I discovered amigurumis, crocheted and knit stuffed toys, shortly before Drake was born and fell in love.  I loved the idea of being able to make little stuffed friends for my children and their friends and was determined to learn how to master making them.

I am a very slow and visual learner and books, which are one dimension, were too hard for me to really grasp.  At one point I actually had Mr Chocolate read the books and try to learn so he could then teach me… sadly he wasn’t too committed to the idea and only learned one basic stitch.

Over time I eventually learned through a mix of videos, meet ups with local crocheters, and conversations in forums.  Once I was able to master crocheting, I learned that amigurumis are very repetitive in their patterns, most pieces are circular, and you really only need to know a few basic stitches to be able to create 99% of all amigurumis.

So I thought I would share some of the knowledge and resources I used to help me master this skill.

ADVERTISEMENT

Equipment

Clockwise: Pattern book, yarn, crochet hook, tapestry needle, box has safety eyes and noses inside, and stuffing

Crochet Hook – Crochet hooks are measured in gauges using letters and numbers.  Here is a chart as I’m terrible at explaining anything that deals with numbers.  Suffice to say the larger the number, such as a 6mm vs a 4mm, the bigger the stitch you will make.  I use aluminum hooks as I find it easier than wood or plastic because the yarn slides a little on the aluminum to help you along. But when I started out, I used a plastic one as it slid less so you might want to try plastic to start with until you are more comfortable.  A lot of patterns will tell you what gauge hook to use but I really only own 2 hooks — an I and a J — and use the I 99% of the time, so it really doesn’t make a big difference if you ask me.  The difference is really just how big your stitches will look. I used the J more when I first started as it is easier to work with bigger stitches, but you can just as easily learn from a smaller hook too.

Yarn – Most amigurumi asks for worsted weighted yarn.  Once in a while I’ll use a different type of yarn for making hair, but 99% of the time I use worsted.  My favorite kind is Loops and Threads which is a Michaels brand.  I just like the way the yarn feels compared to other brands like Red Heart or Lions Brand. It’s just a personal preference though, so use whatever brand you like.

Pattern –  There are tons of patterns for amigurumi online and in books.  I tend to try to find free ones, but when I first started I went a little crazy and bought a ton of them as well as a few books. I will still occasionally buy a pattern here or there if I find something irresistibly cute.  I have a few pattern makers I particularly like and will check back at their stores occasionally to see if something irresistible has come out.

LuvlyGurumi– I actually started with these patterns and I own most of them — the bird, dog, penguin, lion, sheep, monkey and bee.  Lyly the owner of the store is super nice too and she helped me a lot through email when I first started learning. I’m not sure if its because I started with these patterns, but I find them the easiest to read and follow and since so many of her animals have the same shape, it is easy for me to almost memorize how to do them.  I can usually finish a doll of hers within a few days.

Amy Gaines– Amy has both patterns for crocheting and knitting amigurumis.  I don’t know how to knit but after seeing some of her patterns just for knitting I have wanted to learn.  So far it hasn’t happened, but maybe one day. I own a few of her patterns including these darling little girl dolls which I bought once I found out I was having a baby girl.  So far I made a cat for a friend’s daughter and a pig for Juliet.  I hope to make her the set eventually when I have time to crochet again. Amy also has a few books of which I own this one.

Ana Paulaoli – This is another one of the pattern makers I started off with.  I bought this one and made quite a few in the past.  She also has come out with a few books of which I own this one, and am considering buying this one as I’m dreaming of crocheting Drake his first backpack for when he goes to pre-school.

Stuffing- Once you finish all the pieces and before you sew up your amigurumi, you need to stuff the pieces. Sometimes a pattern will tell you to stuff as you are crocheting, but I admit I usually don’t and just wedge it in when I’m done. I get into a rhythm a lot of times when I crochet since it can be very repetitive work and don’t like to break that.

Needle-  You need tapestry needles to help sew your amigurumi together.  They are larger than standard needles as you are using yarn to sew.

