They don’t get much teenier, or much tinier, than this.
When I first got into knitting at about ten years’ old, I was only interested in knitting toys. In fact, I only knitted a jumper for the first time about 18 months ago; before that, it was always, always exclusively cute things on my needles.
How then could I resist Anna Hrachovec’s designs? I stumbled across her work on Ravelry a year or so ago and had been desperate to try some patterns ever since. Thinking I’d literally start small, I bought one of her books, Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi. That was last June – and I’ve finally gotten around to trying it!
First off, my initial impressions: the book itself is beautifully photographed and really well-written. Every character has it’s own cheeky little bio line – some of which made me laugh out loud – and the instructions are very clear.
Every question you could possibly have is answered before you even jump into the patterns themselves, and Anna even offers tips and tricks for stuffing these teeny little cutiepies and tying off your ends neatly.
The actual patterns are equally clear, and very simple once you’ve got the hang of battling nine stitches on DPNs. I started with an elephant (toot toot!) and hadn’t knit in the round for ages, so for a little while I felt a bit like a weird, low-budget version of Edward Scissorhands.
Did I deliberately paint my nails before I started knitting because I knew I’d take photos? Yep.
Patterns are mostly made up of simple increases and decreases and work with i-cords. All your new friend’s appendages are made by picking up and knitting stitches, so if you’ve got those skills down you’ll definitely be able to tackle any of the patterns in the book.
It’s even cute without legs. Or ears. Or a face.
My favourite thing about these patterns (apart from their heart-wrenching cuteness, obviously) is that they really forced me to start being a bit of a perfectionist. Like my bio says, I’m a pretty slap-dash crafter, but with a project this small every mistake becomes glaringly obvious so it’s essential to pay super close attention to the instructions.
In fact, I even found myself approaching tying in my ends, and adding details, much more carefully; I even re-did the eyes (twice!) because I wasn’t sure they looked quite right. Because you’re working in such minute detail, the slightest difference in stitch placement can give these little guys an entirely different character.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend the book; it’s easy to follow, fun, and the results aren’t just irresistibly cute but achievable, too. It can be frustrating sometimes when you can’t get finished results to look like they do in their picture, but you won’t have that problem here.
I’ve now added a little dino to the family (he’s in the photo at the top!) and will be making a few more as a gift. Next, I’m dying to tackle Anna’s Squidpocalypse. It’s exactly as mad as it sounds.
Small dino.
Small tooter.
Small friends! 🙂
Hook, Knit and Stitch 