Tutorials
Are you new to amigurumi? Or just new to crochet in general? Don’t worry, so was I a couple of months ago. This page is to point you towards some of the more helpful tutorials I found on the web when I was learning how to crochet.
For crocheting basics, there are a number of websites out there that are dedicated to showing new crocheters the ropes, but the one I found the most helpful was Planet June. She has tutorials for both right and left-handed crocheting, and she includes all the necessary bits and pieces you will need to know, such as slip knots, chaining, single crochet, increasing and decreasing stitches and slip stitches. All her tutorials are accompanied with lots of pictures, so you can make sure your crochet is looking like it should!
Once you’ve mastered the basics, she has tutorials for more advanced techniques to help your amigurumi look even better! She covers the extremely useful magic ring, which looks so much neater than the chain+single crochet method, the incredibly simple invisible decrease, and many other things such as joining amigurumi pieces and how to change colours.
Ok. So now you can make amigurumi! But what to make? There are so, so many patterns all over the web, and of course, you can make your own if you are so inclined. Here are a few good free pattern resources that I have found over the past few months:
Planet June – As well as having excellent tutorials, she has some adorable free patterns! She also has some very reasonably priced patterns in her store, too.
Ami List – Probably my favourite free pattern resource, everything is categorised and there are hundreds of amigurumi patterns to choose from!
Crochet Pattern Central – Don’t be put off by the ugly interface, this website has the most free crochet patterns I have seen anywhere online, from amigurumi to afghans to clothing and much more.
Ravelry – A great resource for knitters and crocheters alike! It’s a community where everyone can share their patterns, projects, yarn stashes and more, and there are some wonderful patterns on there, both free and for sale.
Lion Brand Yarn – This site has an excellent free pattern section that includes a lot of great amigurumi patterns.
As for physical books that may help you along your amigurumi pathway, I’m afraid I’m not too much help. After all, books cost money and I am but a poor student. However, I did invest in one great book for beginners, with some extremely cute, round little creatures to crochet in it. The name of the book is Easy Crochet Critters by Lion Brand Yarn, and it contains 10 little creature patterns for you to have fun with. It’s also very reasonably priced for a pattern book. There are, of course, a number of amigurumi pattern books for sale on Amazon and the like – simply do a quick search and you’ll find them all.
So there we have it – I hope that the above-mentioned guides and websites will help you along your way and have you churning out amigurumis and other delights in no time!
