Category: Mochimochi Land News

The Tinys are here! The Tinys are here!

Yes, the much-anticipated patterns for Tiny Things are finally in the Mochimochi Shop!

tinys1_avail

This first collection includes patterns for a Tiny Elephant, Tiny Corn, Tiny Violin, and Tiny Toothpaste. Got some sock yarn scraps lying around from former projects? You don’t need much to make these guys! Or, if you’re not so miniature-inclined, these patterns will work with heavier-weight yarn too.

Techniques include knitting in the round on double-pointed needles, I-cord, picking up stitches, and simple color knitting.

Buy the PDF collection of patterns for $5 here!

2010 Thoughts and Plans and Stuff

I hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start! Because this is as good a time as any to be self-reflective, I thought I’d share some thoughts on the new year for Mochimochi Land.

I don’t have any specific resolutions for Mochimochi Land, but I plan to make it an exciting year in toys! The biggest anticipation for me is my book coming out in June. Argh still six more months away! I put a lot of 2009 into working on it (and so did my awesome testers), so I hope people will enjoy it and treasure it and sleep with their arms around it. Or just enjoy it.

Of course I have plans for lots of new patterns to add to the Mochimochi Shop this year, FIVE of which I am simultaneously working on right now. (This month will see the first Tiny Things collection and a new cross-stitch pattern!) In addition to continuing to always improve at designing knitted toys, I’m hoping to get better at designing in two dimensions and convert more people to cross-stitch.

I’m planning to keep up the weekly Tiny Series for a while, but I probably can’t do it indefinitely. Or maybe I can. We’ll see!

There are a few other big projects that I’m working on that need to stay under wraps for now. Don’t you hate that? I know, I shouldn’t have said anything. Just forget that I’m working on top-secret huge exciting projects.

Oh, and John and I are putting together plans for a site redesign! I can’t say when it will be done, but our plan is to create a pretty new website that’s easy to use and has more features.

I hope you will all continue to read my blog and leave comments in 2010 if I promise to keep blogging. Let’s make it another toy-rific year together! (Sorry, but this awful pun is here to stay for another decade.)

Luv-able & Hug-able Opening

It was a great opening at gallery hanahou last Thursday for “Luv-able & Hug-able!”

lughug09_open

There were so many cute plushes there! I took home this “Snowflake” guy on the left, by Eerika Valkonen

lughug09_snowflake

And the little bitty bearded one at the top right here, made by Yuriko Sera:

lughug09_yurikosera

Keighty Crochet was also there, and so was Katie Park—we talked knitted toy design, which is something I don’t get to do as often as I would like.

Check out more photos from the opening at the gallery’s Flickr page. And all of the plushes are now available online!

Here is the obligatory photo of me posing next to my factories.

lughug09_open2

I’m already starting to think about what I’ll make for next year’s show…

Mochimochi Snowmen Pattern FREE with Purchase!

This week’s Tiny Thing came early, and it’s available as a pattern! What’s more, that pattern is FREE with any purchase from the Mochimochi Shop!

mochimochisnowmen_avail

These little guys are handy holiday helpers! Whip each up in less than an hour, then use them as present toppers, stocking stuffers, holiday jewelry, or ornaments.

Just purchase anything in the Mochimochi Shop, and a link to download the PDF pattern will be sent to you via email within 24 hours of your purchase.

Talk at Knitty City December 10th

knittycity_logoHey New Yorker knitters! I’ll be at Knitty City next Thursday (December 10th) at 6-8 pm as part of their “Young Designer” series of talks. Come and you can meet Sleepy Snake and other Mochimochi toys in person while we talk toy knitting. It’s a free event, so I hope you’ll come!

Also, if you’re in the area, don’t forget that “Luv-able & Hug-able” opens TONIGHT (December 3rd) at gallery hanahou, from 6-9 pm. You can preview all the plushes in the show online right now! (They’ll be available for purchase online starting at 1 pm tomorrow.)