Anna Hrachovec - Knitting Mochimochi: 20 Super-Cute Strange Designs for Knitted Amigurumi

FOR JOHN

All Rights Reserved.

Published in the United States by Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York

www.crownpublishing.com

www.watsonguptill.com

Watson Guptill is a registered trademark and the WG and Horse designs are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Text, designs, charts, and schematic illustrations copyright 2010 by Anna Hrachovec

Photographs on the following pages copyright 2010 to Brandi Simons: . All other photographs copyright 2010 by Anna Hrachovec.

eISBN: 978-0-307-58705-3

v3.1

I am grateful for the many people who contributed their talents, enthusiasm, and hard work to make this book possible. Many thanks to my husband John for his day-to-day support and his confidence in my silly toys, and to my mother-in-law Bonney, who inspired me to take up knitting again. Her crafting energy puts mine to shame.

The photography in this book was a team effort of friends and family. I couldnt have worked with a better photographer than Brandi, who was generous with her time and creativity, and who even sometimes risked injury to get the perfect shot. Her familys friendship made the photography process an adventure instead of a headache.

My parents and our friends in Oklahoma always came through with the perfect props, locations, and modeling to visualize a world in which toys live harmoniously with people. Thank you to Rick, the Scotts, Ching, Sandi and Serenity Aveda Day Spa, Leah, Geri and Loren, the Rowden family, April, Hannah, and Amy and David Simons . Thank you also to Yale Avenue Christian Church and the Collinsville Fire Department . (Yes, we even got a fire department involved.)

I love my pattern testers ! Thank you so much to all of them, especially those who have been helping me from the beginning: Angela, Joan, Marti, Tracy, Hannah, and Miki . I am blown away when I think of all the hours they have spent carefully reviewing my patterns and making their own versions of my toys, which often end up cuter than the originals.

I am very thankful for the supplies and other help provided by Rhichard at Koigu Wool Designs and Shannon at Cascade Yarns.

Lastly, my gratitude to everyone at Watson-Guptill for making this book happen, especially my editors Joy Aquilino, who guided me with patience and good humor, and Linda Hetzer, who worked so hard to make this book the best it could possibly be.

I dutifully knitted scarves and hats for a long time. But one day a few years ago, I started knitting toys on a whim, and now I cant stop!

The first toy I made was knitted flat in a simple shape and sewn up. It looked like an unevenly formed blob. But when I added two eyes with some spare embroidery thread, suddenly the blob came to life and looked back at me. I fell in love with my anthropomorphic blob! We read magazines and watched Seinfeld reruns together. I knitted a few more blobs for friends, and my friends fell in love with their blobs, too. Soon, I was hooked, and I started using the technique of knitting in the round to populate my life with more three-dimensional blob-like creatures, such as elephants and bathtubs.

The toys I knit are inspired by everything cute, funny, or strange that I see, starting with the wonderfully bizarre character designs I first found in Japan when I lived there as a high-school exchange student. There is no end to the rampant cuteness in that small island nationeven the food is cute, like mochi (MO-chee), a sticky-rice sweet of which Im a big fan. Early on, I decided to name my toy design company Mochimochi after this adorable edible and its squishy texture that reminds me of a soft toy. My love of cute and strange things has led me to mochify all manner of animals, objects, and even weather patterns.

From a knitters perspective, making toys, or amigurumi (ah-mee-goo-ROO-mee), as they are often called, after the Japanese term for knitted or crocheted toys, is great fun. They are quick projectssome take less than an hour to makeand they dont have to fit anyone. Well, there are a couple of exceptions in this book to that second point (see the Impractical Wearables section for some examples), but still, youll never find yourself asking someone, Does this toy make me look fat?

Knitting Mochimochi offers a herd of all-new and all-cute toy patterns to knit. The projects are tailored to a variety of skill levels and time commitments, from a one-inch-long hamster to an entire city block. Youll also learn how to design your own toy, from sketch to finish, so you can fall in love with your own primordial blob.

And fear not, beginners! Though many of the projects in this book introduce you to new techniques, there are plenty of instructional photos to help you along, and in the back youll find an illustrated guide to basic knitting techniques. Plus, unlike a sweater, a slightly lumpy knitted toy is all the more lovable.

So I welcome you to a place where your inner child and inner knitting geek can get together for a play date, a place where pigs wear 60s hairdos and friendly monsters munch on your feet.

Welcome to Mochimochi land!

There are three major reasons why I knit toys and reading about them will probably convince you that you, too, were destined to knit toys.

I loved toys as a kid and love them even more as a grown-up.

Toys, people! Who doesnt love toys? Everyone could use something silly looking back at them to make them smile. Sure, you could get a pet, but then theres all the mess and feeding and vet bills. A knitted toy doesnt need any shots, just a squeeze once in a while. And theres no need to be embarrassed. In the 21st centurythe cutest century to dateyou can hug a toy, carry a toy around in your bag, or display a toy on your desk without shame.

I love to knit.

If you are a knitter, you dont need to read this. If youre not a knitter, why arent you? Its like so totally the best hobby ever. With just basic techniques, you can create soft, snuggly works of art with your own two hands. Plus, like a kitten, youll get to play with balls of yarn. And millions of kittens cant be wrong.

I ran out of people to knit scarves and hats for.

Scarves and hats are great for crisp autumn days. But what about hot days, or days when you cannot bring yourself to knit yet another scarf for Aunt Mildreds birthday? May I suggest a knitted television, or perhaps a knitted angel and devil that Auntie can wear on her shoulders?