What Is “Extreme” Amigurumi? | Podcast Episode #70

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Extreme Amigurumi?

Yes, it is a thing! My friend, Stephanie, from All About Ami opened my eyes to this new world on last week’s episode by sharing a talented maker on Instagram. I just had to explore it a little more. Why didn’t I think of this? Who doesn’t want a giant, cuddly ami?

Special Guest

I’m joined by, Holly, the creative lady behind Storyland Amis. Ironically enough, she got her start making tiny amigurumi but today she takes it to the next level and creates amigurumi that are almost as big as she is!

Episode Transcript

Brittany: 0:00
Hey there, friends. I’m so glad you’re joining me in episode number 70 of the BHooked podcast. Thank you so much for being here today. If you listened last week, you may have heard Stephanie mention somebody’s name, Storyland Amis, and this really cool idea of extreme amigurumi.

Well, I made it my life’s mission last week to make sure that I connected with this girl because I really wanted her to share this unique thing with us—this unique form of amigurumi. I mean, gosh, it’s something that I never even thought of, and it’s just brilliant.

Well, I was so lucky that she responded right away, and she’s here with us today to share some tips about how you can get started with extreme amigurumi, why it’s a little bit different than your standard amigurumi, and why you should try it at least once in your life. I know I am, and I hope we inspire you through this conversation to give it a try too.

Now, you know that I always love to share fun new things with you that I’ve tried or that brands have given me the opportunity to maybe review and share with you. So the thing that I’m working on right now that I really, really enjoy is my Hook and Needle Kit Club from Annie’s. This was something that was brand new to me about a month ago.

Well, they approached me and said, “Hey, we want to give you a couple of these kits so that you can try them out. And if you love it, then perhaps you can share it with your audience.” And that’s exactly what I did. Back in June—June 10th—I published a review video where you could see the first three kits that you’ll get up close and personal. You kind of get my first impressions of that, too.

But I’m actually working through those first three kits now. I’ve been working on my Sedona shawl, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Now I’ve moved on to those stash baskets, and this is such a quick and fun little project. The yarn that comes with it is great. It’s like an Annie’s Label yarn, and it’s super soft and has a wool component to it. It’s bulky, so it makes a nice sturdy basket. I’m just having a lot of fun with these projects.

Now, I want to encourage you to check this out if you’re looking for a project to arrive at your door every single month—something that you can really just dedicate to yourself, be a passion project for yourself. You don’t have to go through any of the trouble of picking the project and buying the yarn or finding the yarn.

Well, I mean, if those are the things that you love about starting a project, then maybe this service isn’t for you. However, if you kind of just want to start working and really enjoy your craft, the Hook and Needle Club from Annie’s is a great way to go.

So you can get more information on the club and how to be a member over on their website. If you just head over to annieskitclubs.com/behooked, you can see all of the information on how you can join today.

Now before we get started with Holly today, I want to let you know that the show notes page can be found at BeHookedCrochet.com/session070. She does talk about a lot of different resources and links—different places where you can buy this really, really bulky yarn, and some places where you can get the really jumbo-sized hooks. She also has a couple of helpful posts in there as well.

So don’t worry about trying to memorize all of the things that she says during our chat. You can find all of that information on the show notes page. Once again, BeHookedCrochet.com/session070.

Alright, I don’t know about you, but I’m pumped about Extreme Amigurumi, so let’s give a warm welcome to Holly from Storyland Amis. Holly, hi, welcome to the show.

Holly: 4:28
Hi, Brittany, thank you so much for having me.

Brittany: 4:32
Well, it’s a pleasure, actually, and I’m really excited to have you here because… I just first learned about you last week. I spoke with Stephanie from All About Ami. She was sharing some of her favorite designers and your name came up, and she mentioned that you do extreme amigurumi.

And it was like, what? My mind blew. I was like, why didn’t I think of that? I need to talk to this girl. So I’m so excited you’re here.

Holly: 4:56
Yeah, thank you.

Brittany: 4:59
Well, I’m definitely coming from a perspective of, I’m brand new to you. I know that you’re on Instagram and you’re doing a lot of really wonderful things, but gosh, I mean, it’s so hard to find everybody, right?

So I really have no idea about your story. Like, first of all, how did you learn how—

Holly: 5:20
So I started crocheting back in 2012, I guess it was. So I’ve been crocheting for about six years now. It was my older sister who taught me how to crochet and knit, actually. So she actually taught me how to knit before crocheting, so I’ve been crocheting for, like, probably 11 years now.

