Knitting

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Amigurumi Patterns for Knitting

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According to [tag]Wikipedia[/tag], [tag]Amigurumi[/tag] is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small animals or anthropomorphic creatures. Amigurumi are typically cute animals (such as bears, rabbits, cats, dogs, etc.), but can include inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features. Amigurumi can be knitted, but the vast majority of amigurumi are crocheted. They are also worked with a smaller size needle in proportion to the weight of the yarn in order to create a very tight-looking fabric without any gaps through which the stuffing might escape. Amigurumi are usually worked in sections and then joined (some amigurumi have no limbs whatsoever and the body and head is worked as one piece). The extremities are often stuffed with plastic pellets to give them a life-like weight, while the rest of the body is stuffed with fiber stuffing.

The pervading aesthetic of amigurumi is cuteness. To this end, typical amigurumi animals have an over-sized spherical head on a cylindrical body with undersized extremities.

Pattern for a little spider or Kumochan is found on Katies blog, [tag]All in a day’s . . .[/tag]

Knitted patterns are hard to find, but [tag]PlushYou[/tag] has a page full, both regular knit and felted, and where to buy them. Many are sea creatures and don’t really look overly anthropomorphic.

Holiday season is right around the corner and maybe someone on your list would enjoy one of these cute animals. This is also a good way to use up those left-over bits of yarn from larger projects.

Comments

  3. And all these years, I was crafting “pocket-toys” for my daughter who just turned 42 years old! Now we have a new – very impressive – name for them. They now will be going to my grandchildren!! Imagine that!!!

  4. And all these years, I was crafting “pocket-toys” for my daughter who just turned 42 years old! Now we have a new – very impressive – name for them. They now will be going to my grandchildren!! Imagine that!!!
    Thank-you.

  5. I must have the pattern for this cephalopod!! How or where may I order it?
    Thank you!

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.