Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute

Fun to create. Instructions are written well.

I bought three books on amigurumi. This is the third one and I'm more pleased with this one than the others. First, the author is very conversational which makes the reading enjoyable. The patterns move from easy to difficult and the reader is highly encouraged to progress from the front to the back in order to add skills as they go. There are some silly items like crocheted hamburgers and fruits and vegetables, but the rest of the designs are absolutely adorable. Rather than sticking with small animals with huge heads, like the Kyuuto book (which is a great book, nonetheless), and rather than all of her designs having the same basic look, like Amigurumi World (which I love, by the way), the author has put together a varied collection of patterns that not only challenge, but appeal to all types of different people. The humanoids are, in a word, awesome, and they open the door for all would-be designers to go beyond "cuteness" and into other realms of 3-dimensional crochet.I'm a long time knitter, but a very beginning crocheter, and contrary to some of the other reviews, I thought the directions were extremely clear. I learned quite a lot about crochet just from the text. The only thing I would add would be charts rather than strictly text directions, but that's a personal preference.Have I said that the patterns are amazing? I went to Flickr and Etsy and looked at some of the pictures of what people have made by adapting the designs in this book and it's truly astounding what a single pattern can spark. I also looked at the author's own pictures on the internet and she is more brilliant than her pattern book. It looks as if her well of creativity is far from dry, so I'll be looking for another book from this author. I'll buy it!

Elisabeth Doherty did a great job at keeping it simple in this guide for making amigurumi. I bought this book after a friend showed me the punk bunny she made. I had just started learning to knit and had never crocheted before. This book alone, did not teach me how to crochet, although it does have diagrams and explanations for all of the stitches. I did need to refer to other crochet guides and look online from time to time to make her diagrams make a more sense. However, my first crochet projects came from this book.All of these amigurumis use basic stitches with a lot of repetition, so these patterns are a great way to get comfortable with crochet. There are a variety of patterns for everything from fish bones and strawberries to pigs, deer and humanoids (animals in human form). I really appreciated that this book was broken into levels, so one can try a couple of fast easy projects before diving into a more elaborate craft commitment. Some of the patterns, such as the carrot can be done within an hour or less while the humanoids will likely take many novice crocheters weeks. I do doubt that the "advanced" patterns would really be considered advanced by anyone who has a lot of experience with crochet. I jumped right into them after making a carrot and a strawberry and did just fine.Also, take time to read the text beyond the patterns in this book. It's funny.

This is a great first book for amigurumi in America, but gives plenty of information to help you take it to the next level. Yes, amigurumi has been in Japan forever, but most people need a little introduction to it here. So of course the book needs to have some beginner projects. There are 14 projects in this book. It is broken into smallish food type projects, medium animals, and then the larger Humaniods. While the food may be the sort of thing that is seen in Japanese amigurumi books, the other projects have a little more care and detail put into them to make them several steps above the rest.Once you learn how to construct the body of the humaniods by following her great directions, she encourages you to use your imagination to come up with your own details ( while providing some great ones if you don't feel creative) to make your creation one of a kind. While this book is about crochet, if you look on her website, you can see that she is using knitting to make many parts of her creations now like clothes and hair. So there is lots of inspiration there. This book seems well written and I can't wait to see what comes next from this wonderfully talented artist!

I have a few Japanese Amigurumi books and was hoping this book will help me decipher those but it is written only in words and not in the Japanese style of a chart with long list of rows with number of stitches. But as a crochet doll book, it is a winner and probably a lot easier to use too. I'm not excited about doing carrotsand not even the cookies thrill me, but the 8 animals and humanoid dolls are terrific. Since I'm doing this for a little child, I have to change certain things like the eyes. Personally, I prefer crocheting dolls to knitting them and there are a lot less crochet toy books than knitting ones. The difference is that knitting makes a flat piece you have to sew up but with this crochet you work around and get body forms and this type of crochet is meant to make oval shapes which can be easily joined to each other. I'm very happy with this book and plan on making several and then hopefully figuring out my own Amigurumi dolls.

While I love this book dearly, I would not recommend it for anyone below advanced. You are left on your own to increase or decrease and some of the directions are confusing. My book is scribbled up with my own instructions. I don't change the pattern - I just fully write out what they expect you to know. If I had not been making animals for years, I would be very confused. They also use slip stitches and half-crochets and this is the only book I have in my library that includes things like slip-stitches into a row below. The effect is nice but I make these for kids in hospitals and I don't think they are very impressed by different stitches. I do appreciate the details like the bend in the deer's rear legs. But I suggest you have good experience under your belt before tackling these projects.

Book arrived on time and in excellent condition.Was bought as a gift for daughter in law. She liked it but it is not something I would buy for myself. The characters do not inspire me.

This book has some lovely ideas in it for making kids toys. Great if you are creative (and have time!!). The toys would make lovely unique gifts for friends/family with children.

An interesting book; some of the projects are a little too involved for me as I like quick things to make but I do plan to make more from this book once I retire!

Brill as a gift

I bought this book b/c I want to create lil gifts for the inner child in all my friends. I have been crocheting for 2 yrs and this book has taught me some techniques I have never used before. I plan on giving it to my 17 yr old niece. It may just start her on a life time hobby, hopefully!