Amiguroooooom...whaaaat???

According to Wikipedia:  Amigurumi (編みぐるみ^?, lit. crocheted or knitted stuffed toy) is how Japanese call the trend of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll.^[1] Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings or inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features,^[2] as is typical in Japanese culture.

Yup, I didn't have a clue at first either.  I just thought crocheting had to do with scarves, hats and baby sweaters.  Japanese toys? Who knew?  But I have to tell you, I'm digging this amigurumi thing and I think I might have stumbled into a new hobby.  

Princess is participating in a local production of "The Little Mermaid Jr." and has a mentor who is helping her with her dancing, singing and lines.  So, as a thank you gift for this young lady, I took it upon myself to try a mermaid doll.  My first attempt looked like this:

She has no face, no arms and her seashells didn't come out the way I planned, but overall she's ok for my first attempt.  I think I got a little ambitious though, because her tail was super stitched (it's two pieces) and is messy in the back.  Her neck is all goofed up too and has gaping holes.  I used a hook that's too bit and she looks deformed.  Princess wants her, so I'll finish her off and give her to my budding thespian as a reminder of her time in the show.

So now, I'm onto mermaid #2.  Again, I chose a bigger hook (why, oh why oh why?) and a different pattern.  Her head worked up in one sitting and looks pretty good so far.  What do you think?  I still have a ways to go, but this doll will be done in one continuous round and then I'll add the arms.  None of that two-part tail business.  This next doll will be HUGE compared to mermaid #1, but hopefully she'll be really cute and a lot easier to make.  I'll post when she's complete, but here is my started project:

This ami stuff is fun and I've already collected patterns for my Dr.Whovians in the house.  That's a huge, overly ambitious project too, complete with Tardis, but I'm not one to back down from a challenge.  Pretty soon I'll be traveling through the time/space continuum to get it done before Christmas.....maybe.