Amigurumi (編みぐるみ, lit. "crocheted or knitted stuffed toy") is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures.
Amigurumi (編みぐるみ, lit. "crocheted or knitted stuffed toy") is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures. The word is a portmanteau of the Japanese words ami, meaning "crocheted or knitted", and nuigurumi, meaning "stuffed doll".[1] Amigurumi vary in size and there are no restrictions about size or look.[2] While the art of amigurumi has been known in Japan for several decades, the craft first started appealing to the masses in other countries, especially in the West, in 2003.[3] By 2006, amigurumi were reported to be some of the most popular items on Etsy, an online craft marketplace, where they typically sold for $10 to 100.[3]
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Origins[edit]
According to the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA), there are earlier records of crocheted or knitted dolls made in China; early examples include three-dimensional dolls worked in crochet.[4]
According to Yoshihiro Matushita,[citation needed] there are records (dating from 1185) of analogous techniques in Japan, such as needle binding, a fabric creation technique predating knitting and crocheting. During the Edo period (1603–1867), Japan traded with the Dutch and, as a result, it is believed that knitting was introduced as a technique. Knitting evolved with the samurai, who were experts in creating garments and decorations for their katana and winter wear.
During the Meiji era (1868–1912), Japan transitioned from being a feudal society into a more modern model. It was also during that period that industrialization started in the country. The educational model was changed and thousands of students were sent abroad to learn practices from the west. More than 3,000 westerners were hired to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan.[5]
According to Dai Watanabe, "Women were invited to teach western needleworks during that time."[6] She also identifies the first stuffed crocheted motif, Seiyo-keito-amimono-kyouju (西洋毛糸編物教授), a twigged loquat with a leaf and more fruit motifs, which started appearing in 1920.
Aesthetic[edit]
Cute amigurumi are the most aesthetically popular (see kawaii and chibi for more relevant cultural details). Amigurumi may be used as children's toys but are generally purchased or made solely for aesthetic purposes.[7] Although amigurumi originated in Japan, the craft has become popular around the world.[8]
Technique[edit]
Amigurumi can be knitted, though they are usually crocheted out of yarn or thread, using the basic techniques of crochet (such as single crochet stitch (sc), double crochet (dc), invisible decrease (inv.dec)). Amigurumi can be worked as one piece or, more usually, in sections which are sewed or crocheted together. In crochet, amigurumi are typically worked in spiral rounds to prevent "striping", a typical feature of joining crochet rounds in a project.
Small gauge crochet hooks or knitting needles are typically used to achieve a tight gauge that does not allow the stuffing to show through the fabric.[9] Stuffing can be standard polyester, wool, or cotton craft stuffing, but may be improvised from other materials.[9] Wires, such as pipe cleaners or floral wire, may be used to make the doll posable. Plastic pellets, glass pebbles, and even stones may be inserted beneath the stuffing to distribute weight at the bottom of the figure.[9]
A knitting needle or knitting pin is a tool in hand-knitting to produce knitted fabrics. They generally have a long shaft and taper at their end, but they are not nearly as sharp as sewing needles. Their purpose is two-fold. The long shaft holds the active (unsecured) stitches of the fabric, to prevent them from unravelling, whereas the tapered ends are used to form new stitches. Most commonly, a new stitch is formed by inserting the tapered end through an active stitch, catching a loop (also called a bight) of fresh yarn and drawing it through the stitch; this secures the initial stitch and forms a new active stitch in its place. In specialized forms of knitting the needle may be passed between active stitches being held on another needle, or indeed between/through inactive stitches that have been knit previously.
The size of a needle is described first by its diameter and secondly by its length. The size of the new stitch is determined in large part by the diameter of the knitting needle used to form it, because that affects the length of the yarn-loop drawn through the previous stitch. Thus, large stitches can be made with large needles, whereas fine knitting requires fine needles. In most cases, the knitting needles being used in hand-knitting are of the same diameter; however, in uneven knitting, needles of different sizes may be used. Larger stitches may also be made by wrapping the yarn more than once around the needles with every stitch. The length of a needle determines how many stitches it can hold at once; for example, very large projects such as a shawl with hundreds of stitches might require a longer needle than a small project such as a scarf or bootie. Various sizing systems for needles are in common use.
