I started amigurumi with monkeys. Actually, that’s not quite true.  With the internet as my teacher, I first learned to crochet in rows so I could try out increasing and decreasing. After a lot of reading and watching videos, I managed a magic ring that worked for me and learned to crochet in spirals. Then I made monkeys.

The great thing about making amigurumi with spiral crochet is that it is super easy to make circles, sausage shapes, balls and cups. And once you can make those, you can make heads and bodies, arms and legs, ears and noses, without having to follow patterns. If you’re thinking of having a go, YouTube has a ton of great instructional videos. Or just google “learn amigurumi”.

So here are my first critters, made for the Million Monkeys founders to mark the table where they were writing.