I think that anyone who’s done crochet for any amount of time has heard about amigurumi, the Japanese art of creating cute little stuffed animals out of knitting or crochet.
there’s something a little addictive about it, just sitting down and in an hour or two you’ve got a cute little stuffed animal or toy. There have been multiple times where I’ve looked up patterns and gone “that’s adorable!” only for my logic to stop me with “yes, but what will you do with it?”. Much as I would love to make two dozen jellyfish amigurumi I do have to acknowledge I don’t have any actual use for that many.
But that has yet to stop me from making what I can, when I can. Part of it is just the fun of making it. I have a soft spot for stuffed animals even if I don’t need any and essentially being able to make your own is just fun for me. Shaping the body, filling it to the consistency I like, making sure all the limbs and accessories are attached properly, there’s just something satisfying about putting together a full project.
Another part is that the projects are fun and (relatively, based on the size) quick to complete. In an evening I can sit down with some old yarn and make a triceratops, or a giraffe, or a teenage mutant ninja turtle. The sky’s the limit. So long as you have yarn the color you want and the internet (there are a number of sites that are easy to find if you google “amigurumi”).
Slowly but surely I am growing my collection of amigurumi one tiny new friend at a time, but unfortunately that leaves me with the question: what am I going to do with them all? Currently I have a bunch that are on display in my room on my desk and coffee table but at a certain point I am going to start running out of space. The problem of having too much of a good thing.
