GIFs for GIFMAGAZINE + LINE

GIFMAGAZINE, a Japanese clearinghouse for GIFs, recently commissioned me to create four original GIFs for use in the popular LINE messaging app. They asked me to make "reaction" GIFs that would aide in communication. I was thrilled to oblige! 

With Thank You gnomes...

Sorry pandas...

Cheer Up computers... 

And OK! 

GIFMAGAZINE has been promoting the GIFs—here's a GIF they made to highlight my GIFs. I'm in GIF heaven! 

(The above shows how you can find the GIFMAGAZINE options in LINE—this is helpful, becuase it took someone showing me how to do it before I understood.)

The Knit Ball Pit

My biggest group project to date debuted and closed all in one big weekend. It was the Knit Ball Pit!

Over the course of four months I received a total 2,383 balls from knitters and crocheters from around the US and the world who enthusiastically contributed to this project.

The Knit Ball Pit accomplished its first mission at Vogue Knitting LIVE in NYC last weekend: serving soft, squishy, massage-y experiences to all who ventured to enter it! It truly felt amazing to ease yourself into the balls. Some were very reluctant to get out! We had many takers of all ages—check out all the #knitballpit posts for more photos and videos of this interactive exhibit. 

The balls are getting cleaned right now in preparation for their next adventure with the American Foundation for Children with AIDS (AFCA). AFCA will use the balls as packing materials when they send medical supplies to their partner hospitals in Congo, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Uganda, and the balls will be distributed to kids receiving treatment for HIV and to AIDS orphans throughout this year and beyond. 

I am so grateful for the hundreds of knitters and crocheters who contributed their time, materials, and talents to make this project such a success. Further big thanks go to Ladianne Henderson of Cheers To Ewe!, who connected us with AFCA and helped make this project possible. And thank you to Kristy Glass, Gaye Glasspie, Cecilia Nelson-Hurt, Louis Boria, and to everyone else who helped spread the word and organized knit-togethers. And thank you to Vogue Knitting LIVE! 

Knitting Swift from Nick Jr's Top Wing

I recently got to work with Nick Jr to make little knit versions of the characters from their series Top Wing!

 

This was my first time knitting an entire project on camera. I was actually sweating bullets throughout, even though I knew it would be sped up and wouldn't really matter if I made a mistake. 

This video shows me knitting Swift—figuring out how to do the color work on his head was the biggest challenge. I got to knit all four main characters, so there are more of these to coming to Nick Jr's social media. 

Season's Greetings

 

What dances in the heads of sugarplum fairies? Sweet dreams!

Rhymes with VOTE

Election day is coming right up on Tuesday, November 6th! If I have time to knit all these things, I have time to vote. And so do you! 

Let's Knit a Ball Pit!

Group knitting project alert!

I'm asking knitters and crocheters everywhere to help me knit a ball pit with personality! Imagine swimming in a pool of soft, squishy knitted balls, each of which is also an individual character swimming along with you... The concept is a playful, interactive experience that brings joy in every step of the process. 

The ball pit will debut at Vogue Knitting LIVE in NYC this January, a great venue because it will be full of knitters who will appreciate the time and love that went into making the ball pit possible! I hope to collect enough balls to fill a small pool that attendees can actually take a little "dip" in. Then after VK LIVE, we're donating all of the balls to the American Foundation for Children with AIDS, who will then send them to children in Congo, Uganda, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.

This wonderful arrangement was made possible by Ladianne Henderson of Cheers To Ewe!, who is also now the project sponsor!

I'm accepting balls through January 3rd, 2019. The full information and free pattern is available at mochimochiland.com. 

Podcast Interview: People I Think Are Cool

 

I'm on a podcast today! You can hear me talk about making GIFs, working with Nickelodeon, and other fun stuff with Liz Reed of Cuddles and Rage on her podcast People I Think Are Cool. ⁣(Thank you Liz!) ⁣

You can find People I Think Are Cool on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Stop-motion workshops at ELA Library

I had a blast doing stop-motion animation workshops at the ELA Public Library this month.

It was inspiring to see all different ideas and stories develop in an afternoon. We had tons of crafty materials on hand, and everything from pom-poms to play-doh to 3D printed figurines got moving through pictures. 

I hope these creators keep making movies. (Anybody can do it with free apps like Stop Motion Studio!) 

Thank you to Becca Boland for making this happen! 

New Birthday GIFs

It was my birthday on Friday (a Friday the 13th birthday, my favorite!), and this year I decided to give myself the gift of taking some time out from the week to create some birthday-themed GIFs starring the gnomes wearing, appropriately enough, their birthday suits!

I'd been meaning to make birthday GIFs for a long time, so this was as good a time as ever to accomplish it. You can find and share these with your friends via the Mochimochi Land GIPHY page.

 

I don't usually have such a public birthday, but it was wonderful to get so many happy returns from people on social media. I also celebrated by going out to a fancy lunch with my husband, John. It was a good day!

Abracadabbit's Hat Trick

Happy Easter and Happy April Fools Day! Abracadabbit the amateur magic rabbit has a hat trick for us—the longer video is below. 

Thank you to John Teti for music and sound.