I decided to have a go at making my first amigurumi today.
Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting small stuffed animals. A while ago, I picked up a book that I thought looked like fun titled
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amigurumi.
The book supplies you with all the basic information you need to get started on making amigurumis, whether they be from patterns or from your own imagination. It includes a few different patterns to start you off, and I decided to try the simplest one out first: a hamster. It was really fun to make and pretty easy. It ended up taking me about 4 hours to make this one, and I know next time it will be a lot faster because I won't need to keep referencing to book to figure out how to do all the different stitches. My cats, Pi and Theta, kept me company throughout the process and I decided to let them have it as a toy when I was done (I put in a bunch of catnip with the stuffing).
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| Theta thought it would be comfortable to sleep in my sewing box |
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| Crocheting with my meowheads |
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| My first amigurumi |
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| Hamster stuffed with catnip |
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| Hamster stuffed with catnip |
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| Me and my first amigurumi |
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| Pi killing the hamster |
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| Pi and his new hamster amigurumi |
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| Pi loves his new hamster |
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| Pi loves his new hamster |
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| Theta loves the hamster too |
This hamster was made with some really lovely yarn I bought from
KnitWit Yarn Shop, which is right in the east end of Portland. The specific yarn I got is made by
Quince & Co. who spins their yarn right in Biddeford. Their yarn is 100% American Wool, and the specific style I decided on was the lark, which worked out really well for the amigurumi with a size E hook. I used the colors Gingerbread (120) and Egret (101). Also note that because I wanted this toy to be safe for my kitties, I didn't use any plastic parts for the embellishments; I only used felt and embroidery floss. If this was for a baby or small child, you wouldn't want to use plastic parts either.
The whole reason I decided to have a go at amigurumi was so I can make some toys for my not-yet-born baby boy, Mattimeo. I think he is excited about it because he was kicking in my belly a lot while I was crocheting!