Safety Eyes/Noses – I have bought most of my eyes and nose pieces from this Etsy seller, but you can get them from any Etsy seller.  The pattern will tell you what size you need and you can just type that into the search part of Etsy.  I do find that the pieces are a little hard to snap in and often have Mr. Chocolate do it for me since he is stronger and can push harder than I can.  The last thing you want is one of these pieces to fall out and a child to swallow it. A note — it’s easier to push them down when resting on something (Mr. Chocolate prefers felt for some reason) rather than trying to just do it holding it in your hands

All of these you can find at Michaels or any other crafting store.  Occasionally depending on the design I also use buttons, fabric, felt, and thread. usually those are for additional decorations and not needed for every project.

Resources

There are a lot of websites that have tutorials and videos for learning but I always found this one to be the easiest for me to understand. Ralvery.com is also a wonderful resource.  They have forums to ask questions, patterns (both free and paid), and groups you can join to chat, trade, learn, etc.

Sometimes when I’m making something new and come across a new stitch, I will You Tube it to see how its done. I find videos easier to understand now that I know the basics.  When I was first learning, I had difficulty with learning just from videos as I like to ask questions.  After I went to some groups and learned by watching other people, it became easier to understand the videos. I was able to find local groups simply by googling around.  You can also use Ralvery to find local groups as well.

Basic Stitches

Typically for amigurumi you’ll only use a few stitches — chain, single crochet, increase, and decrease.  Also many people use The Magic Ring to start off their pieces and a slip stitch to finish off.

Hooks and Needles has a page that shows you videos on how to make all of those stitches. Slip stitch is on this page.

I admit the magic ring took me forever to really understand and master, and then I was taught a cheat way to start off my pieces so I stopped using it altogether.

Pattern Reading

Pattern reading can be a little tricky at first but once you know how to read them, it’s just as easy as reading English.

ch- chain

sc- single crochet

in/ 2 sc in next sc- increase

dec/sc2tog- decrease

ss- slip stitch

sk- skip

rep- repeat

Those are probably all youll need for most amigurumi patterns, but here is a link for a complete guide to abbreviations when crocheting

So a typical pattern might start off like this:

R1: Ch 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook
R2: Sc 2 in each sc around (12)
R3: Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc, rep 6 times (18)
R4-5: Sc 18
R6: Sc 1, dec 1 (12)

R1 means round 1.  So to start Ch2 means chain 2 stitches on your hook.  6 sc in second ch from hook means you make 6 stitches in the 2nd chain you made from your hook.  You’ll end up with 6 stitches.

R2 Sc 2 in each sc around means to make 2 single crochets in each of the 6 stitches you had at the end of round 1 to get a total of 12 stitches.

R3 Sc1  2 sc in next sc, rep 6 times means you make a single crochet in one stitch then the next one you make 2 single crochets in that stitch and you repeat the pattern of one stitch 2 stitches one stitch 2 stitches until you have 18 stitches total. When you make 2 stitches in one stitch that is an increase.

The way I see it is you count in 3s 6 times as 3×6 is 18.  So you go one stitch (1), two stitches (2&3), one stitch (4), two stitches (5&6), one stitch (7), two stitches (8&9), one stitch (10), two stitches (11&12), one stitch (13), two stitches (14&15), one stitch (16), two stitches (17&18)

R4-5 Sc18 Means for the next 2 rows you do one stitch in every previous stitch of 18 and you do it twice for 2 rows.

R6 Sc 1, dec 1 (12) means you make one stitch and then you decrease the next two stitches to get to 12 stitches.

So you start of with 18 stitches.  You make a stitch (1) and then the next one you decrease by taking two stitches and making them one so (2&3 become one stitch of 2 and the 2nd stitch), one stitch (4 becomes the 3rd stitch), two stitches become one (5&6 become 4th stitch), one stitch (7 becomes the 5th stitch), two stitches becomes one(8&9 become the 6th stitch), one stitch (10 becomes 7th stitch), two stitches becomes one (11&12 become 8th stitch), one stitch (13 becomes 9th stitch), two stitches becomes one (14&15 become 10th stitch), one stitch (16 becomes 11th stitch), and (17&18 becomes 12th stitch)  So you basically remove 6 stitches by combining them.

This website might make it easier to understand than I did.

In closing, amigurumis can look intimating but once you get the basics down they really are quite easy to make.  It took me several months of practice and starting and restarting to get the hang of it so don’t give up!