Oh, wow. But when she taught me how to crochet, I fell in love with that, and I’ve always preferred crocheting over knitting. I think there’s so many more possibilities. I mean, I know not everybody feels that way, but I personally feel like crochet just… There’s so much there—so many possibilities, so much you could make with it.

So my family has always been very crafty. My mom taught me and my sisters how to embroider and cross-stitch when we were little. So I’ve always been doing some sort of crafting. And when we got a little older, we started going to local craft fairs and selling our knitted and embroidered projects there.

So the reason my sister taught me how to crochet was actually because she wanted someone else to be able to help with that part of the business—the crocheting—because at that point she was the only one in the family who knew how to crochet. So one day she’s like, “You want to learn how to crochet?” And I said yes.

Even before I learned how to crochet, I remember thinking that it would be really cool to be able to design my own amigurumis. And at the time, I don’t know, for some reason, we were really into helicopters, and I was like—I remember thinking—how cool would that be if I could make a chubby pink helicopter?

I never actually did, but I remember thinking that. So yeah, she taught me how to crochet, and I took a couple of lessons from her, and I took off from there. So yeah, she’s been a huge inspiration because she’s the one who got me started in everything.

Brittany: 7:17
Yeah, that’s really cool that you were able to make that connection and she was able to teach you something new. And you have obviously made something out of this. I can tell that it’s probably more than just a passion for you. So when did Storyland Amis come about?

Holly: 7:33
So that came around 2015, I guess. The end of 2015 is when I started my Etsy shop. So, yeah. I started my website and blog last year.

Brittany: 7:49
So, okay. Okay. So it started out as an Etsy shop first. Now were you selling finished goods or were you selling patterns?

Holly: 7:57
I was only selling finished goods. I was very against selling my patterns, actually. I’m like, I am not selling my patterns because—I guess it’s because I was afraid that people would take my designs, steal them, and not credit me or whatever. And that does happen all the time.

But I have learned to just deal with it, and it doesn’t bother me anymore. And I have never regretted starting selling my patterns. But yeah, I started with only finished things. And kind of ironically, I started out making miniature, tiny—super tiny—amis, like one inch tall, using crochet thread and a tiny steel crochet hook.

Brittany: 8:35
Yeah, well man, I definitely tip my hat to you because I kind of have an aversion to thread. And it’s nothing personal—I think thread crochet is just absolutely gorgeous—but man, it is not for me. My hands don’t like to do that.

So even thinking of it in terms of amigurumi, it’s like—that seems so much harder, so much more difficult. So, man, that’s really cool.

Holly: 9:02
Yeah, it was definitely hard on my hands. But yeah, I think that’s kind of funny how I started with little tiny and then I went to really giant.

Brittany: 9:14
Yeah, literally one extreme to the next. So have you always done amigurumi, or on your website and Etsy, has that always kind of been your thing? Or did you dabble in other areas too?

Holly: 9:28
No, I’ve always kind of just been exclusively with amigurumi. I’ve always just tried to stay true to that because I just want to focus on only amigurumi and get as much out of that as I can.

Brittany: 9:45
Yeah, I think there’s definitely something to be said about picking a niche that you love, that you’re good at, and owning that space. That’s something a lot of people aren’t doing—I mean, myself included, I’m kind of all over the place.

But I think it’s really great when somebody sticks to their guns, they know what they’re good at, and they can just focus on that one thing.

Holly: 10:07
Yes, I agree. I think a lot of people try to go beyond that and they kind of lose sight of their focus. So I try to focus just on amigurumi at this point.

Brittany: 10:21
Yeah, that’s really cool. So, I mean, obviously you’ve done a lot of expansion just within that niche too. You said you started with tiny amigurumi and now you’re doing extreme amigurumi. What was it that sparked that idea?

Holly: 10:39
Yeah, so I guess I came up with the idea of extreme amigurumi after seeing everyone else making wearable and household items out of wool roving. That was like the thing to do last year.

And since my sole focus is just designing amigurumi, I just naturally thought—what if I made a giant ami out of wool roving instead? That really excited me, and I thought I was a little bit crazy too because I’ve never seen anyone else do that.

I do remember seeing a giant knitted rabbit that someone had made, but I’d never seen anything else. So I guess that’s kind of how I came up with the idea—because my sole focus was amigurumi, I thought, well, I want to do something with this and that would be really cool to make a giant ami out of that.

