Whoops! Let's Try This Video Again!

 

So, this video was up for a whole week before anyone told me it had no audio :/ Bummer. I've fixed it now, so if you were at all interested in Mochimochi Land patterns, head over here to watch and let me know what you think!

New Video: Why I Love Mochimochi Land Knitting Patterns

I'm starting a series on My You Tube Channel called "Why I Love..." and I will be focusing on one designer or style or who knows what else to show you all the like that things I've made and why I love them. This first episode goes out to my OG - Mochimochi Land patterns. I love Anna Hrachovec's amigurumi patterns so much and I've made many of her patterns over the years. In this episode, I show off these projects:

The Stylish Nadine, Confused Moose, Paulie the Poly, Vernon the Winter Walrus, Super Shannon, Tiny Lumberjack, Arthur the Giant Pencil, The Degas Project, Flapjack Frogs, Irma, Mike and Eleven, Tiny Superman, Ice Cream Doggie, Punkin Kitty, Barnyard Playset, Tiny Spiderman, Baby's 1st Toilet, Hungry Snake, and Coo and Coy. Wow that looks like so much more when you type it all out, lol. 

So if you are interested in the ins and outs of why I love Mochimochi Land patterns or if you just want to snoop all my cute animals (no shame), head over to My Channel and give me a like :)

FO: Coo and Coy for Valentine's Day

This project has been planned for a few years now and I'm so glad I finally made it up :) This is the Coo and Coy pattern by Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land. It's twin birds that make a heart when put together, so what better surprise gift to make my twin girls for Valentine's Day?

I managed to make this entirely at night after my kids were asleep over the course of a few days. The body shapes are very simple and I finished one body per evening and then one more evening for the limbs and assembly.

One very cool touch of this pattern is that one of the wings gets a strap on the back, which enables you to make the birds hold wings! Isn't that cute?! lol It also keeps them together very effectively.

The feet are littles hearts, which I think just adds to the cuteness factor even if they were a bit tedious to make. For this project, I dug in my stash and came across this unloved skein of Loops and Threads Impeccable in the Rich Orchid colorway and then I paired that with Red Heart Super Saver Perfect Pink for the wings and whatnot.

I did change the recommended hair style to make my birds more girly - think pig tails. I think it turned out very cute. The only head scratching part of making this was assembling the limbs so that things looked even but still made them face the right way and mirror each other. It was a bit of a challenge, but not too bad. 

So that's my latest cute creation :) My kids loved them, but of course they fought over who got the bird with the strap on its wing. Oh well. It made for a very cute and personal Valentine's present and I hope they love them for years to come.

FO: Hungry Snake

When my first nephew was born, I had no children and a lot of free time so I used to knit and crochet him all kinds of toys. My sister had another boy a year after my kids were born and that poor guy has hardly anything I've made him at all. So this year for his 4th birthday, I wanted to make him something he would really like that was made by his favorite aunt :)

This is the Sleepy Snake and Mischievous Mouse pattern by Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land. This is another pattern I've had for years and always wanted to make up but just never took the plunge. The snake is essentially a double layered tube sock with a snake head and the construction is pretty interesting.

Once you have 2 snakes that are kissing, you shove the smaller snake inside the bigger one and then stuff the head and seam it together. I was working with stash acrylic yarn again and I ran out of the main color in the middle of the lining snake, so I switched to the blue from the mouse. The glory is that no one will ever know but me because that piece is completely hidden inside the outer snake. I used Red Heart Super Saver in Spring Green and Burnt Orange for the snake.

I deviated from the pattern for my snake and made him awake. I used embroidery floss and embroidered a chain stitch for his outer eye and then used a it of yarn in the center. I think it came out well without looking too creepy.

Next came the mouse :) This guy was so easy and I completed him in about an hour. I used I Love This Yarn in Soft Blue and Gray. Embroidering his eyes and whiskers took the longest, honestly.

The coolest part about this toy is that the snake can eat the mouse. Since the snake body is all ribbing, he's like a tube sock. You can shove the mouse down his throat to eat it.

