Book Review: Teeny-Tiny Mochi Mochi

Anna Hrachovec, the creator of the website Mochi Mochi Land is one of my favourite designers of knitted toys. Her knitted creatures are are both wacky and adorable. Best of all, for me, are her tiny Mochi Mochi - a collection of people, creatures and objects all knitted in miniature! I decided to buy the book about thirty seconds after discovering it and it's one of my favourites, proving very useful for last minutes presents or speedy knitting gratification.

The first pattern I tried was this little gnome. He lives in my pencil tin at work and has made me feel better about life many times!

Here are a trio of monkeys, another pattern found in Teeny-Tiny Mochi Mochi. Although I do have a habit of knitting animals in unnatural colours, these guys were always intended to be blue, like the monkeys in a barrel toy.

My favourite pattern from the book are the bride and groom. I've given these as presents to two couples recently. While the pattern itself is very quick and easy, I had a lot of trouble making the faces cute. I initially tried the black, beady eyes but decided they were too creepy. Googly eyes were hilarious, but not really flattering for the bridal couple. In the end I decided to draw eyes on paper and coat them in clear glue before sticking them on.

Overall the patterns in this book are simple and fun to knit. I recommend it for intermediate knitters, primarily because tiny knitting can be fiddly and it could be nightmarish if you were not confident with increasing or decreasing or knitting in the round. I highly recommend Teeny-Tiny Mochi Mochi and any of the patterns from the Mochi Mochi Land website. It's even worth a look if you've never picked up a pair of knitting needles in your life! Have a look a her gnome vs snowman exhibition, it's great (go on :-P).

Craft: Knitted Pig a.k.a the "Pig-Mouse"

Pig-mice are small, mouse sized pigs who make their homes in bookshelves. I spotted this one between the knitting and cooking section.

 And again by the science fiction.

The pattern is from Spud and Chloe. It's actually an extremely cute flying pig. I've made the pattern three times and my attempts always come out slightly mousey - not that that's a bad thing exactly. Even when knitted in a more pig like colour, the effect is the same. I think it's the placement of the legs that make my pigs have pointy noises and therefore mouseyness! Regardless of whether it's a pig, a mouse or something in between, the results are still cute and it's a very easy pattern that can be made in a day if you're dedicated. Pig-mice make good last minute presents too.

Who wouldn't want to spy one of these little guys on their bookshelf??

Craft: Knitted Turtle

This is my newest friend, Sheldon the turtle. Poor Sheldon is a little bewildered by the outside world.

There are tasty things to eat out there...

... but things can go horribly wrong!

It's much better to stay safe inside with his friends.

The pattern comes from Ruth Homrighaus and is available for free on Knitty. This is one of the more challenging toy patterns I've made. Sheldon and his shell are two separate pieces. The shell can theoretically be taken off and washed separately, but I'm not confident that this will work for my Sheldon and he'll be happier if I don't try!

The pattern is fairly simple to follow until it comes to joining the parts of the shell together. If you're like me and tend to rush into a pattern without reading to the end first, you might find yourself having trouble with this step too. It took me several reads to realise that when crocheting around the shell attachment panel, the aim is to create four opening for the legs to poke through. You don't need to create an opening for the neck like I originally thought. This is done when you join the panel to the shell itself. And don't be tempted to skip the I-cord because this really brings Sheldon together and stops the shell from having slightly pointy corners.

I'd recommend this pattern to anyone who's mastered the basics of knitted toy construction. There are several techniques (I-cord and crochet) that would possibly make Sheldon a challenge for a beginner.

Knitted Ninja

The knitted ninja is cute and stealthy to knit. He's also deadly. He has knitted nunchucks and is not afraid to use them! Poor Yoshi...

The pattern is from Kate Boyette's book KnitWit (although I made the nunchucks). So far I've only attempted the ninja, but the book has lots of other interesting patterns like the Vampiric Panda and the Abominable Snowman. If that's the sort of thing you like to knit, the book's worth having a look at. Also it gets points for being full of puns!