Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably heard of amigurumi. Amigurumi is the practice of knitting or crocheting a tiny stuffed creature—think dolls and stuffed animals. Admittedly, the art lends itself better to crochet, where you have more freedom to move around your project, but I just love knitting amigurumi.
My first amigurumi project was this Forest Fawn, because within five minutes of meeting me, you’ll probably learn that I love deer. Then, you’ll learn my name. (My name is Kristina, by the way.)
I named him Graham, after a video game character. I love his little spots and seed stitch tail.
You may be thinking, “That’s great, Kristina, but I graduated kindergarten years ago. What can I do with a stuffed toy?” To that, I say: good point. You’re probably not snuggling up with a cute little knit giraffe when you retire for the night. But here are just a few of the many uses for these adorable little buggers:
- Keep one on your desk at work or on your crafting table at home. That way, when you talk to yourself, you can pretend you’re talking to the knit amigurumi and feel marginally less insane.
- Make one for your tiny child/niece/nephew/grandchild/great-grandchild. Maybe stick to an owl or a puppy, and avoid some of the weirder options. Or don’t. I’m not your mother.
- Knit up an amigurumi dog toy for your favorite member of the family. Just don’t get too attached and name it while you’re knitting it, because you will feel your heart shatter into a thousand pieces when Rover inevitably tears it apart three weeks later.
- Be an excellent person and knit amigurumi for charity! Then, after you’ve shipped him off, experience separation anxiety and promptly stitch up another one. Donate this one to charity once he’s done, because you don’t know what you’d do with an amigurumi teddy bear. Experience separation anxiety. Rinse and repeat.
- Release yourself from any assumptions you have of what’s “normal,” because life’s too short to let your age keep you from owning a cute stuffed rabbit.
Now, you may be asking, “Okay, that’s fine, but why would I knit a stuffed animal when I could just buy one?” To which, I have a variety of responses:
- That’s boring. Don’t be boring.
- Handmade things have love in the stitches. Machine-made things don’t. (Unless it’s a Beanie Baby; I’m convinced Ty Warner hired a person specifically to kiss each Beanie Baby on the forehead and lovingly caress its cheek before sending it off to the Toys “R” Us).
- It’s potentially cheaper to just buy the yarn and knit your own amigurumi. Potentially.
- Don’t you like how knit things look? If not, then why are you knitting?
- Finally, an excuse to use up all that acrylic yarn (because you can only knit so many afghans).
- Stop asking questions.
If I still haven’t sold you, just take a look at some of these free amigirumi knitting patterns on AllFreeKnitting. I guarantee you that by the time you get to the fourth link, the ice around your heart will melt and you’ll be hooked on amigurumi for life.
(Speaking of “getting hooked,” you’ll also want to check out AllFreeCrochet for crochet amigurumi patterns because, okay, they’re pretty cute, too.)
16 Heart-Meltingly Cute Knit Amigurumi Patterns
- Cuddly Amigurumi Giraffe
- Outstanding Octopus Toy
- Tiny Perching Pigeons
- Skanda Vale Hospice Knitted Elephant -charity knit!
- Knit Cat Pattern
- Kooky Kiwi Amigurumi
- Nearly No-Seams Knit Teddy
- Frozen Olaf Doll -for the Frozen fan!
- Calorie Free Chocolate Bunny
- Baby Gators
- Adorkable Monster
- Chinchester the Pig -so tiny and cute!
- Cute Tiny Octopus
- Pizza Slice DIY Toy -yes, you can even knit pizza!
- Toilet Paper -wait, don’t leave
- Grass -I can change
Have you ever knit amigurumi before? What, or who, did you make it for?
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