Get started (Amigurumi)

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures. It’s a fun and creative hobby that anyone can learn! This guide will walk you through the basics to get you started.

What you need to get started

• Yarn: Choose a smooth, medium-weight yarn (like worsted weight) in your favorite colors.
• Crochet Hook: Usually size 2.5mm to 4mm works well for amigurumi.
• Stuffing: Polyester fiberfill is commonly used.
• Tapestry Needle: For sewing pieces together and weaving in ends.
• Stitch Markers: To keep track of rounds.
• Scissors

Basic terminology

See Amigurumi terminolog for common terminology related to Amigurumi.

Basic crochet stitches to know

Before you start, you should be familiar with these stitches:

• Magic Ring (Magic Circle)
• Chain ch
• Single Crochet sc
• Increase inc: 2 sc in one stitch
• Decrease dec: sc two stitches together
• Slip Stitch sl st

There are many YouTube crochet tutorials that provide clear, helpful guidance for crochet stitches.

Beginner Amigurumi project outline

Start with a Magic Ring
Create a magic ring and crochet 6 single crochets into it. This will be the base of your piece.

Increase rounds
Increase stitches evenly to form a flat circle. For example, round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 stitches total).

Work even rounds
Crochet one sc in each stitch around without increasing to build the height.

Decrease rounds
Start decreasing stitches evenly to close the shape.

Stuff your amigurumi
Before closing completely, stuff your toy firmly with fiberfill.

Close and finish
Use a tapestry needle to weave the yarn tail through the final stitches and pull tight. Weave in all loose ends.