Hamster amigurumi + yarn recommendations

The hungry hamster amigurumi is finished! It took a little longer than planned, because I had to wait for the correct nose size to arrive in the mail. I love this little figure, with his tiny pink hands and feet, big cheeks and haunches, and a tail that helps him prop up. He also has strawberry and carrot snacks.

This is my first toy make of the year, and it came from the Zoomigurumi Favorites book. I bought an advance copy in a convenient PDF format (the hard copy is scheduled to be out this April). The book contains amigurumi favorites from the first ten Zoomigurumi editions, and the patterns are all by different designers. This hamster pattern was designed by Moji Moji Design (Janine Holmes), known for super “kawaii” (cute) figures. Check out her website for some free patterns!

If you are new to amigurumi and would like to try making a figure, I recommend using 100% cotton yarn, preferably mercerized, to achieve a smooth, lint-free appearance and to keep the stitches tight. Of course, any yarn type can work, depending upon what result you prefer. If you’re going for cotton yarn, there are dozens of options when it comes to type/brand of yarn to use for ami figures; the following are some of my favorite cotton sport weight / DK yarns that I have used to great effect (in no particular order), and a few retail links (U.S./U.K. focus):

Schachenmayr Catania (schachenmayr.com) – available at Lovecrafts, Etsy, Ebay, Amazon

Phildar Coton 3 (phildar.fr) – available at Lovecrafts and Etsy. (Phildar Coton comes in several weights, including 2, 3, 4)

Schoeller + Stahl Limone (schoeller-wolle.de) – found mostly at smaller European online shops or sometimes on Ebay

Scheepjes Catona (scheepjes.com/en/) – available at WEBS (yarn.com), Jimmy Beans, Lovecrafts, Etsy

Rico Design Ricorumi (rico-design.de/en/home/) – crochet kits are available on WEBS (yarn.com); also at Universal Yarn

Rico Essentials Cotton DK (Rico Design)- Lovecrafts, Laughing Hens, sometimes on Ebay

Paintbox Cotton DK (paintboxyarns.com)- Lovecrafts, Etsy

I can also recommend Yarn Sub, a helpful website to find alternate yarns in case your first choice is not available. I’ve also discovered some new yarn brands and types with this website.

That’s all for today! I’ll leave you with a photo of my two mini resident foodies, the ham’bear’gur and hamster. You can read about the ham’bear’gur in a previous post.