Brittany: 11:27
Yeah, I love that you saw the inspiration of how the giant things were really popular last year—and probably are still going to be popular this fall season too—and even though nobody else was doing it, it didn’t scare you away.

I think a lot of times we fall in—yes. Yeah. I think a lot of people are going to have fun with it, even if they don’t do extreme amigurumi all the time and that’s just their thing. How fun would it be to make a gigantic teddy bear or something for your niece or nephew?

Holly: 12:24
Yes, I agree. And I really hope that more people decide to give it a try because it really is fun. And I think it’s just kind of like—yeah, like you said—even if you only do it once, it’s like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s fun, and it’s a challenge.

Even though it can be kind of expensive at first, it’s like—yeah, I think everybody who does amigurumi should try it at least once.

Brittany: 12:46
For sure. For sure. Well, hopefully we can convince a couple of people to give it a try here today.

What I want to do is take the approach of somebody who’s never done it before. So I want to cover some of the tools and the yarn, how much, and really just all of those little details so that people feel comfortable with making that investment. And they have an idea of what that investment is going to look like from a time and a cost standpoint.

So let’s start with the tools. I know for us as crocheters, I mean, we all know that we need some kind of yarn. We need some kind of hook. But I feel like you’ve done this for a while—you probably know what works really well and what doesn’t.

So first of all, what kind of hook do you recommend?

Holly: 13:29
So that depends on the yarn you’re going to be using. And so far, I have made, let me think here, like six, I think, Giant Amis. And I… From those, I’ve used three different kinds of yarn. So the first two I made, I used wool roving. And that requires a 40-millimeter crochet hook, which is super giant. And that’s the biggest I’ve ever used. And I think that’s generally just the kind of hook you use for wool roving is a 40-millimeter hook.

And then the other yarn I used was an acrylic hook, extreme yarn, which was probably like a third of the thickness of the wool roving. It’s kind of hard to measure the weights and stuff because they’re all so specialized and unique, you know. You can’t say, “this is worsted weight” or something like that because they’re all so special.

And I used a, I think, a 15-millimeter hook for that, which is a lot more common size, obviously. You can just buy that at the craft store. I think that’s the biggest size that Clover sells in their hooks.

And then more recently, the last three giant Amis I made, I used a 25-millimeter hook for those. So that yarn was kind of in between the wool roving and the acrylic I used for the penguin, which is what I made before those.

Brittany: 15:09
Okay. I don’t want to steer too far away from hooks, but I do have to wonder, did you use or make a gauge swatch in order to make those determinations, or did you kind of just wing it?

Holly: 15:23
I didn’t. Let’s see. So most of the places you buy specialized or extreme yarn from are going to tell you what the best hook size is. And the last three Emmys I made with a 25-millimeter hook, they actually specifically sell that hook on their website to go along with that yarn. It’s Premier Yarns, and they actually sell that 25-millimeter hook to go with their bulky seven weight yarn.

So I knew that that’s what I needed to use for that. And the same with the 40-millimeter hook for the wool roving—they also recommended that’s the size you use. So I didn’t really go with what I thought best; I went with what the yarn company suggested.

Brittany: 16:12
Okay, awesome. So it’s good to know that even in those specialized yarn situations that they do provide that standard information to you. Now you mentioned the 15-millimeter is one that Clover has and sells. It’s part of their Clover Amore line, which we have easy access to. But what about those larger hooks? Do you have a brand or company of hook that you have some experience with that you would recommend?

Holly: 16:39
Yeah, so I bought my 40-millimeter hook from a yarn company in England called Wool Couture. And they sell all sorts of wool and wool roving and hooks and giant knitting needles and everything—just about everything you would need. And that’s where I bought my hook from.

I also know that Mama Knows Luxury sells the wool roving and the hooks as well. And I worked with Sarah there—she’s the one who gave me the extreme acrylic yarn to make my penguin.

Brittany: 17:18
Okay, so it sounds like something that’s a little bit more specialized. What I’ll do is I’ll grab those links and I’ll leave them in the show notes. That way people can have a place that they feel like they can trust to order those products from.

You mentioned the wool roving is one of the yarns that you like to use. Are there any other things that you look for when you’re making a yarn choice?

Holly: 17:47
Just like, price is important—making sure it’s a good price and looking at reviews, other people’s reviews. Like, is this a good quality wool? Because there are different kinds of wool, and the quality depends.

