Amigurumi: Crochet has Never Been so Adorable!

I have never been a fan of crochet. While hand knit items are soft and drapey, crocheted crafts always struck me as thick and rigid. Not to mention grandmotherly. I was forced to change my opinion of crochet when I discovered Amigurumi — small stuffed toys, that are generally crocheted rather than knitted.

From Rement to Daruma, I have not been shy about my love of all things Japanese, and so it’s not surprising that the Japanese found a way to make crochet irresistible. Judging by the pages and pages of Flickr groups devoted to Amigurumi, or the number of Ravelry members who have crocheted the Angry Birds Cardinal (431 and counting!) making these cute stuffed animals is pretty popular.

If I wanted to join in I was going to have to get some patterns and teach myself how to crochet. I started with a book. I picked it because it was the only Amigurumi book that Fancy Tiger had in stock, so I figured it was probably the best choice. After placing a quick order for a set of crochet hooks, and another for safety eyes, I was ready to crochet my way to cuteness. Except there was one problem, I still didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

Beginning an amigurumi involves something called the “magic circle.” I am pretty sure that it must be magic because I have repeatedly tried to learn how to do it. At the moment my first project looks like this:

I haven’t given up yet, though. There are a variety of online tutorials, and I’m pretty sure I will find one that can explain this stuff to me. Until then I will just keep adding patterns to my Ravelry queue, and resisting the urge to purchase premade Ami on Etsy.

Feature photo courtesy of The Itsy Bitsy Spider