Amigurumi Loveys & Blankets by Ariana Wimsett

Amigurumi Loveys & Blankets

by Ariana Wimsett

Amigurumi, the Japanese art of crocheting stuffed yarn pieces, is incredibly popular. Many of the designs, by nature, are adorable, but imagine if your time spent crocheting and the art you produce could also be considered functional, even loveable. Author, Ariana Wimsett takes the cuteness of amigurumi animals and adds it to loveys and blankets to create a sweet security blanket. The book opens with an insightful introduction to crochet basics, and then includes 18 adorable crochet patterns like a giraffe, bear, dragon, and bunny and even a pattern created especially for this book. Give a gift of homemade love this year and for years to come. Little ones will latch onto these huggable companions and never let them go.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

Share

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Amigurumi Loveys & Blankets is a tutorial and technique guide for small blankets and snuggly animal blanket toys by Ariana Wimsett. Released 14th May 2024 by Fox Chapel, it's 160 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. 

Fox Chapel is well kn0wn for the quality of their DIY and homestyle publications. This is a worthy entry into that lineup. It's a fine primer with step by step instructions and copious tutorial photographs which are clear and illustrative. The author has an upbeat and casual writing style which is easy to follow. 

The introductory chapter includes a survey of styles, terms, and tools with good clear photos of each. There is a stitch and technique tutorial, but readers should have a basic working familiarity with general crochet, or access to a crochet savvy friend (or youtube). The author/publisher have also included a good tutorial on reading patterns which most readers will find useful going forward in the book. The second section (roughly 85% of the content) includes step-by-step tutorials for 16 different animal blankets/amigurumi. The tutorials are filled with clear usable photographs and spare no-frills instruction. I have no doubts that a keen beginner could produce a finished project from the instructions as written. 

Each tutorial includes an introduction with finished measurements and special features in a header. Tools and supplies are listed bullet style in a sidebar (measurements are given in American standard units with metric measures in parentheses). Tools and supplies are very basic and will be available at any well stocked big box crafts supplier in North America.

Five stars. Well written, accessible for beginning to advanced crocheters, useful, and appealing. It would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, home studio library, activity groups or similar.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • 26 May, 2024: Started reading
  • 26 May, 2024: Finished reading
  • 26 May, 2024: Reviewed