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Types[edit]
Single-pointed needles[edit]
The most widely recognized form of needle is the single-pointed needle. It is a slender, straight stick tapered to a point at one end, with a knob at the other end to prevent stitches from slipping off. Such needles are always used in pairs and are usually 10-16 inches (25.4–40.6 cm) long but, due to the compressibility of knitted fabrics, may be used to knit pieces significantly wider. The knitting of new stitches occurs only at the tapered ends. Fictional depictions of knitting in movies, television programs, animation, and comic strips almost always show knitting done on straight needles. Both Wallace and Gromit and Monty Python, for example, show this type of knitting.
Double-pointed needles[edit]
The oldest type of needle is the straight double-pointed needle. Double-pointed needles are tapered at both ends, which allows them to be knit from either end. They are typically used (and sold) in sets of four and five, and are commonly used for circular knitting. Since the invention of the circular needle, they have been most commonly used to knit smaller tube-shaped pieces such as sleeves, collars, and socks. Usually two needles are active while the others hold the remaining stitches. Double-pointed needles are somewhat shorter than single-pointed or circular needles, and are usually used in the 13–20 cm length range, although they are also made longer.
Double-pointed needles are depicted in a number of 14th-century oil paintings, typically called Knitting Madonnas, depicting Mary knitting with double-pointed needles (Rutt, 2003).
A cable needle is a special type of double-pointed needle that is typically very short and used to hold a very small number of stitches temporarily while the knitter is forming a cable pattern. They are often U-shaped, or have a U-shaped bend, to keep the held stitches from falling off while the primary needle is being used.
Circular needles[edit]
The first US patent for a circular needle was issued in 1918, although in Europe they may have been used a little earlier. Circulars are composed of two pointed, straight tips connected by a flexible cable and may be used for both knitting flat or knitting in the round. The two tapered ends, typically 4–5 inches (10.5–13 cm) long, are rigid, allowing for easy knitting, and are connected by the flexible strand (usually made of nylon or coated wire). The tips may be permanently connected to the cable and made in overall lengths from 9 inches (23 cm) to 60 inches (150 cm) or composed of cables and interchangeable tips. This allows various lengths and diameters to be combined into many different sizes of needles, allowing for a great variety of needs to be met by a relatively few component pieces. The ability to work from either end of one needle is convenient in several types of knitting, such as slip-stitch versions of double knitting.
In using circulars to knit flat pieces of fabric the two ends are used just as two separate needles would be. The knitter holds one tip in each hand and knits straight across the width of the fabric, turns the work, and knits or purls back the other way. Using circular needles has some advantages, for example, the weight of the fabric is more evenly distributed, therefore less taxing, on the arms and wrists of the knitter and, the length of the cable may be longer than would be practical with rigid needles since the cable and fabric rest in the lap of the knitter rather than extending straight out past the arms.
The lack of a purl row in stockinette stitch, since in the round (commonly referred to as ITR) knitting is all done using the knit stitch, is often perceived to be one of the greatest benefits of ITR. Knitting ITR with circulars is done in a spiral, the same way as using double-pointed needles (usually called DPNs). Additionally, circulars eliminate the need to continually switch from one needle to the next, and there is no possibility of stitches falling off the back end of the needles, as may happen when using DPNs. Much larger tubes may be knit ITR, too, helping items to be completed more quickly. Construction of garments such as sweaters may be greatly simplified when knitting ITR, since the finishing steps of sewing a back, two fronts, and two sleeves of a sweater together may be almost entirely eliminated in neck down ITR knitting.
Knitting educator and authority Elizabeth Zimmermann helped popularize knitting ITR specifically with circular needles.
Numerous techniques have been devised for the production of narrow tubular knitting on circular needles. One common method is to use two needles in place of the four or five double-pointed needles traditionally used, while a newer technique is to use one circular needle that is significantly longer than the circumference of the item being knitted. This technique is known as Magic Loop and has recently become a popular method of producing tubular knitting, as only one needle is required.[1]
The Guinness World Record for knitting with the largest knitting needles[edit]
The current holder of this title is Julia Hopson[2] of Penzance in Cornwall. Julia knitted a tension square of ten stitches and ten rows in stocking stitch using knitting needles that were 6.5 cm in diameter and 3.5 metres long.
Needle materials[edit]
In addition to common wood and metal needles, antique knitting needles were sometimes made from tortoiseshell, ivory and walrus tusks; these materials are now banned due to their impact on endangered species, and needles made from them are virtually impossible to find.
