Huge & Huggable Mochimochi is Here

My fourth book of knitting patterns is now availabe in bookstores everywhere! 

Huge & Huggable Mochimochi contains patterns for 20+ of the biggest squishiest mochis ever! 

These projects took up a significant chunk of 2012 for me. It was a ton of work to knit these guys, but the huge toys gave me a kind of bigger canvas in which to incorporate lots of fun knitting techniques, like cables, bobbles, unusual shaping, and colorwork. 

Some of my favorite projects include Roland the Roly Poly... 

a Capybara Caravan... 

and this handy guy, Totes Adorbs! 

As with my other books, the wonderful photography is by Brandi Simons. We had just as much fun with the shoots as it looks! 

Signed copies of the book are available from Mochimochiland.com. I'll also be doing a few book signings this fall: 

October 24th: Lion Brand Yarn Studio, NYC
November 1st-3rd: Vogue Knitting Live Chicago
December 7th: Looped Yarn Works, Washington D.C.
December 8th: Loop, Philadelphia

Big thank-yous go to Brandi, to Nora, my adorable niece and cover model, to all my testers, to Cascade Yarns, Lion Brand, Knit Picks, and Spud & Chloë, to my tech editor Marilyn Passmore, to my editor Betty Wong and her assistant Caitlin Harpin, and to everyone else who helped make this book happen!

Interview on bettery magazine

A short interview that I did with bettery magazine went online last month. The occasion was the 2013 Pictoplasma Festival, and so the questions were about urban art and characters! 

Thank you to Laure at Pictoplasma for arranging the interview. 

Mochis Take Ann Arbor

My visit to Ann Arbor last month was a blast! It was such a beautiful town, and the Ann Arbor District Library gave me a warm welcome.

 On July 13th I got to set up a robot-themed Mochimochi display in the window of the Robot Supply & Repair Shop, which supports the nonprofit writing center 826MI.

 

It was fun to gather up toys that I'd made over the past few years (most are samples for patterns) and put them in a scene with a bunch of curious robots. 

The display will be up until the end of August or so, so plenty of people will get to see it! 

Right now there are also several scenes from Gnomes vs Snowmen scattered around town—participants in the library's summer game can spot them to win virtual badges.

I also gave a slideshow talk at the library on July 14th, which I'm happy to report was well attended. There's a video of it that may go online at some point. I'll post that when it happens. 

Big thank-yous to Erin Helmrich and the Ann Arbor District Library, to Amy at 826MI and the other shops who are hosting the Gnomes and Snowmen, and to everyone who came to the talk! I truly hope to return to Ann Arbor very soon.  

Talk at Ann Arbor Downtown Library July 14th

My squishy friends and I will be visiting Ann Arbor next month! 

I'll be giving a talk with slideshow and signing books at the downtown library on July 14th, from 2-4 pm. Come learn about how Mochimochi Land came to be and meet some of the characters who live there! (There may even be some super-sneak previews of Huge & Huggable Mochimochi, along with other surprises...)

In addition, I'll have some of my artwork and other characters on display around town that weekend, so keep your eyes peeled, Ann Arborites! 

This will be my first visit to the area, so I hope to see you there if you live nearby. I can't wait!

Please visit the Ann Arbor District Library website for all the info. 

More Wooly Woods Now Online

The Wooly Woods is now online!

More photos from my April solo show are now up in the Installations section of this website—most of them were taken by my sister-in-law Jenna, who was my awsome travel companion to Berlin for this show. (Check out her beautiful photography website, especially if you live in the NYC or New England area.)

I've also listed the eight available pieces from the show in my shop. Here's a bigger look at each of them. 

 He Loves Me... 

Hush, Little Twiggins

 

Panda Play

Crabby Apple Harvest

 

Ready or Not

C'mere, Stinkbug

That Tickles

Wish I Had a Tail

For more information or to purchase a piece, please contact me at anna@annahrachovec.com.

New Animation: Tiny Cavemen Adventures

The tiny cavemen of Mochimochi Land have been making all kinds of discoveries about their world, and undercover anthropologists have captured it all on video. 

This is my first multi-part stop-motion animation. More to come soon, I hope! 

Photos from The Wooly Woods

I'm barely over my jet lag from a return flight from Germany, but I just couldn't wait to share photos from The Wooly Woods!

Even though it was only up for a few days at smallspace gallery, the Pictoplasma Festival (along with some nice local news coverage) brought lots of happy visitors. I couldn't be happier with how the show went, although it's bittersweet that I've had to part with more than half of the pieces. (Yay for sales though!)

The show is an imaginary woods from a small corner of Mochimochi Land, inhabited by curious creatures called twiggins, who are discovering their environment and playing wit hthe other animals who live in it.

Magic apple harvest!

Who's afraid of snails and slugs?

 Let's conga!

Shhh...

Here, wormy worm!

Monkeys love this game!

All the couples go to this branch to make out. 

Tails have all kinds of uses! 

The Wooly Woods turned out to be one of my favorite projects ever, and I hope to continue its life in a few more places in the future. My sister-in-law Jenna Leigh Teti accompanied me on this trip, and she took some more professional photos that I'll be sharing later. 

Thank you to Anna at smallspace and everyone at Pictoplasma for making The Wooly Woods happen!

The Wooly Woods is Now Open!

If you're in Berlin, please stop by smallspace gallery through this Sunday (April 14th) to see my new solo show, The Wooly Woods.

This was a huge project for me, and I'm so happy with how it turned out (not to mention the fact that all these branches arrived intact). My thanks to Anna Hahn at smallspace and the awesome people of Pictoplasma for making it happen! 

There are many more fun character art shows going on for the Pictoplasma Festival, all free and open to everyone. 

And join me this Saturday (April 13th) at Platoon for a monster knitting workshop. Bring yarn of any kind and a set of double-pointed needles. All experienced knitters are welcome! 

(These guys are also available for purchase at the Pictoplasma shop at Platoon.)

 

More photos from the show coming soon!

Knit a Monster with me in Berlin April 13

All knitters in Berlin are invited to join me for a monster knitting session on April 13th! 

Bring some yarn (any kind) and a set of double-pointed needles (sized a bit smaller than you'd normally use with the yarn), and we'll get our toy knitting on! Copies of the patten will be provided, but you can download the PDF pattern right now and start knitting! 

Please note that this workshop is for knitters with experience using double-pointed needles. I'll be demonstrating some of the techniques used in the pattern, but won't be teaching how to knit. 

See you in Berlin! (And be sure to check out all the other fun Pictoplasma happenings.)

New Mailing List

Photo by Brandi Simons

I've finally started a mailing list just for my art-related stuff. It's an occasional email about shows, special projects, and new artwork for sale. Sign up here!