It’s time to learn amigurumi. These crocheted stuffed dolls have always intimated me from trying, but I am going to conquer it now. As with any other beginner lesson, I am starting with an easy and simple project. I found this cute owl pattern from Fukurou Crafts blog and decided to give it a try. Beforehand, I checked out and tried to read some pointers, tips, and tricks for starting an amigurumi project. But then I grew tired of reading instructions and thought I should just jump in and try myself. Perhaps, later on, I can go back to pointers as needed.
The owl pattern in Fukurou Crafts was very simple. It is not a sphere, but a rather uniquely shaped owl. I had so much fun making this, and what’s funny is, it didn’t even take me a day to make one. Yes, I had a little bit of a hiccup when I was supposed to sew in the eyes. But I overcame it by trying to use a white sewing thread instead of the fine crochet yarn. I don’t know—perhaps because I thought that the sewing shouldn’t be visible, and I’m not that neat on sewing in amigurumi parts yet. This is my first time, remember?
I had a huge amount of dacron, I guess it’s fibre fill in English, but it’s known in Indonesia as dacron. I guess it’s a brand name somewhere? The US, perhaps? A little Google search lead me to this unpronounceable word of Polyethylene terephthalate. In short, it’s polyester, it’s fluffy, and we use it to fill in dolls, pillows, and amigurumi. I obtained some kilogrammes of dacron from a cousin of mine, and now I have the use for it.
The beginning of this pattern is rather easy. What I like about working on an amigurumi is that I don’t have to worry about using variations of stitches. Single crochet is enough to form shapes and the dacron will help with the volume.
I had to take a wild guess on how much I stuff Amelia the owl. I don’t want to make her too bulgy but I also don’t want her too soft. The pattern suggested that I should start stuffing when I reach the middle part of the “head” region and that I should stuff as compact as I could as in Step Three photo. I thought I stuffed Amelia the owl with enough dacron and now I’m ready to close her head. Okay, that sentence just got weird. To make a perfect head suture, I used the slip stitch along the top of Amelia’s head. Yep, that sentence just got weird again.
The next step is to crochet two circles as Amelia’s eyeballs. These two circles would then be sewn into the head part. I pinned them with so that I won’t lose the position when I sew them on. Amelia’s eyes were made simply by stretching one or two strands of yarn across the eyeballs. The challenging part for me on this assignment was to keep the margin similar between the left and right eyes. After that, I used leftover yellow yarn to crochet Amelia’s beak. This was also hard… because I think my fingers are too big for crocheting in single crochet stitch and get the beak as small as possible.
Now that all the parts have been sewn in, Amelia needs wings! The pattern calls for the easiest wing I have ever done. It’s basically a folded circle which then sewn into the body of the owl. I love the simpleness and the straightforward methods in this pattern. It is absolutely perfect for beginners in amigurumi like me, and now, I have a new friend: Amelia, the owl.