And this gives you the tell tale lump of a snake who's just eaten. Cool, right? What little boy wouldn't love this? 

I had so much fun taking pictures of this project lol.  This was part of my nephew's birthday present this year and I'm happy to report that he loves it, which is always nice when making a toy for a kid.

My kids liked it so much they have asked for their own ever since I finished, lol. They both had fun pretending the snake was eating their hand. All in all, this was a fun project and I'm happy that my nephew has something that he knows I made for him that he can play with for a long time.

Summary:

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Spring Green and Burnt Orange, I Love This Yarn in Soft Blue

Pattern: Sleeping Snake and Mischievious Mouse by Anna Hrachovec

Time: 2 weeks

FO: Baby's First Toilet

And now for one of the weirdest items I've ever made: a knitted toilet. But wait! There's more! It's a baby toy, complete with jingly ball inside :)

Kind of a strange story. My youngest sister was having a baby (she's had it now, this was made back in the spring) and when she was younger she used to always doodle our family as butts and toilets. Any time she had a school drawing project, she would make a toilet. It because her signature thing. We've given her various toilet themed items over her life, but when I saw that Anna Hrachovec had a toilet pattern, I bought it with the intention of making it for her one day. I've had the pattern for several years now and it was her getting pregnant that finally got me inspired to finally make this up.

This pattern is Flushie by Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land. Even though I always wanted to make it, I never did because I knew it would be a fairly complicated shape so I just never felt up for the construction. Now that I've made it up, it's really not that bad if you are used to knitted toy construction. It's definitely not a beginner pattern if you want it to turn out like the example one.

You knit the toilet in parts and then seam it together. You start with the base, then the bowl and water, then the lid and tank. I used all stash acrylic yarn for this project: Vanna's Choice in white, and Caron Simply Soft in gray heather and baby blue. I've used these yarns countless times for baby toys and they hold up great over time.

Sewing everything together and stuffing it was interesting to keep things shaped correctly. You want it stuffed enough to stay the right shape, but not so stuffed that it looks too stuffed, you know? Then keeping the indentation for the water in the bowl was interesting. I got there in the end and I'm happy with the results, but it took a lot of focus and squeezing and stuffing to get it in the right shape. I added a jingly cat ball to the middle of the bowl of the toilet to keep the baby's interest.

Since I was making this for a newborn baby, I decided to make felt eyes. I used my trusty Sizzix Paddle Punches to make circles for the eyes and then I embroidered the white gleam and sewed these on. 

I think between the flusher, the eyes, and the friendly open mouth, it really makes this guy have a dapper appearance. Can a toilet seem dapper? lol I made this guy over the course of 3 days at the end of February and had him ready for my sister's baby shower mid March.

The baby shower was the big reveal and my sister loved it. I was very happy that she enjoyed it, lol, this is one that could have gone south easily, you know?

 

Now that it's done and the baby is out, I hope that he enjoys it as he grows. I hope this becomes a beloved baby toy that he has to explain to others when he's older hahaha. All in all, this was a very successful project and I would definitely make it again should the need arise. This was my first finished object of 2023 and it set the precedent for sure. 

 

Christmas FO: Mini Snowmen Ornaments

This project kind of grew like the Grinch's heart - now that has got to be the cheesiest line I've ever written on this blog, lol. I bought this pattern last year thinking I would make Christmas ornaments for my family and friends. Ha ha ha, let's all take a moment for that deep laugh to subside. I always have great intentions for group gifts like this, but then I quickly become overwhelmed by just how many I would need to make to include everyone. So they were never made. This year I decided I would make one for my sister, since that was the original inspiration anyway, so I started making just one, which took about an hour. Well I couldn't make her a cute ornament and not my nephew, and since it was quick to knit I just made another right after in one evening. Thus the first two were created:

See the reason I wanted to make one for Kelly is this awesome charm topper thing I snagged at a thrift store years ago. It was some kind of family name thing that the previous owner never put together (where each name dangles from the one above in a line), and I had uses for 2 of the names. Kelly was my only family member present, so I grabbed it and put it away for just such a project. Now that it's made I really wish I could find these things for everyone, but that is just not feasible. Maybe I'll actually get good at lettering and make something next time. We'll see. Anyway, Kelly and Luke loved their snowmen, as evidenced here:

Luke kept wanting to hang it from everything, lol. His had a green scarf because that's his favorite color right now, which he thought was pretty cool.

