “awwwww!” and that chubby cheek kind of noise that people make when they squoosh the cheeks of a gorgeous baby, a bit like “woodgewoodgewoodge”.

Along with the review, which was written by their contributor Kate, they are giving away a copy of the book! To enter, leave a comment on the post over at Whip Up telling them about “the craziest, funniest, and impractical thing you have every made.” (I wonder where they got that idea!) You have to act fast, though—they’re picking a winner 48 hours after the post went up, and it looks like it was published early on June 28th, Australia time.

Thank you so much to Kate and Whip Up!