The Art of Amigurumi
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The Art of Amigurumi ·
What’s it all about?
Amigurumi is the Japanese craft of crocheting or knitting small, stuffed creatures. It traces its modern form back to the early 20th century when Japan embraced Western needlecraft techniques and combined them with a cultural love of kawaii (cute) aesthetics.
The word itself blends ami (knitted or crocheted) and nuigurumi (stuffed doll), however, the practice draws on much older traditions of soft toy-making and folk textile work.
Post‑war Japan saw a surge in pattern books and magazine features that set the standard for the basic designs, proportions and styles.
The 1980s–90s boom in kawaii culture and character merchandising firmly established amigurumi as both hobby and artisan craft.
You only have to look online to find some incredibly talented pattern designers, and some magnificent pieces of amigurumi art.
Bertie the Birthday Duckling.
Yarn: Ricorumi DK, Ricorumi nilli nilli
Penny the Unicorn Cupcake Girl
Yarn: Ricorumi DK, Ricorumi Lamé
Three Steps to Amigurumi Happiness:
1. Find Your Pattern
2. Choose Your Yarn
3. Grab Your Hooks
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Three Steps to Amigurumi Happiness: 1. Find Your Pattern 2. Choose Your Yarn 3. Grab Your Hooks ·
LET’S GET STARTED
Patterns & Kits
We have a wide range of Amigurumi patterns and kits available in the shop.
Our largest collection is Ricorumi, with plenty of pattern books, and a good choice of boxed kits. We stock a wide range of other Amigurumi patterns including Sirdar’s Happy Cotton range, and Scheepjes Catona.
Come in and have a browse.
Yarns
Amigurumi is most commonly worked using cotton or cotton based yarns, such as Ricorumi DK, Sirdar Happy Cotton, and Scheepjes Catona, however, you can experiment with other yarns.
One of Clare’s favourites is Scheepjes Stonewashed. It’s a blend of 78% cotton and 22% acrylic yarn which produces a rigid fabric but with a slight haze and texture to the finished object.
More recently, the use of chenille yarn and a larger crochet hook has increased in popularity and produces some very squishy cuddly critters. We stock a full range of Stylecraft’s Squeeze Me which is a DK weight chenille yarn.
Hooks
We stock a variety of crochet hooks in the shop; finding the right fit for your hand is important and expensive doesn’t always mean better. It’s all down to comfort and personal preference.
Our most popular and very affordable hooks are the Millward Soft Grip hooks and the Pony Easy Grip hooks. We also have a selection of hooks by Knit Pro, including the lightweight Zing hooks and the ergonomic Knit Pro Waves.
Our personal favourite, however, are the Tulip Etimo range of hooks including the Soft Grip available in both red and gold, the Ergonomic available in rose pink, and the new Murasaki Cushion Grip available in lilac.
“When working amigurumi in continuous rounds, stitch markers are your friend!”
“The secret to good amigurumi is tension. I always go down a hook size so that the fabric created is tightly worked and rigid enough to hold the stuffing with no gaps.”
“You will probably use much more stuffing than you think you’ll need”
