What is Amigurumi?

If you knit or crochet you may have run across the term "Amigurumi" and might be wondering what it means. In a nutshell, Amigurumi the art of crocheting or knitting cute little stuffed animals or other types of creatures.

The Japanese word Amigurumi means knitted stuffed toy. Typically these toys are designed to look like animals such as rabbits, bears, or monkeys. However. often times the toy design can be based on inanimate objects as well. Some popular themes include food items like cupcakes or bon bons, robots, fruits or vegetables and insects.

What sets apart Amigurumi from normal crocheted or knitted toys is that the characters always have eyes and a mouth. Even inanimate objects like candy or vegetables are given these facial features which makes them especially cute and cuddly. The smile is usually embroidered and the eyes can either be embroidered or can also be made by attaching googly eyes or beads to the toy.

Another feature that sets these toys apart from other crocheted toys is that the body parts are usually disproportionate to each other to enhance their cuteness. For instance, a toy might have a large head on a tiny body or short, stubby arms and legs on a larger body.

The typical Amigurumi is either crocheted or knitted with yarn and is often worked from the bottom up. The body and head are sometimes created as one piece and then the extremities are created separately and attached later to the body.

These cute little toys are easy to make and are a great project for people learning to knit or crochet. They are also a fun way to use up small bits of yarn that you may have left over after finishing other projects. You can find patterns for Amigurumi online, or you can easily create your own by sketching out the basic shapes you want for your toy and then crocheting or knitting to match. Since most of these toys are based on cylinders or balls once you master those shapes you are only limited by your imagination.

Sources:

"Amigurumi" Wikipedia