Amigurumi

February 24th

I was asked..."Can you make this, please?"

Amiigaarami, no amicurami, no that's not right it's ami something, ah amigurumi!  It took me months to get this word right, spell check had not heard of it and so my initial efforts back in 2014 of trying to find out what this form of crochet was all about was impeded by my lack of spelling ability.

I was asked by a large company if I could make a mascot for their environmental week to raise awareness of recycling and could I please make it so he looked like the orange and green drawing you see here on this blog post.  My first commission and I immediately screeched yes me, me, me replied calmly, of course, I could before they realised their mad fool mistake of asking a complete amigurumi novice.

So what is amigurumi?  It's a form of crochet believed to have originated in Japan and is hugely popular.  Think cute little-stuffed toys, often with large eyes and you get the picture.  Obviously, over the years it has developed and now is seen all over the internet, (on Instagram alone there are almost 1.5 million hashtags devoted to amigurami, you just cannot get away from it.  So what is it?  Amigurumi is a mash of two Japanese words ami meaning crocheted or knitted and gurimi meaning stuffed doll or toy.  This encompasses people and even inanimate objects now.

My first amigurumi, meet Eric the Hero

Amigurumi is mostly crocheted as knitted items can stretch whereas crochet tends to have a denser thicker consistency.  As long as you can do the basic crochet stitches and the all important magic circle, no it's not from Harry Potter, and can stuff things evenly, you laugh but a lumpy stuffed toy is no joke and it happens.  If you can sew in loose threads then you can crochet in the amigurumi style. Oh and it helps if you can master the invisible decrease too, really no, this is not something from the school of Hogwarts.

You cannot see it but Eric the
amigurimi also had a swishing cape
hidden behind his paunch of a belly

Most items in this style are crocheted in the round to allow the 3D shape to magically form in your hands,  It really is quite an exciting process seeing something take shape that is not flat.

An amigurumi doll from the Little Box of crochet, here a
beautifully completed one by the talented Kate of Just Pootling
and mine to the right, these boxes are great for travelling as
everything you need is to hand, here I am at an airport.

Amanda has also included several amigurumi's in her
monthly crochet box sets, including this Baby box

The reason for the post is that today I travel to the South West to teach a beginner crocheter how to construct yarn into a 3D shape. I am both nervous and excited at the same time. I have been teaching crochet for two years so that is nothing new, but I have never taught amigurumi. Eek!

Last minute preparations for teaching amigurumi 

Hoping you have enjoyed my 5 amigurumi photos and I leave you finally with the thought:   here's to continued learning for all of us, tomorrow it will be me in teaching something new and for the student learning something completely different.  

Wish us luck ♥

Joining in with Amy sharing my five with you.  Have a great week x