How to Crochet Amigurumis

Amigurumi is japanese for " stuffed knit/crocheted toy friend". How great is that,
you can make your own cute friends!
Making Amigurumi's is a real big trend right now. Because they are so much fun to make and it is easy to learn how to make them.

You don't need to buy much to get started, just a few supplies are enough to make a very cute amigurumi. Making Amigurumi's is inexpensive, therapeutic and portable!

This article will explain to you how to get started in making your own amigurumi's.

Before you start making your first amigurumi, you need some supplies and materials.
The tools that you use are small. You can easily take your amigurumi project everywhere you go.
I think this makes crochet so much fun, I take my amigurumi's everywhere, on holidays, on the train and to my kid's swim lessons.

Basic supplies:

• Crochet hook
• Large tapestry needle with blunt point
• Pins
• Scissors

Materials:

• Yarn
• Synthetic Poly filling

Optional:

• Stitch marker

You could use a stitch marker to keep track of the beginning of your rounds. I personally don't use them. I use a piece of yarn that I put before every first stitch of the new round.

When you buy a Amigurumi pattern it will give you an advice on what yarn to use. But the great thing about crocheting Amigurumi's is that yarn size can almost always be different. If you use a thick yarn with a large hook your amigurumi will turn out much bigger then when you use a thin yarn with a smaller hook.

TIP: You can find the hook size that you need to use on the label of the yarn.

To make an amigurumi, you need to now some basic crochet stitches.

I made a made a great free basic stitches tutorial, which teaches your every stitch you need to know to get started making amigurumi's. You can find it on my website, which can be found in my profile.

This is a great free guide to keep next to you when making an amigurumi. Everything you need to know is in it. Like the magic ring, increase, decrease, color changing and much more.

This tutorial has many clear illustrations.

This is one example from the Amigurumi Stitches Tutorial from DIY Fluffies.
Creating a magic ring is the first thing you need to know when making Amigurumi's.

When I first started making amigurumi's this was the first thing I needed to learn, there are several ways to make a magic ring, but the method below is my favorite way.

The magic circle is created in step 4 (orange) The steps after that show you how to create a magic circle with 6 single crochets.

Another great way to learn how to the basic stitches is looking for them on youtube.

Youtube really helped me to learn crochet, 6 years ago. Now I only use it when I forget a certain crochet stitch. Because most Amigurumi's are only made with a few basic stitches I don't need it much anymore. Only for other crochet projects.

When you buy an Amigurumi pattern there are probably a lot of terms in there that you haven't heard of before. I recommend downloading the basic stitches tutorial and for extra help look on youtube.
You will find thousands of video's to help you on your way.

June Gilbank has some really great video's about crocheting amigurumi's.

For example this video about how to create an magic circle, the most basic thing you need to know to make amigurumi's.

You can even find complete projects on youtube, like this cute bear.
Every step is explained in the video. This is great for starters.

But I recommend learning to read crochet patterns as well. It is much faster, when you have more experience in making amigurumi's.

There are so many (thousands) of written patterns and books available! When you have learned how to read a crochet pattern, you can make them all!

There are many patterns available for beginner Amigurumi makers!
I have selected some free patterns for beginners. All cute and fun to make!

Create a cute ducky with this pattern, also perfect for beginners!

The duck has only 5 parts that you need to sew together. It is a small project, so you don't have to spend to much time on it to get a result.

You can download the pattern from ravelry

Or try this amazing pattern from Little Muggles!
This is more for the advanced beginner, because of the color changes in the body of this cute kitty.

You can find the pattern on her blog.

How cute are these 3 bears made by Tarturumies!

Great for beginners, except for the little hearts on their bodies.
But I think they will still look very cute without them.

These two birds are just so cute!
Because they are so easy to make, they are great for beginners.

You just need some yarn, a hook, stuffing and safety eyes and you can start!

I made these little birds, and think they are so adorable when they are done!

This is an easy and small project, does not take much time to make.

You can find the pattern on the hello yellow yarn website.