Well, giving these sparked a chain reaction of family members wanting one. My mom saw theirs and her reaction was awesome about how cute they were, so when I had a little time one night I decided to make her one next:

My mom's favorite color is red, so it just had to be a red scarf.

Next I really wanted to make some for my Aunt and Uncle as a thank you, and I needed to get them in the mail so they would arrive in time, so I spent a few hours making these:

For these I got creative and switched up the color of the hanging loop. Fancy! lol.

I never know what to give my sister Shannon's husband (sorry, Justin!). He likes cars and such like - not exactly my forte, ya know? So this year he got Amazon money, but I wanted to give him a little handmade touch so I made him a snowman as well. And, you know, I can't send an ornament to the guy and not the girl - it's just not the way - so I made Shannon one as well.

After making these two, I deliberately gave Shannon the red scarf because it was a bit sassier looking, lol. And yes, I realize these look identical to the one for my Aunt, but I swear they are not (I even checked to make sure the photos were of different sets). Tricky little snowmen...

Finally on Christmas Eve, I really wanted to have something to give my grandmother and she LOVES miniature things so I knew this would be perfect. At that point, I had this pattern down to a science, so I knew I could get it made along with the other finishing touches I had to do that night.

I gave it to her at our big family breakfast on Christmas morning, and it promptly went into her miniatures cabinet. He looks pretty chill with that squirrel.

For anyone else needing to make a quick gift next year, this is the Mochimochi Snowmen by Anna Hrachovec and I can't recommend it enough. If you don't mind things being small and therefore slightly fiddly, this is a fantastic pattern. It's super fast and very easy as far as tiny knitted people go (I've made a several different patterns this size at this point and this was definitely the easiest - no arms and legs!). Also this pattern is only $2 on Ravelry - can't beat that. I also have quite a stash of fingering weight in various colors at this point, so the snow men were Golden Sun Bamboo yarn (from China on ebay) in white  and bleck for the embroidery, while the scarves were all from Knit Picks Palette in Macaw, Serrano, Cyan, and Limeade Heather. But really as long as you have white yarn for the body, you can use absolutely anything for the scarves and they all turn out cute.

So while I did not realize my dream of making one for everyone, I am happy with my little crop of 8 this year. Now that I know how easy this is to make, I'm sure that I will make more in the next few years for those who did not get one this time around. All in good time, folks!

FO: Flapjack Frogs

This is a project that I've wanted to make for quite a while. Back at the beginning of March, I found myself without a toy project. I had just finished my baby doll, and I really just felt like knitting toys quietly in the evenings. So I kind of haphazardly picked a pattern I liked from my stack and started knitting. I've always loved the Flapjack Frogs by Anna Hrachovec, and it was one of the first patterns I ever bought from her. Such a cute idea, right?!

So I dug through my stash of green acrylic, worsted weight yarns (of which I actually have quite a selection, lol). I started with Premier Everyday Soft Worsted in Shamrock, then Red Heart Super Saver in Spring Green, then I Love This Yarn in Jelly Bean. I liked the variations between light and dark all represented in the one project. Because of the bright colors of the frogs, I went with a hunter green (Caron Simply Soft in Dark Sage) for the lily pad. The white is Vanna's Choice on their tummies and the fly's wings. The black is Premier Everyday Soft Worsted, and the pink is Red Heart Super Saver in Perfect Pink.

One of my favorite touches is the little tongue - it's just so funny, lol. I didn't want to over do it though, so I only made one frog with a tongue. I used 9 mm safety eyes for the frogs.

