Chicken bald back

[Luvachicken]

Ok, my crochet skills have come to a halt, due to hurting my shoulder, but today in WHSmiths I saw a lovely magazine called amigurumi.

It was £5 and had a very sweet bunny in it.

It was issue 2.

Is the magazine any good ? I have Christmas money still to spend

Who is Ami Gurumi ?

Basically my crochet skills are one stitch

[Cat tails]

Amiguri is a Japanese 'art' of crochetting little animal dolls, but also fruit and veg withe eye's etc.

For amigurumi you'll only need to be able to do a double crochet, increase and decrease. (Which are very easy too) Increase is two doubles in one stitch. Decrease is making to stitches into one double.

 

The little snowmen, that I posted a link on, is also a very simple example of a amigurumi. If you love the patterns in the magazine, go for it! If it has some explanation in stitches, it might be a good idea. But you can find millions of patterns on line as well.

[Olly]

I agree, amigurumi is very easy. You do need to keep careful count of rows though - I use a s"Ooops, word censored!" of yarn in acontrast colour to mark my rows as it's easy to pull out afterwards. I've got stitch markers but they always fall out.

[Valkyrie]

Just had to look these up! OMG how cute are some of those - Toothless the dragon, Pokemon - gotta catch 'em all! I can see that would be so addictive!!!

[Luvachicken]

I can't believe I thought it was a person

Perhaps I'll try a couple of freebies on the internet first - once my shoulder is better.

[Bramble]

I've only just started to crochet (self taught with the help of YouTube etc) and I'm finding I can cope relatively easily with amigurumi. There are gazillions of patterns online - there's a great sort of slow motion tutorial on YouTube about how to make an amigurumi ball which seems to be the base for most of the patterns - I made my mum an amigurumi pea for mothers day (it's a LONG story, but peas are a bit of a family joke ) and she was really pleased with him!

 

I find my shoulders get very tense when I'm crocheting - I think I probably hold the hook too firmly, but if you've already got a dodgy shoulder it might be best to leave it for a while!

[Cat tails]

Ball shapes are indeed the basis of any amigurumi. If you can manage a ball, then you can make almost anything! For the eyes I normally use the stitch on type (little black bead with a loop on the inside). Not the safety eyes because they are much to annoying to put in and need to be done halfway during your crochet and can't be moved if necessary.

 

I crocheted a banana for a collegue. (we call her banana...)

 

I also get pain in my wrist and elbow after a lot of crocheting. Not to mention puffy hands. Don't try and go to fast and make sure you have a nice sitting position with somewhere to rest your arm comfortably. (most tables are slightly to high)

[Bramble]

That's useful advice, thanks Cat Tails!!! I'm wondering if I ought to make a grip (out of loom bands, maybe?) for my hook - I wonder if it's the fact of holding something quite thin for so long that causes the problem?

 

I am LOVING crochet though - I've only been doing it for about a month and already I've made the aforementioned pea, a chicken, an elephant, some gloves and a scarf - not sure what I'm going to do with them all, but that's another issue!!!???

[Cat tails]

Oh do yourself a huge favour Bramble and get the soft grip kind of hooks! They are absolutely worth it!

They come in many colours, types and brands. I quite like the ones of Prymm.

 

It is addictive, isn't it? I mostly make stuff as gifts to others. (only ever made a scarf and a keychain for myself)

[Olly]

These are what I have my eye on but I don't crochet often enough to justify the purchase. My sister has a set of these because she has arthritis in her hands and finds them much better to use.

 

I bought a set of Knitpro wooden DPNs recently and they are sooo much nicer to knit with than the steel ones.

[Bramble]

These get RAVE reviews too and they're a fair bit cheaper (you don't get the funky case, though!)

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OACMMVE/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0018D8GUO&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1ZPYMR98NC6W9B27DHJS

[Cat tails]

They are all very similar I think. Can't really go wrong with any I guess.

[Luvachicken]

Ah, now I know what those baby safety pins are for

 

Maybe I can watch all the stitches/lessons for now until my shoulder is a lot better and perhaps restart in the Easter holidays or failing that, the Summer holidays

[bluekarin]

I have made loads of amigurumi items. Lots of elephants of various sizes from about 2" to 6" high, a Wicket character from Star Wars, made up an otter pattern, a squirrel, Toothless, unicorns....... Plus loads more. Its a great technique to learn and I have used it for making new covers for christmas baubles to change their look. I am going to try out some easter themed ones too as I have some polystyrene eggs

 

I do love making amigurumi, though I prefer the all in one things as I hate sewing the legs etc on. I can never seem to do it quite right

[Bramble]

I'm trying to make a panda at the moment, he's quite big and complicated (for me, as a beginner) and it also involved moving from crocheting in rows to rounds - the pattern didn't explain how to do this, so needed some help from Youtube. I'm just worried that when I come to do his face he won't look "right" ... we'll see!

[quickcluck]

I have that set Bramble. They are great... so much for comfortable

[Cat tails]

Just use some pins to pin on the face before sewing it. Although most of the time you can redo the face anyway. I've done that millions of times. I have to confess that a few times I have handed my work to my mom (who is awesome in needle pointing). She's just better with the fiddly bits.

[Mrs Webmuppet]

Little Miss Webmuppet is a big fan of amigurami. She has all Anna Hrechovics books. We have a selection of small creatures scattered around the house that LMW has made

[Luvachicken]

Awww, how old is LMW Mrs Webmuppet ?

[Mrs Webmuppet]

She is 14. She's big on arts and crafts (and doing textiles GCSE or whatever they call it these days)