Amigurumi

Only have time for a little project? Try some amigurumi!

Long before amigurumi became the popular word it is today in knitting and crochet circles, I was making crocheted stuffed animals. Big, little, it didn’t matter. Just so long as they were cute.

Pattern: “Flippy the Fish” by Kj Hay, Crochet Today (J/A 2009)

In fact, after I mastered the granny square at age 9, my first crochet project was a stuffed owl, from a Workbasket magazine, followed quickly by a stuffed squirrel. I think what attracted me to these projects, aside from how cute they looked, was that they could be completed quickly.

Although each animal had several pieces to them (heads, bodies, arms, legs, etc), the pieces were generally small and only took a few minutes to construct. The most time consuming part was probably the sewing, but by then I was so excited that all the crocheting was done, I could see the end in a sight and it spurred me on.

When Annie’s Attic came out with those pamphlets of life-like crocheted dogs in the 80′s (where you brushed the yarn to make it resemble fur), I was all over those patterns. I made so many dogs I could’ve had a pet show!

My stuffed animal phase faded away about the same time Annie came out with all those beautiful Barbie doll patterns (the Bed Doll collections) because that became my obsession for most of the 90′s. But after my son was born, I found myself draw back to the stuffed animal patterns, so I could make him a few. Although he’s older now and the Webkinz phase has passed, he still loves the animals I made him. These days he wants me to crochet him Minecraft creatures, but with the influx of so many adorable Amigurumi patterns to my home library, I find him asking for the odd octopus or zombie just because they “look cool.”

Give it a try yourself! Two great books are available to help get you started:

Amigurumi Toy Box: Cute Crocheted Friendsby Ana Paul Rimoli — So many adorable patterns to choose from, I don’t know where to start, but I’m leaning toward making the snake first. Maybe the unicorn after that.

Amigurumi Knits: Patterns for 20 Cute Mini Knitsby Hansi Singh — My son is asking me to make just about every animal in this book, but since I’m still gaining experience with knitting, I’ll probably start with a simple pattern like the sea star.

Happy creature crafting!

Katelyn