Mini Amigurumi by Sara Scales

 

I have always loved crocheting tiny things, so when I saw the book, Mini Amigurumi by Sara Scales, it was a must have.

This is a paperback book, measuring 20.5 cm square. There are 154 full- colour pages.

There are 30 individual projects in the book, covering a wide range of animals, people and objects.

The resultant projects are adorably tiny. On average they are about 2cm tall.

Crocheting in a Tiny Font

The patterns are designed to be crocheted on a 1mm hook (US size 10) using Anchor Pearl Cotton No. 8 (or similar).

The 1mm hook is very thin and I use a Clover one with a grip as this is much easier to work with (link to the one I use at the bottom of the article).

Although the designs use basic stitches and technifies, their small size could be an issue for newer crafters. I would recommend practising your skills on larger sized amigurumi before attempting the tiny ones. (There is info on how to do this in the book).

The patterns use UK terminology for the stitches, but a conversion chart is included for US stitchers. There are only a few stitches required so it should be easy for US crocheters to use these patterns comfortably.

Mini Amigurumi by Sara Scales

The Included Designs

The patterns use traditional amigurumi techniques and would be easy to customise.

Animals

Tiny Ted – fiddly little arms and legs, would make a great toy for a doll

Loopy Lion – the basic design could be converted into other animals

Piccolo Piglet – very cute, with a curly tail

Cool Dude – a podgy little bear

Honey Bee – these look very cute as earrings

Funny Bunny – “horizontal”, pet rabbit

Puppy Love – a fat little dog with a chain collar

Tom Turtle – very effective design

Panda-monium – a small, squat bear design

Flutterby butterfly – unusual butterfly that would look great as jewellery

Pony Pal – such an adorable tiny horse – could easily become a unicorn too

Hoppy Frog – fat little froggy, very cute

Three little kittens – round cats, cute and effective design

Mini Amigurumi by Sara Scales

Birds

Little Bird – my favourite and the first one I tried

Polar Penguin – short, stumpy penguin with a spirally tummy

Cheeky Chicks – tiny little chicks, great for Easter projects

Wise owl – a simple owl with big eyes

Robin redbreast – classic robin with spiral chest

Mini Amigurumi - tiny bird

People

Kokeshi doll – traditional style Japanese doll, very cute

Angel delight – a Kokeshi doll style angel that would be ideal for Christmas projects

Super Snowman – another great Christmas design

Baby bunting – swaddled babies with beaded dummies (pacifiers)

Prima ballerina – Kokeshi doll style with a little tutu

Mini Amigurumi - Kokeshi Dolls

Food

Cute Cupcake – lost of scope for customisation

Frosted Doughnut – a popular design for jewellery

Fortune Cookie – with cute, beaded edge

Strawberry Sensation – a simple but versatile strawberry

Pumpkin Pete – a jack-o’-lantern – ideal for dollshouses

Mini Amigurumi - mini pumpkins

Others

Fairy Toadstool – would be a cute accessory for other characters

Love heart – a handy pattern that could be used for many projects

The Instructions

The patterns are of the written type. They use standard abbreviations and a key is, of course, included.

Each design has a list of required materials, including what colours were used in the samples shown. The examples have used Anchor cotton, but other brands could have course be used instead.

A nice feature is that for each design there is a series of pictures showing all around the finished project. I wish more pattern books did this!

Techniques

After the patterns, the book includes a detailed section on crochet techniques.

Mini Amigurumi - how to crochet

Getting Started

First is information on the tools used, safety and so on.

The next spread talks about scale. Here there are life size pictures of one of the projects (the cupcake) shown crocheted on various sizes of hooks, with different yarn. If you are nervous about crocheting on a tiny scale, you can start with a bigger size to familiarize yourself with the pattern first.

Crochet techniques

Next there are illustrated instructions on how to crochet. These are clear and ideal for beginner crocheters. All the stitches etc used in the book are included.

Finishing Touches

The next section looks at fastening off your work, embroidery stitches used in the designs, attaching beads, tufts and legs etc, and creating loops (for the lion’s mane!)

Mini Amigurumi - making jewelry

Using The Amigurumi

These teeny little creations are very versatile. There are ideas here for using them in jewellery and other items.

They are also perfect for dolls houses and as toys for bigger dolls, of course.

Basic Jewellery Techniques

Next there is a very good guide to the basics of turning the amigurumi into jewellery pieces.

Mini Amigurumi - jewellery techniques

Finally there is a chart of conversions from metric to old UK and US sizes, a chart of UK versus US terms and the abbreviations key.

Summary

This is a very attractive book with lots of cute designs. The tiny amigurumi make really adorable jewellery and charms.

The patterns are simple and clearly explained, but a total beginner to crochet will probably want to practice on a bigger scale before attempting these designs.

Many of the patterns have a lot of scope for variation making this book a great source of inspiration for the more experienced crocheter.

Mini Amigurumi - finished bird
A 12″ Fashion Royalty doll (Barbie size), holding a finished little bird – how cute!

 

If you would like to learn to crochet, I recommend A Little Course in Crochet from Dorling Kindersley (click for review).

For more small amigurumi projects, check out my reviews of Mini Christmas Crochet by Val Pierce and  Sparkling Crochet by Mitsuki Hoshi

If you would prefer larger amigurumi, check out my reviews of the Hello Kitty Crochet Book and Super Scary Crochet by Nicki Trench.

Links to Mini Amigurumi by Sara Scales on Amazon

Here are links to the book on Amazon.com (left) and Amazon.co.uk, plus a link to the crochet hook I use. If you buy from any of these links, I may receive a small commission from the shop for sending custom their way. This is at no cost to yourself. Thank you.

 

Mini Amigurumi by Sara Scales – Craft Book Review
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