So, what's it all about?

Officially, this blog is to document my research into Amigurumi (1) for my Polytechnic course on Develope and Use Information Literacy Skills, as part of my Certificate 3 in Library/Information Services. This sounds nice and posh, but it basically means I'm learning to use Web 2.0 applications, such as blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, etc, ready for when I qualify as a Library Technician. That's the sort of thing my children were born knowing, but I'm too old for that, so I have to learn it the old-fashioned way.

I don't know if there are many people in Tasmania who make Amigurumi. There are surely some out there, but I've never met anyone else who does it. 'Amigurumi' is Japanese for 'Crocheted or Knitted Animals'. They don't have to be *just* animals, though. I've made cacti, peas in pods, apples with worms and so on. The main idea is that the creation is anthropomophic (has human characteristics) and is cute. *Very* cute. *Sickeningly* cute, in some instances. Japanese seem to have two dominant preferences in a lot of things: one is Cuteness, the other is Death, preferably gory, gruesome and bloody death. I don't do the whole Death thing...

The picture with this post is one of the first amigurmui I ever made. I've actually made a few of him, but they've always been given away. I must make one for me to keep, because he's definately my favourite. A lot of the patterns I use are free patterns from various sites (Pengy was from the Lion Brand (2) site), but others I've found in various books. I've only ever given my Ami's away. I've never sold any of the critters, and certainly not the patterns, because they belong to other people.

(1) "Amigurumi." Reference.com. 25 June 2009. 29 June 2009 http://www.reference.com/browse/amigurumi.

(2) "Free Crochet Pattern 81012AD." Lion Brand Yarn. 29 June 2009. Spring 2008 http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/81012AD.html?noImages=.