Now that I’ve started adding cross-stitch patterns to my shop and I might someday do other kinds of projects, I’m thinking it’s time for a new Mochimochi Land tagline! Right now, it’s “Knitted toys and people living together in a spirit of tolerance.” I like the subtle humor of this, but I think a tagline that isn’t so knitting or toy-specific might be a good idea.

You guys are creative, so I would love to hear YOUR ideas for a new Mochimochi Land tagline. Please leave them in the comments to this post! It should probably be catchy and cute, but not too cute. (You know what I mean.)

I won’t necessarily use one of the suggestions, but I might! If I choose your suggestion, there’s no prize, but you do get some glory for totally knowing what Mochimochi Land is all about.

I’m so excited to reveal the cover of my forthcoming book!

You may have noticed it there on the right sidebar of my blog – if you click on that link, you can pre-order it and get it when it’s released in late June. (It’s also great if you want to wait until the summer and buy it from your favorite LYS.)

There are more projects than shown on the inside, and there are also lots of beautiful on-location photos taken by the amazing Brandi Simons inside. (I can’t share those right now, but I’ll definitely give an inside peek when I can!)

If you’re wondering, the big-mouthed guy featured on the cover is a wearable slipper called a Feet Eater! In addition to animals and inanimate objects, the book contains patterns for a number of extremely silly wearable toys. I’ll be sharing more details about the book, including some photos from Brandi’s shoots, in the coming months, so stay tuned!

I was recently contacted by a crafter who was interested in knitting up some hearts from my free pattern to sell in the Craft Hope for Haiti Etsy shop to raise money for disaster relief for the people of Haiti. This is of course a very worthy cause, and I was happy that someone thought of using my design as a way to contribute.

It looks like the Craft Hope for Haiti project has been so popular among sellers that they are taking a break from accepting new items for now. I know many of you are sellers at Etsy, though, and at other craft fairs. I encourage anyone to get in touch if you’d like to sell items made from any of my patterns to raise money for Haiti relief. Typically, all I ask is that you donate 100% of the profits to an established and vetted organization (I recommend the Red Cross) and that you include a Mochimochi Land credit on your item listing / pricetag.

Hearts in particular are great projects for all kinds of charity fundraising. The Children’s Society, a UK organization that benefits needy children, is currently using the pattern to raise funds with a project called The Big Stitch. I am happy to hear that word is spreading and the project is helping a lot of kids!

If you’d like to use my patterns to raise funds for Haiti earthquake victims or other worthy causes, I would love to hear from you! Just send me an email at info [at] mochimochiland.com.