Hrachovec first learned to knit while on an exchange trip to Japan during her senior year of high school, an influence that is easily seen in her pieces, she said. She did not realize, however, that knitting would become such an integral part of her life eventually growing into her career until a few years later.
"At Dartmouth, my boyfriend's mother encouraged me to knit, and I thought it was a great way to take a break between studying," Hrachovec said. "But I really wasn't intensively knitting until my junior year of college."
At first, Hrachovec only knitted scarves and hats, but she became interested in knitting toys about four years ago.
"I just started making toys sort of on a whim I got really hooked on it because I've always loved toys and never really grew out of stuffed animals," she said. "I began taking pictures of my toys to post on Flickr and had some nice responses from other knitters online. I quickly discovered that there's a huge knitting community online, and they're very supportive."
With the help of her Dartmouth boyfriend-turned-husband, Hrachovec launched her site, Mochimochi Land, in 2007 and began posting new designs and patterns.
"The site took off pretty quickly, so at that time I thought this was something I was having fun with so I'll see where it goes," Hrachovec explained. "But eventually I began to create more complex art pieces for gallery shows."
Currently, Hrachovec has a show in Manhattan at Gallery Hanahou, where she has been working for several years. The show, "Greetings from Mochimochi," opened on Oct. 7 and will run through the end of the month.
"It was really exciting to be able to make whatever I wanted to, and so I created an installation piece," Hrachovec said of the show. "I started with a model train because I thought it would be fun to create something out of, so I made a covering to make it into a creature and then I created a large, crazy landscape around it."
Hrachovec's creature-train meanders through snow-topped mountains with eyes that make them look like they've escaped from the Mushroom Kingdom. Meanwhile, a kelp-covered, cuddly purple monster dangles a unicorn by its tail, as a pink Elvis lounges on clouds hanging from the ceiling.
According to Hrachovec, her toys and installations are heavily influenced by Japanese design, pop culture and products like Hello Kitty, which she contends helps the designs appeal to all ages. Her works are also inspired by another Dartmouth alumnus, Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel '25.
"I always liked the crazy worlds he created and the rhymes and the word plays he used," she said, adding that she tries to "incorporate urban myths and cliches" in order to give her cute figures a "twist."
While at Dartmouth, Hrachovec studied Japanese and film. Hrachovec was awarded a Fulbright scholarship after graduating, which she used to travel to Japan to research 1930s Japanese propaganda film, according to Vox of Dartmouth.
Although her love of film has not obviously translated in her field of work, Hrachovec said it indirectly plays a role in her designs.
"I think that a little bit of that visual language of film that I learned about at Dartmouth finds its way into the things that I'm making now, especially," she explained.
Two years ago, Hrachovec was approached by a book editor who found her work online. Hrachovec made about 20 new patterns for the book, released last June, that she said she hoped would be cute and clever toys that would appeal to all ages.
"Being published gives you a little more legitimacy and reaches more people, so it was a great process," she said.