Speaking of cute touches, look at that little fly! He's cute on his own, but I think what really makes him super adorable is his little colored eyes. I was lucky enough to test out some Suncatcher Craft Eyes and I got a multicolored pack of size 6 mm. Not only was this the perfect mini size for the fly, but this limey green color is so vibrant that it even showed up on a totally black background. Isn't that awesome?! This is the second set I've used and they are just such nice quality. I'm definitely a believer :)

So, what do you do when you're taking pictures of a fun set like this? You make little scenes, of course, lol. My nephew helped name the frogs, so this is Frank with Flynn the fly, lol. 

And how about a little synchronized swimming? It's like they're sky diving or something, lol.

And why not add in the lily pad? Also aren't their knees cool? I love all the little touches that Anna adds to her patterns. They are small touches, but they make the project so much more interesting and they have much more character.

So now I finally have my set of Flapjack Frogs :) They are fun for playing leap frog with, as well as stacking in various ways. Anna has a few other patterns that keep with the theme of stacking (Pile-Up Pups and Stackable Cats) which I will eventually make as well. They're just so fun! I'm glad to have them on hand "for future children". In the meantime, they will looks really cute in my sewing room :)

(Please Vote For Me!) My Entry in the Mochimochi Land Annual Photo Contest

If I've only got your attention for a quick second, just skip the rest of the post and CLICK HERE TO VOTE! lol Mine is The Tragic Tale of Piggie Antoinette. Thank you so much if you do vote!

If you're here to read the post (and then vote after ... please ... lol), then please read on :)

I've long watched the annual Mochimochi Land photo contest and wished I could join in. I love Anna Hrachovec's patterns, but I never felt like I had made enough of her patterns to make a proper entry in the contest. This year, though, I was struck with inspiration. It all started with Arthur, the big pencil:) As soon as I finished him I remembered that the deadline for entries this year had been extended and I would have just over a week to some up with something, and the ideas flowed from there. So this is what came from my original inspiration: Letters To Santa.

It's amazing what having a large knitted pencil does for your creativity with photos, lol. I had a heck of a time making the nickels by their hands noticeable, and it's very hard to focus on both large animals and small ones in a convincing way. In the end, it didn't really come out as well in real life as in my head, but I still think it's cute :) I ended up getting an honorable mention for this entry! Not bad for my first time entering the contest :)

Once I had the Letters To Santa finished, I decided to keep on shooting. I made the Pig With Wigs pattern years ago (because it's awesome) and I branched an idea out from the Marie Antoinette style bouffant wig the pig pattern includes. At first I thought I would just do a series of photos, sort of like a comic book, but then I got the idea to turn it into a gif and it just took off from there. So here is The Tragic Tale of Piggie Antoinette:

via GIPHY
Again I'll confess it didn't turn out as well in real life as I had hope, but I still think the idea is pretty silly and fun. I used a Carolyn Burnett oil painting I got at a thrift store years ago as the back ground (it's one of my favorites), and I had to create a sort of platform for the animals to be level with the street in the painting. I clothed my pig with a scrap of stretch lace from my wrap top I made last year so she could look more like Marie Antoinette, and I made little torches for all of "the angry mob"  using toothpicks and drawn flames, lol. It's silly, but I think that adds to the overall ridiculousness. The animals I used are mostly from Anna's patterns with a few added friends. I love the Confused Moose with the torches, lol. I had to make one for each bird. I do wish I knew more about making videos though. Photos I can do, but I've never got into video, so I don't know the software and whatnot. I used Giphy to make this a gif, but I wish I could've had more control over the timing of each shot and that I could've added music (I had picked out this song, but I couldn't get it to attach to the gif no matter what website I used - I like to just open it up in a new tab and let it play as I watch, lol). This is my first ever gif though, so I'm pleased it just exists.

And that brings me to by shameless plea - Could you vote for my video? The prize packs are pretty awesome, and there are 5 other videos competing. CLICK HERE TO VOTE If you love another video more, please feel free to vote for it as well (you can pick more than one), I just figured since this is my blog it couldn't hurt to ask, lol.

