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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Amigurumi

 (編みぐるみ?, lit. knitted stuffed toy) is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures.

The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll.

Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings, and inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features.

Amigurumi are usually crocheted or knitted out of yarn. The simplest designs are worked in spirals. In contrast to typical Western crochet the rounds are not usually joined.

They are also worked with a smaller size hook 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, except for some amigurumi which have no limbs, only a head and torso which are worked as one piece. The extremities are sometimes 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.

7 comments:

Melissa B. said...

These are just adorable! Hey, SITS sent me by, and I'm glad they did...please pop on over for my 2nd Blogoversary Giveaway. A $50 Target Gift Card is on the line!

A Party Goin' on Right Here

Betsy (zen-mama.com) said...

These are wonderful! My mother is quite a knitter so I will send on to her. Happy Sat. Sharefest!!

Crafty Girls Workshop said...

Hi Marie,
Thanks for visiting me yesterday. I wish I could crochet because I'd love to make one of those lions on the front of that book! I love lions and that one is so cute. I guess I wasn't a follower before but I'm going to follow you back today.

Anna
P.S. Happy Saturday SITS day too.

Lemonade Makin' Mama said...

Just stopping by to thank you for visiting me on my SITS day and leaving me some blog love! Everyone was so sweet and I really enjoyed the day!

Blessings,
LMM

Stacy's Snippets said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog today....how fun to find another LDS blogger!

I have been wanting to learn to knit or crochet. I have trouble with my hands though so I'm not sure how well I would do, but I guess I won't know if I don't try!

Wendy (The Local Cook) said...

SO cute! I'm adding crocheting to my list of things I'd love to learn how to do someday . . . in my spare time of course LOL.

Gabrielle @ i.craft said...

So CUTE!!!

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