Some places don’t have… like, is it nice and soft? Because when I first bought my wool, I bought from two different kinds of companies. One was from the Wool Couture company, which is what I bought to make my giant sloth, the first one I made. And that was really, really good quality wool. It was really soft.

And I also bought from another company at the same time. I actually still have that wool sitting around—I’ve never used it. And it just wasn’t as nice quality. It was rougher. And it also took a lot longer to get here because it was from, I don’t know, Ukraine or something.

So I really look for quality, I guess, and just seeing like what other people— is it a reputable brand? You know, are they selling a lot?

Brittany: 18:52
Yeah.

Holly: 18:53
Do other people have good things to say about it? So I guess that would be really the most important thing.

Brittany: 19:01
What about maybe like well-known brands, like big name brand yarns? Can you think of any yarns that are currently available? Like I’m thinking Red Heart, Premier, Yarnspirations.

Holly: 19:17
Yeah, so Premier—they have a bulky seven called Couture Jazz, and they actually provided me with all the yarn to make the last three giant Amis I made: the bunny, owl, and unicorn.

And that, from the three yarns I’ve worked with, is actually my favorite that I have worked with. It’s soft and it’s like the perfect weight—it’s in between the wool roving. It’s not too thick but it’s not too thin, so you still get the giant Ami look.

And it’s really durable and strong because it’s actually a woven acrylic. So that was, out of the three, my favorite yarn to work with so far.

Actually, Hobby Lobby has some extreme yarn they just came out with too—Yarn Bee. So I haven’t tried that yet, but I saw that they had it.

Brittany: 20:13
Yeah, so it sounds like there’s some other options. I’m thinking of one that I have personally used—it’s a Red Heart. I believe it’s called Irresistible. I’ll again link to that in the show notes too because I don’t have it right in front of me. But I know that is a number seven.

So it sounds like if we’re looking for something that we can buy—maybe at our local craft store or use those websites for yarn brands that we already have some experience with—that we should probably look within that seven weight category. Is that right?

Holly: 20:43
Yes. And I mean, even if you didn’t want to go as extreme as I did, you can always try something a little bit thinner. Like I know Yarnspirations has the Bernat Baby Blanket yarn.

And I have seen somebody actually use my giraffe pattern to make that. They were inspired by my Extreme Amis and they took my giraffe pattern and just used the yarn that was thicker and they came up with a giant giraffe.

So you could definitely use that to make an Extreme Ami and just use a regular pattern.

Brittany: 21:20
Yeah, very cool. I have some personal experience with that, too. I recently—in March, I believe—designed a unicorn. My sister had requested one for my niece, and I had all of this Bernat Baby Blanket yarn that I had left over from making her a blanket.

And I was like, man, this would be a really cuddly unicorn. So I don’t think it’s quite extreme level—maybe sitting next to her it is. But it was a really great yarn to work with because it did have a really soft feel to it.

I’m also thinking you could probably double strand some of these number six weight yarns too. Would that work?

Holly: 21:56
Oh, yeah, definitely. So, I mean, yeah, you can really get creative with this. I think the key is just not to be intimidated by what has not been done. It’s like, you know, it hasn’t been done before, so maybe it won’t work. But, I mean, you know, I might as well give it a try. It can’t hurt.

Brittany: 22:13
Exactly. You never know if it’s going to work or not if you don’t try. So I love that advice to step out of the box a little bit. If somebody hasn’t done it before, it doesn’t mean that there’s necessarily a good reason. Maybe somebody didn’t think about it.

Exactly. Maybe you will set yourself up to have a learning experience where you realize, okay, well, this is probably why it’s never happened before. And that’s okay. You’ve learned from that experience and you’ve developed your skills as a result of that.

Holly: 22:46
Yes, I totally agree.

Brittany: 22:49
So you mentioned a little bit about the yarn yardage and the cost. Is there any way to know? Now, I think if we’re ordering yarn from more specialized companies—you were saying that you got some yarn from Ukraine and ordered from people maybe through Instagram or other Etsy shops—you probably want to know how much yarn you need.

But a lot of times, at least for me as a designer, I don’t always know that. I really just like to fly by the seat of my pants and see what happens. So how do you know how much yarn to order?

Holly: 23:28
Yeah, that’s definitely my biggest struggle because I always tend to underbuy. And when companies are like, “How much do you need?” I’m like, oh, you had to ask that question—because I have no idea!