This whole experience has really got my creative juices flowing, and my husband and I are already dreaming up ideas for next year's contest :) This time I will have longer than a week to make it all happen, lol, so that's something. Thanks so much for voting, and I'll let you know how it turns out!

Christmas FO: The Big Pencil

I always try to ask my younger brother what he would like me to make him for Christmas. He's really into tall socks right now, but there was no way that was going to happen before Christmas, so I asked him what else he would like. He really loved my Giant Roly Poly that I made a while back and asked me to make him a giant animal of some kind too. Easy enough, right? I just pulled out my copy of Hue and Huggable Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec and consulted my stash of big yarn to see which pattern options I had to choose from. I don't tend to use bulky and super bulky weights often, but I have been known to buy up a bunch of yarn if it's super on sale (especially when I first learned to knit, but didn't yet know about types of yarn) and I had quite a few skeins of Lion Brand Hometown USA in different colors from Walmart clearances. I wanted to make him a Capybara at first, but then I noticed it used just regular bulky yarn and I only had super bulky on hand. Bummer! That left me a bit dejected since my only remaining options I felt I had the yarn for and could tackle in time were the tooth brush and the pencil. I thought the tooth brush might be seen as a sarcastic jab (he is a teenager, after all, so the command, "go brush your teeth" needs to be given on occasion), so I decided to go with the pencil. Meet Arthur :)

Arthur is actually the only pattern from the book that is also available for free on the Lion Brand website, so follow that link should you decide to make your own giant pencil. This ended up being a far quicker knit than I anticipated and I finished it in about 3 or 4 hours. Pretty crazy!

Can you believe I had all the right colors of the recommended yarn in my stash already?! I know! lol. The only yarn I didn't have was the pink for the eraser, so I just doubled up and knitted with 2 strands of Red Heart Super Saver in the Perfect Pink colorway and it worked ok. I find that doubled up thin yarn tends to stretch more than the thicker yarn does, so you can see the channels between the stitches a bit more in the pink area, but it's not that bad and I doubt any non-knitters would notice.

I love hoe nice and orderly the top of the pencil is :) You start on the eraser and work your way down, which I was happy about since my decreases never turn out as tight as my increases on amigurumi - I'm still trying to figure out why that is.

The metal band under the eraser is the Dallas Gray colorway, the yellow is Pittsburgh Yellow, the wood tip is Virginia Beach, and the top is Okaland Black. The Virginia Beach really is just the perfect color for wood, don't you think? I love how the colors turned out. There are 2 rows of color work where the yellow and brown meet, but it was ridiculously simple to do. It gives that zig zag edge you get when you sharpen a pencil, which was a nice touch I thought.

I had quite the time keeping the pencil straight looking while stuffing - and man, did this thing take a lot of stuffing! I'd stuff in a huge wad of batting only to have it obviously need more, so the different wads became a bit complicated to smooth out. We got there in the end though. Also thebook recommends 15 mm eyes, but I used a pair of 18 mm eyes because I liked the look of them better. This gives a closer together look than the 15 mms in the example, which I tend to think looks better. Just my opinion though. And it was my pencil, lol.

And the back view. You can see a bit of the color jogs between rows, but it's not bad. This really turned out as a nice pillow size. I used it to lean on while I laid on the couch after finishing it, and I was perfectly comfy :) It's also a great size for a lumbar pillow or a neck pillow, so lots of practical uses for this seemingly ridiculous knitted creation, lol.

Completing this guy also inspired me to do a little photo shoot for the Mochimochiland Annual Photo Contest before I gave him over to Briggs for Christmas (look for a post on that soon too!) and he;s pretty fun to play with. My family all had the idea that I should've put an actual pen in the tip so it would really write, lol. Maybe on the next version.

So that was Brigg's Christmas gift :) He seemed to like it, so that's another win I say. Soon to come - more Christmas gifts! lol