Hey everyone, lately I have been rediscovering the joys of crocheting tiny amigurumi! I’ve been calling them my crochet doodles, and these are doodles of the Japanese snow rabbit motif.

Many years ago, I had bought myself some crochet thread so that I could try out a small hook size; I had been inspired by the mini sweaters that were made for Coraline, which were knitted embroidery thread with toothpicks. Back then, I didn’t get the look that I wanted and put the materials aside; fast forward to now, and I got the idea again to try out the crochet thread.

This time, I decided to incorporate other small components into the project: beads. It was apparent that I have gained a lot more techniques since I had last touched the thread; take a look at how tiny the magic ring looks, with size 10 crochet thread and a 1.25 mm hook:

After making the egg – shaped body, I tested out the beads that I found in my room; I kept thinking that crochet thread was small enough to pull through the bead, but it definitely wasn’t. The next time around, I bought some small round beads (3mm). I knew that the crochet thread was going to be too big, so I went ahead and used regular thread & needle; surprisingly, the needle itself was too big and broke the bead as a result. Even with a smaller needle, I could only pass through it twice while I was attaching them onto the body.

Between the original glass beads and the 3mm stone beads, the eyes look a lot more uniform for the 3 mm beads. The ears were no problem at all; I had a green crochet thread and made ears with a single – row piece. The results have been adorable, and they encourage me to explore the concept even further.

What sort of things would I like to try designing with crochet thread? Generally, the focus would be around mini – amigurumi; lately, I have been wanting to design a bunch of plush, based off of old folk-style toys from China and Japan. Actually, it’s an ongoing theme of mine, to keep making folk – like art. With crochet being an old technique in itself, it lends well to bold shapes and colours; the thought of making small fish and burnt birds come to mind. I love how they express the features of each animal and figure, while combining abstract patterns and florals into the spaces where there are no distinct traits. I also really like the use of the natural materials, giving them a sense of organic flow. I could go on forever about folk art; you can probably see the resemblance in my projects too:

I’ve also thought about making garlands with crochet thread, but I would have to learn a lot more about lace designs. I am excited to make use of beads, and maybe, I would also try to incorporate some paper mâché. I feel like revisiting a lot of classic craft media, especially with the continuation of our lock-down in Ontario. Thanks for reading!