It’s a new yarn and they want me to make the same thing, and I have no idea how much I’m going to need. So I usually ask for the first that I need and then I have to say, okay, I need more, can you send me more?

But I finally figured out a way. If you really want to make sure you get the right amount—you don’t want to overbuy or underbuy—I did figure out a little trick.

So if you’re buying from a specialized yarn shop, it’s really hard to tell how much you’re going to need. Like the wool roving—the trick I’m going to tell you about wouldn’t really work on that. But just as a little estimate, I use maybe eight to nine pounds of wool roving for each of the giant Amis I made (the fox and the sloth).

You’re not going to be able to get exactly how much you need, but eight to nine would probably be enough. It also depends on how many details are in the animal—if it has ears, a tail, etc., the more body parts, the more you’re going to need.

When you’re trying to figure out how much yarn you want to use for something, I take one skein of yarn and work it up to see how many stitches I can make out of that one skein.

Just as an example, the Couture Jazz yarn I used for the giant Amis I just made—I could get 70 stitches out of one skein of yarn. So let’s say I already have the pattern. I count up all the stitches in the pattern.

Say the head has 554 stitches. You add up the stitch count from the parentheses after each row, and then divide that by 70. That tells you you’re going to need eight skeins of yarn for the head.

Then you do the same thing for the body, arms, ears, tail, etc., and add it all up. So you might find that you’re going to need like 21 skeins of yarn total. That’s a more sure way of figuring out how much you’ll need.

Brittany: 26:26
that’s pretty brilliant so I’m also guessing that when you work up that initial swatch that you’re using the same stitch that you would throughout the pattern

Holly: 26:35
exactly yeah so I generally only work with single crochets. Sometimes I’ll use half double crochets—very rarely I’ll use double crochets. But if you were to do that, then you could do a separate swatch with the other stitches you were making. But if you were incorporating them into the design, you could just say, okay, I’ll just count that as two stitches or whatever. So I generally just work with single crochets.

Brittany: 26:59
Okay. And have you seen any variability in like working in the round versus working in a flat piece? I mean, we know that it looks different from side to side, but I think the point that I’m trying to get across, even though it looks different, it’s not necessarily… using a different amount of yarn. So when you work up that swatch, are you working in a flat piece or are you making like a big tube?

Holly: 27:25
I’m making a round because that’s almost always what I work with is in the round. And I don’t think that it takes up really less or more yarn if you’re working in a round or a row because, you know, you’re still doing the same stitch.

Brittany: 27:38
it would be an interesting experiment. I would think that it would be the same, but I can’t say that I’ve ever tried that before and compared it. So

Holly: 27:46
interesting. Yeah, but I mean, yes, it’s not like foolproof. I mean, it’s not completely accurate, but at least it gives you an idea and it can help you, guide you when you’re trying to buy yarn for your project.

Brittany: 27:58
Yeah. Yeah. That’s a great tip. I appreciate that. Are there any other tools that you use? I know I’m thinking off the top of my head, like you’ll need some fiber fill and stitch markers. Like what on earth do you use for a giant stitch marker?

Holly: 28:10
So Clover again has the bigger stitch markers. I guess the biggest stitch marker size they offer is what I use for that. And even if it doesn’t like fit all the way around the stitch, I just kind of stick it in there. Yeah. And that’s what I use. So, I mean, that’s readily available to anybody.

And the same with stuffing. I used, let’s see, I think I used like maybe 32 ounces around there with each one. So if you bought like the 20-ounce stuffing bags, then you’d only have to buy two of them, you know. Yeah. I mean, they do use, like, a lot of stuffing, and you just keep stuffing more and more and more in. But, I don’t know, when it’s all said and done, it’s like, oh, I thought that would have used more.

And then another tool that is essential is a needle for sewing all the pieces together. And what I use for that is a weaving or loom needle because that’s specially designed for really thick yarns—you know, for weaving and stuff. And so I finally—I couldn’t figure out like how am I going to put all these pieces together because my regular tapestry needle obviously you could not thread the yarn through there because the eye was too small.

Yeah, I was starting to panic because I’m like how am I going to put these pieces together and then I remember seeing a yarn company I follow advertising their new loom needles that they had just started selling. I thought, oh, those have really big eyes. I wonder if that would work. So I got on Etsy and I bought a weaving and loom needle. It came and it worked and I was so happy because I’m like, oh, this is just so great because it just made life so much easier being able to put those pieces together. Just like normally sewing in AMI together, but on a giant scale, but it made it so much easier.

