Valerean

While shopping for Christmas gifts I picked up a copy of Sarah Abbondio's Mini Amigurumi Animals , which hass instructions on how to make 26 different little critters out of small amounts of yarn. I want to learn more crochet toy patterns and use up my scraps, so it seemed like a fun way to do both. The book is written in UK crochet terms, which isn't a problem for me, as I've done patterns from both sides of the pond. My trick is to put a sticky note by the pattern with the conversions. The author tells you how to make three sizes of the critters in the patterns. The pattern for the little rabbit was easy enough, and I put him together in a couple of nights back in December. I thought the proportions for the head and body were a bit off, as were the measurements for the finished bunny. It's possible I use a too-thick yarn, too. If you want to invest in this book, use fingering weight yarn, not worsted. I might try to make all the critters in th...

My third try at amigurmi crochet last month was this slightly wonky present, which had the most difficult pattern. I admit, I messed up on a few details. Still happy with it. I liked the polar bear best. I don't have to wait for Christmas to put him out. And here's all three of the tree trio. I think for a first attempt at amigurumi I did pretty well. All the yarn was thrifted, with the exception of the red, which was recycled fiber.

My second attempt at amigurumi crochet last month, this little guy, turned out better than I expected. I've never liked dolls, but I've always secretly liked stuffed animals. Maybe that contributed to my new obsession. The polar bear and the little tree look cute together, too.

After getting back into crochet in a big way I invested in a British magazine that offered this pattern for three little holiday stuffies. Of course the pattern is written in UK crochet terms, which is sometimes completely different from US terms (what the Brits call double crochet we call single crochet, for example) so I had to translate everything first. Also the size of the eyes was misprinted; it's 1 cm, not 1 mm. But I perservered and started working on the first one. All three of these are called amigurumi, which is a Japanese word for small crocheted or knitting stuffy creatures. It's a craft that has been around a long time in Japan, but only reached the West about 20 years ago. I worked up this little guy in one evening, using just the materials I had on hand. I swapped out the little pompom on top for a starfish charm, too. While he's a little lumpy and misshapen, I think I did pretty well for a first try.