My latest lockdown lifesaver

[florentina1]

I have been learning Amigurumi.

Oh wow! He's lush. Does he have a name?

Gorgeous!

I have put the selection of a name to a family vote. One GD said Audrey, one said Gerald and my son thought it was a cow not a giraffe. So I might call it androgynous the coraffe

That's clearly an Audrey

Another vote for Audrey. Even though I originally asked what 'his' name was.

Is it difficult to learn? I'm a bit rubbish with knitting and crochet, but starting to feel the need to do something productive.

Most Arogurumi just uses one stitch, double crochet . (Called single crochet if it is an American pattern) If you learn that one stitch from you tube, plus these sites and then practice making a perfect square in double crochet, you will be set.
The sites are HOW TO MAKE. MAGIC RING, 25 THINGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN ABOUT CROCHET.

most amigurimi starts with the magic ring and uses increases and decreases to make the shapes. These are covered really well.

Ravellery has lots of free patterns. I suggest you start with this one. It looks complicated but it really is not and covers all the basic techniques you need.

The Giraffe was a free pattern from Amigurumi today. They also have this unicorn which my GDs love. Again it is much simpler than it looks as it uses the same techniques as the octopus.

Do you have a link to the YouTube video you used?

I can crochet but I cannot do links☺️ The site is called 25+ hacks for crochet beginners. She recommends some plastic little padlock things. which are well worth buying. Because it is made in a spiral it is hard to keep count of row ends.

When I first started I was constantly having to restart because I lost count of where I was. There are all different ways to use them, but I attach them to the stitch on the hook at the end of each row. This way, when you reach the stitch with the hook In the next row, you know the row is completely finished. If you have made a mistake it is easy to either undo the row back to the padlock or, because it is usually only one stitch, I just compensate in the next row.

You can also use them for counting rows. Just hook them anywhere on the row after you have finished each row.

There are lots of ways to make the magic ring and I think it is best to use the one which you find easiest to understand.

As you advance there are tutorials about using colours so that the stripes are clearly shown. After 40 years of crochet, I never knew how to do this. I make a lot of toys so this has been invaluable for me.

@Sleepingboy I have jut found another site which has lots of free patterns and a tutorial it is Lefthandedcrocheter

Thank you! I will have a look. I have a crochet hook hopefully arriving from amazon today!

Oo exciting