Brittany: 30:07
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the alternative to that, that I would think of is like, oh, I’ve got to put this together with my fingers.

Holly: 30:12
Exactly. That’s, that was my worst case scenario.

Brittany: 30:17
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So we know about the tools, the hooks, you’ve given us some good tips there. The one other thing I wanted to ask about too, is the faces. I know a lot of people use safety eyes or that sort of thing for the faces. Do they make like a jumbo scale or are you embroidering your faces to your pieces?

Holly: 30:36
So I use the giant 40 millimeter safety eyes, which is pretty much as big as you can go. I think you can get some specialized 50mm eyes, but that’s not really readily available. And the 40mm eyes I just buy off of Etsy or eBay, and they’re not really that hard to find, and they’re not actually that expensive considering.

So that’s what I always use for them, and obviously you cannot use a washer on the back of that because the yarn is too thick. You can’t attach it through all that thickness. So I just use a hot glue gun, which works really well, actually, or you could use a specialized fabric glue as well.

Brittany: 31:16
Okay, very cool. It’s cool to know that they actually have that available. I hadn’t really explored that before.

Holly: 31:21
Yeah, but you could definitely crochet them, like with maybe a worsted weight yarn, you know, or use really big buttons.

Brittany: 31:32
Yeah, that’s a great idea. So definitely some ideas to go off of there. I think the big question now is how long does it take to make one of these pieces, and is it like a lot longer than maybe some of the other projects we might work on? Or is it quicker?

Holly: 31:46
So yeah, that is a really good question because it’s not, if it takes longer, it’s not because the pattern is like ginormous. Because when you are designing a big AMI, you have to think small. So you like, you have to think small to get big.

Because if you used a regular size pattern where the stitch count goes up to like 70, you know, you would get a humongous AMI that nobody wants. If you used a really large yarn in the end, I hope with that. Okay. So when you’re like designing a really large AMI, you want to actually get a small pattern. So if you were like using worsted weight yarn, maybe you would want the stitch count to only go up to like, you know, 42 or something like that and then when you apply the extreme yarn and hook to that then it’s going to be really big and it’s going to be a manageable giant size.

Brittany: 32:52
Yeah, that makes sense. I never would have thought of it that way to think small and go big from there. So if you had to estimate or maybe put an average to the amount of time that one of your Amis has taken, just from the crochet standpoint, because obviously there was a design process that was involved in those. Are we talking like two hours or like 12 hours?

Holly: 33:18
Let’s see. I’d say maybe… Yeah, probably more like 12 hours. I mean, if you were like working constantly on it. Yeah. If you were working like constantly on it, yeah, you could probably finish it in like 12 hours.

Because unlike just like when you’re normally crocheting, you’re not really thinking about what you’re doing. You’re just going along, you know, because you’re so used to doing it. You’re just going along. But when you’re working with a really big hook, you’re like thinking about every stitch. Every stitch is very deliberate, right? And you’re just, you know, you’re really focused. And it takes longer because it’s so big. And you’re not holding the yarn like you normally would. Like you have to actually like wrap it around and pull it through. And so like every stitch is very deliberate.

So it does for sure take longer than a normal Ami. But because, like I said, the pattern is not going to be a normal pattern. It’s going to be, you’re going to be, it’s going to be like smaller. Yeah, fewer. It’s not going to take, yeah, it’s not going to take as long as you might think.

Brittany: 34:20
well, and that brings up another good point, too, since you’re not able to hold the yarn and the hook in a normal way. I can imagine. Well, I mean, just from experience, I’ve worked with some T-shirt yarn before and I love it. I absolutely love the look of it. I was making a rug actually as a wedding gift for my friend. And I remember even though I had more time to sit down and work on it. I was done after about an hour. My arms, my shoulders were just like physically aching. Do you experience some of that when working with these extreme Amis?

Holly: 34:55
Yes, it is. It can be very fatiguing. Actually, the taking the photos of them was more exhausting than crocheting them because you’re holding them and they’re really heavy and it was very exhausting. But so yeah, Yes, it is tiring, but I think the best thing to do is just to take your time. Don’t do too much at a time. Stop frequently and rest.

I mean, if this is like your once in a lifetime experience with Extreme Amis, just enjoy the process and take your time. Do some exercises, hand exercises. We Are Knitters has a great blog post called Hand Exercises for Knitters. And it has some really helpful arm and wrist exercises that you can help that can deal with fatigue.

