That’s right, it’s time for the second-ever contest in Mochimochi Land!

We’re looking for the cutest, funniest, most original photos of toys made from Mochimochi Land patterns. The first place winner will get a box full of cute and unusual goodies straight from Japan: craft books, supplies and kits, toys, and more! There will also be prizes for second and third place.

The finalists will be selected from photos uploaded to the Mochimochi Friends group on Flickr. All of the photos that have been uploaded in the past six months (after November 30, 2007) are already entered to win! Then everyone will get to vote for the winners right here in August.

Here are the simple guidelines:

Eligibility
To be eligible, your photo must contain at least one toy made from a Mochimochi Land pattern. This can either be a pattern from the Mochimochi Shop or one of the free patterns on the Mochimochi Blog. The pattern may be modified, but not beyond recognition from the original pattern.

How to enter
Simply upload your photo(s) to the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group. If you don’t have a Flickr account, it is free and easy to register (though we recommend signing up as soon as possible, because it takes a little time for your account to be approved for sharing photos in a group). You can upload as many photos as you want, within reason.

Deadline
The last day to enter the contest is July 31st. We’ll be announcing the finalists shortly thereafter. Then everyone can vote for their favorites right here on the blog in early August, so be sure to check back then.

Check out last year’s winners for inspiration, then get those shutters clicking!

Update: Thanks so much to Limenviolet, the Craft blog, and Plush You for announcing the contest!

I’m very excited to announce the first-ever Mochimochi Land class at Loops yarn store in Tulsa! If you’ll be in the Tulsa area on Thursday, June 19th, or Saturday, June 21st, sign up now for one of the sessions by calling Loops at 918-742-YARN (9276). (See the website for full class info.)

What’s more, the class will also be the debut of a new Mochimochi Land pattern: Looper, the cuddly creature with a prehensile tail!

Looper will be exclusive to Loops through the end of the year. The printed pattern will be available both in-store and online starting in late June, so if you’re not in the area, you’ll still be able to get one!

A landmark event just occurred in Mochimochi Land: a pattern has been translated into another language!

Christhalinette, a knitter in France, was inspired to make the pattern for Grass accessible to non-English-speaking French knitters. So she published a full translation on her blog!

The idea of translating my patterns into other languages actually hadn’t occurred to me much, but I love the thought of that many more people being able to make Grass. My three or so years of French in high school didn’t prepare me for reading knitting patterns in French, but I’m sure Christhalinette did a great job. Thank you Christhalinette!

I don’t know what it is about this particular pattern, but so far it has been altered for knitting in the round (unfortunately the blogger who did this shut down his blog, so if anyone wants to try again, please do!), modified for crochet, and translated into French. I can’t wait to see what’s next for it!

Check back soon, or sign up for the mailing list (email info@mochimochiland.com) to receive a notice as soon as the pattern is available!