Modern knitting needles are made of bamboo, aluminium, steel, wood, plastic, glass, casein and carbon fibers.
Needle storage[edit]
A tall, cylindrical container with padding on the bottom to keep the points sharp can store straight needles neatly. Fabric or plastic cases similar to cosmetic bags or a chef's knife bag allow straight needles to be stored together yet separated by size, then rolled to maximize space. Circular needles may be stored with the cables coiled in cases made specifically for this purpose or hung dangling from a hanger device with cables straight. If older circulars with the nylon or plastic cables are coiled for storage it may be necessary to soak them in hot water for a few minutes to get them to uncoil and relax for ease of use. Most recently manufactured cables eliminate this problem and may be stored coiled without any difficulty. Care must be taken not to kink the metal cables of older circulars, as these kinks will not come out and may damage or snag yarn as it is knit.
Needle gauge[edit]
A needle gauge makes it possible to determine the size of a knitting needle. Some may also be used to gauge the size of crochet hooks. Most needles come with the size written on them, but with use and time, the label often wears off, and many needles (like double-pointed needles) tend not to be labelled.
Needle gauges can be made of any material, but are often made of metal and plastic. They tend to be about 3 by 5 inches. There are holes of various sizes through which the needles are passed to determine which hole they fit best, and often a ruler along the edge for determining the tension (also called gauge) of a sample.
Needle sizes and conversions[edit]
In the UK, the metric system is used. Previously, needles 'numbers' were the Standard Wire Gauge designation of the wire from which metal needles were made. The origin of the numbering system is uncertain but it is thought that needle numbers were based on the number of increasingly fine dies that the wire had to be drawn through. This meant thinner needles had a larger number.
In the current US system, things are opposite, that is, smaller numbers indicate smaller needles. There is an "old US system" that is divided into standard and steel needles, the latter being fine lace needles.[3] Occasionally, older lace patterns will refer to these smaller needles in the old measurement system. Finally, there was a system used in continental Europe that predated the metric system.[4] It is largely obsolete, but some older or reprinted patterns call for pins in these sizes.
| Metric size (mm) | US size | Old UK size | Japanese size | Old US Standard | Old US Steel | Old Continental |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | 8/0 | 24 | 8/0 | |||
| 0.7 | 6/0 | 22 | 6/0 | |||
| 1 | 5/0 | 19 | 18 | 5/0 | ||
| 1.1 | 4/0 | |||||
| 1.25 | 4/0 | 18 | 16 | 000 | ||
| 1.5 | 000 | 17 | 15 | 00 | ||
| 1.75 | 00 | 15 | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 1 | |
| 2.1 | 0 | |||||
| 2.25 | 1 | 13 | 12 | |||
| 2.4 | 1 | |||||
| 2.5 | 1 ½ | 1 | 2 | |||
| 2.7 | 2 | |||||
| 2.75 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 3.0 | 2 ½ | 11 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 2 ½ |
| 3.25 | 3 | 10 | ||||
| 3.3 | 4 | |||||
| 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 | ||
| 3.6 | 5 | |||||
| 3.75 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 8 | ||
| 3.9 | 6 | |||||
| 4.0 | 6 | 8 | 4 | |||
| 4.25 | 7 | 6 | ||||
| 4.5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 5 | ||
| 4.75 | 9 | 7 | 6 | |||
| 5.0 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | ||
| 5.1 | 10 | |||||
| 5.25 | 9 | |||||
| 5.4 | 11 | |||||
| 5.5 | 9 | 5 | 8 | |||
| 5.75 | 12 | 10 | ||||
| 6.0 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 9 | ||
| 6.3 | 14 | |||||
| 6.5 | 10 ½ | 3 | 10 ½ | 10 | ||
| 6.6 | 15 | |||||
| 7.0 | 2 | 7 mm | 11 | |||
| 7.5 | 1 | 12 | ||||
| 8.0 | 11 | 0 | 8 mm | 13 | ||
| 9.0 | 13 | 00 | 9 mm | 14 | ||
| 10.0 | 15 | 000 | 10 mm | 15 | ||
| 11.0 | 17 | |||||
| 12.5 | 17 | |||||
| 13.0 | 19 | |||||
| 14.0 | 18 | |||||
| 16.0 | 19 | 16 mm | ||||
| 19.0 | 35 | |||||
| 25.0 | 50 | 25 mm |
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