And so I haven’t actually personally had a lot of problem with fatigue and pain. No pain. I’ve had fatigue. I actually haven’t had any pain, thankfully. So just, yeah, just take it easy. Don’t go too fast.

Brittany: 36:03
Yeah. I think it’s always good to set yourself like a little timer. I know it sounds silly to do that. Yeah, I know. I know for me, I kind of get in a groove and I just want to work on it and I don’t always pay attention to my body. And I think if you set an alarm and you’re deliberate about, okay, how do I feel right now? Is my neck hurting? Are my shoulders hurting? achy or are my forearms tired, like whatever it may be, it’s okay to walk away. And if you have to set a timer to remind yourself every, I don’t know, like 20 minutes or so to just get up, move around, maybe go get a drink of water or whatever, and then you can come back to it and you can probably eliminate a lot of problems before they even start.

Holly: 36:51
Yes, for sure. And I think that’s the key is, yes, making sure that the problems don’t happen. Yeah. Taking care of yourself.

Brittany: 37:01
Yeah. So I think we’ve walked through a lot of the process here. The other thing that I’m really interested to learn about your approach is to like the stuffing and the design details, because for Ami’s, that’s like really what makes the project. You can either, I mean, you can make or break it at that point, right? So what do you do to make yours so adorable?

Holly: 37:25
So you mentioned stuffing and I mentioned that, yeah, you would need a lot of stuffing. And I know lots of people worry about their stitches having holes in between them. And that can actually be a major concern with extreme amigurumi because everything’s just so big. But if you are concerned about the stuffing showing through, instead of just putting the stuffing in there, you could stuff a pillowcase and then put that in there. So that would help eliminate the stuffing coming out. So I haven’t actually tried that because I don’t really have the problem with the stitches gaping. But I did think that if I had that problem, I could use a pillowcase and stuff that and then stuff it in there. So that would definitely work.

Brittany: 38:12
And you could probably find a pillowcase that matches the yarn that you use. So if you did see me through it, it wasn’t like a, like a, I don’t know, a black penguin with a white pillowcase stuffed inside.

Holly: 38:23
Yes, exactly.

Brittany: 38:26
Are there any, any special cases where maybe you don’t stuff for these? Like I’m thinking maybe ears or tails or something like that?

Holly: 38:36
Oh yeah. I, I actually, only stuff the head and the body and I leave everything else unstuffed because the yarn is so thick it’s kind of like stuffing itself.

Brittany: 38:47
You know yeah so for the limbs then you leave those—

Holly: 38:49
Yes I leave those unstuffed generally because I like to go with like skinny or tiny limbs and so they really don’t need any stuffing. So generally just the head and the body I stuff.

Brittany: 39:01
Yeah and I bet it gives them a lot of flexibility too so that way you don’t have arms and legs that are just sticking straight out.

Holly: 39:08
Exactly. Yeah. And you want to keep it as cuddly and just as normal as possible, you know, even though it’s so huge, you want it to be as just like, wow, this is just a giant ammy. You don’t want it to look like weird or something.

Brittany: 39:20
Yeah. Yeah. So do you think maybe those other details like adding the face and stitching the limbs on and that sort of thing, do you think those are the areas where it is similar to like a normal scale amigurumi or do you have to do things differently in those cases too?

Holly: 39:35
I don’t really think it’s similar because, again, you cannot add a lot of detail. You have to really think simply when you are making extremities. The simpler, the better. And you don’t want to add a lot of details just because you don’t want it to end up looking bulky and weird. So I always try to go with as few details as possible.

So with the bunny I made… I just added eyes. I did not add a nose or a mouth or anything. I thought it looks, it looks really cute with just the eyes. So I didn’t add any other facial details. And the unicorn, like I could have stitched a nose on, but I thought, no, I’m not going to stitch a nose. I’m just going to leave it like it is. So I think simple is usually better just when you’re dealing with extreme Amis, like the simpler, the better. So I try not to add too many details. And when you do, I mean, you can use like different other weights of yarn and then you could get more precise details.

Brittany: 40:43
Yeah. Yeah. And I like your tip earlier about how you can just crochet some of those elements with your regular, your regular hooks. So that could definitely work. What about the stitching on the limbs and the head and that sort of thing? Do you have to do anything different there?

Holly: 40:59
Not really, no.

Brittany: 41:00
That’s pretty normal. Just that big, giant tapestry needle, huh? Or the weaving needle.

