Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts!: Amigurumi (Paperback)

~ Chronicle Books (Author)
Key Phrases: nose onto the head, use overcast stitches, washer beads, Color Group, Color Table, Assembling the Body Parts (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Kyuuto! = Cute!

Savvy crafters know that today's hippest designs hail from Japan. But it's near to impossible to find translated patterns. Or at least it used to be. With Amigurumi, we're proud to present the one of the first two books in our brand new Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts line. Amigurumi features small knit and crocheted creatures so cute you could cry. This book enjoyed huge success on its home shores. The pages burst with quirky color photographs, step-by-step directions, and helpful technical illustrations. At last, the appeal of authentic Japanese content with the ease of English instruction. Stay tuned for more in coming seasons!

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (December 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811860825
• ISBN-13: 978-0811860826
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,019 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Amigurumi Book, January 17, 2008

By	Knitfan - See all my reviews

I, unlike the other 2 reviewers, have a high opinion of this book. If you can crochet in the round, you will find this book easy to follow. If you can't: take a lesson then try again. One reviewer mentioned the symbols used. Although the symbols are not commonly used in a lot of crochet books, the symbols are clearly defined on page 5 of the book and are easy to understand. There are only 4 symbols to learn. It isn't that hard! So if you want to create cute crochet animals, give this book a try. It's a lot of fun.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These are the cutest little animals, January 18, 2008

By	Jenny King (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have not tried this type of crochet before and I have been crocheting for over 40 years. But I picked up my hook and some scarp yarn and had 2 animals created in a flash. The animals got 2 thumbs up from my 18 and 21 year old daugthers with them begging me to make them for friends with new bubs on the way. I love the no written instruction type instructions as I believe that any young crocheter will just look at the simple pictures for each round and power on ahead. No deciphering long wordy explainations that bog most new crocheters down.Each round has a stitch count, a diagram of what to do in a round and detailed and consise instructions at the beginning of the book. I think that we may see a whole new generation of crocheters who started with these animals. I have been making stuffed toys from many books on the market recently, even translating knit ones to crochet, but the ones the kids like to pick up and cuddle are the Amigurumi from this book. I can't wait to try them all.... and it is a great way to use up the stash.I think IMO that these are for the young and Funky(but apparently if you still use the word Funky you are dating yourself) They have proved very very popular here!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I Like It, April 18, 2008

By	fiber farmer (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This is the first amigurumi book I purchased. I like the look of the toys and I like the simplicity of the charts that are used. I've made several of the toys and have adapted some patterns to make my own patterns. My 11 year old daughter, who has never crocheted before, finished the duck (with prompting) in a very short time and is excited for the next one. She's making the tiny bear now.

On the down side, I've found that some of the directions are difficult to understand. I'm a long time knitter, so I understand shaping and such, but I've only just started crochet. The butterfly wings completely stumped me. I thought I understood what was being illustrated in the charts, but it didn't look at all like the finished product in the picture. I kept expecting to have an "aha" moment, but I finally just "did my own thing", based on previous knowledge, and finished the pattern--not rocket science, and maybe I'm just thick or something.

The pictures are nice and they're great idea starters. I would prefer that the patterns be put alongside the color pictures, rather than the pictures grouped at the beginning and the patterns at the back of the book. However, this isn't enough of a distraction to downgrade an excellent volume of creativity.

I'm very glad to have this book as my introduction to amigurumi. It's a great medium and I'm enjoying it, thanks to this author's introduction.