Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the DeviantArt.com community for giving me the self-confidence to continue crocheting.
I would like to thank my children for giving me endless inspiration and my amazing husband for his constant love and support. And, of course, thanks to my momma for never complaining when I stole her crochet hooks.
Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
Copyright © 2012 Erin Clark
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clark, Erin, 1984-
Voodoo Maggie's adorable amigurumi: cute and quirky crochet critters/Erin Clark.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0842-4 (ebook.)
1. Amigurumi--Patterns. I. Title.
TT829.C59 2012
746.43'4--dc23
2011031115
Distributed by
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[email protected]; www.tuttlepublishing.com
Asia Pacific, Berkeley Books Pte Ltd, 61 Tai Seng Avenue #02-12, Singapore 534167. Tel: (65) 6280-1330; Fax: (65) 6280-6290 |
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[email protected]; www.tuttle.co.jp
First edition
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1109TW Printed in Singapore
TUTTLE PUBLISHING® is a registered trademark of Tuttle Publishing, a division of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
Contents
10 Basics
30 Sy Clops
51 Sunny Lion
65 Dust Bunny
71 Cal I. Mari
85 Yeti
92 Toucan
Introduction
Welcome fellow hookers!
My name is Erin, but I go by Voodoo Maggie in the crafty world of the Interwebs. I began my fiber-filled journey years and years ago at the ripe old age of six. Granted all I could manage for several years was a chain stitch, in fact I chained a whole skein of yarn once. But I learned more and more over the years, first the single crochet and making rows, then the magical granny square (after which came my first ever completed project). Eventually I filled in my library of stiches and combinations. I made scarf after scarf, multiplied by about three hundred or so, and a few afghans as well. Then around the age of fifteen I just sort of stopped, I’d hit a wall. Crocheting became boring; it was something I only did at Christmas (enter those several hundred scarves).
Quite a few years later, after the arrival of my second child, I was looking for a way to make a little extra dough so I could stay home with my munchkins. I decided to write down some of the patterns for my scarves and try to sell them on the website Etsy.com. Clearly other people were just as bored with crocheting flat things as I was, because I made a whopping twenty-seven dollars in two years.
Not to be discouraged by my stellar lack of success, I looked for other projects to master. Then I discovered, through some Internet browsing, the magical world of Amigurumi. It was love at first sight, all the things I could I make. I ran out and loaded up on new yarn and hooks and a five-pound box of stuffing. I’ve been at it ever since.
The biggest reason I love it is because it’s like sculpting with yarn. You can add layer after layer until you’ve completed your creations. Or if your like me, pulled out all your stitches (and maybe a bit of hair) and come up with something entirely different than what you were planning on.
Though, as with any new venture, finding a place to start can be the hardest part. My first several patterns never made it much further than the garbage can. I kept trying and failing, unraveling and repeating for quite sometime until I finally got the hang of it and learned how to make what I saw in my head become an actual three-dimensional toy. I could hold in my hands something that I had imagined and could only semi-realize