Holly: 41:06
Yes, the weaving needle. That’s essential.

Brittany: 41:10
So I’m curious, how big, like in relation to your body, how big are your Amis that you’ve made?

Holly: 41:19
So I’m pretty short. They’re like maybe two to three feet each.

Brittany: 41:29
Like tall?

Holly: 41:30
Yes, like tall.

Brittany: 41:31
Oh, wow. So they are very extreme then. So if you’re making something for a child, it’s going to be like probably their number one favorite thing to cuddle.

Holly: 41:41
Yes, it’s going to be as big as them or bigger. But yeah, I would say like two to two and a half feet is as big as I’ve gone.

Brittany: 41:50
Okay.

Holly: 41:50
Yeah.

Brittany: 41:51
That’s very cool. I definitely want to encourage people to check out your Instagram feed. You have a lot of them saved there so people can get a feel for what they look like and have maybe a mental picture. And that’s always great in absence of a video podcast to have a reference point.

But before we wrap things up, I am curious to explore just a couple of differences in the design process. We have a lot of designers in the audience. And although a lot of people might be trying this out for the first time, the designer in us might say, I’m going to try this for the first time, but I’m also going to make something myself for the first time. What perspective do they need to take diving into something that’s brand new that isn’t exactly the way they would normally design something?

Holly: 42:43
Yeah. So when I am designing a really big AMI and I don’t have a design for it yet, I just have like an idea in my head. So I usually make the sketch, like just a sketch first and see how I want it to look. And then a good way to get an idea of how you want it to be made and also like maybe design the pattern even before you start working with the extreme yard is to make a tiny version—like a blueprint of it—with regular worsted weight yarn and say, okay, this is how I want it to look.

And so just crochet off of that sketch or however the drawing or whatever you made. And okay, so make this tiny version of whatever you have with just regular worsted weight yarn and a regular hook. And yeah, and that turns out and you can write down the pattern as you go. And if you’re happy with that, that could also be—yeah, it could be the pattern you use, just applying the large hook and yarn to that is how you could do that.

And if you’re happy with that pattern, you could also use that to figure out how much yarn you’re going to need. You know, if you like buy one skein and work it up, you know, like I was saying, and figure out how many stitches it takes and how many stitches are in the rounds and everything. And then you could figure out how much you need to buy. So I would definitely recommend if you are starting out designing, that you would make a tiny version of what you are going to be making.

Brittany: 44:10
That’s a great tip too. Is there ever an instance where you don’t like maybe do a sketch or make it first? Have you ever tried just crocheting and seeing what happens?

Holly: 44:25
Yes, not with extreme amigurumi, with other stuff.

Brittany: 44:30
I’m always curious because crocheting, I go back and forth. Sometimes I just want to make something. I’ll have a vision in my head and I just go at it and see what works. In some of those situations, I get lucky and it works out. Yeah. But I mean, there’s probably been more times where that hasn’t been like the winning approach and I’ve had to go back and redo something. But I was curious to see if maybe it—that same principle applied here.

Holly: 45:02
Yeah, no, I definitely do that with other designs. And I’m like, I have it in my head and I don’t even want to make a drawing because I think this is so cute in my head I’m afraid if I put it on a piece of paper it’s not going to look as cute. But yeah, on extreme amigurumi, I’ve always had some kind of a guide beforehand before starting on the actual big project—like a sketch or a smaller version of the pattern—but I’ve always had something.

Brittany: 45:28
Yeah, yeah. Well, I appreciate that tip and that advice. We have a lot of good stuff here. So people, they understand what tools are needed and where to get them, how to figure out how much yarn they need, and some brands that offer the yarn that actually works for this—because more often than not, you’re not going to walk into a craft store and probably find this jumbo-sized yarn.

Right. And we have what we need to take the first step. So I appreciate your time so much today and sharing all this with us. You’re welcome. The other thing I really want to stress is, like I said, for people to go and check out some of your designs. Because, oh, it’s so cool. I’m just so excited about this concept of Extreme Amigurumi. And I hope more people just see how cool it is. So where would you send people to find out more about you and what you have going on?

Holly: 46:26
So the best way to keep up with my work is to follow me on Instagram. And you can find me at Storyland Amis. And I’m also on Facebook. I’m not as active there. And then my blog and website—I, on my blog, I have some free patterns and tutorials and stuff that I do. So, and that’s storylandamis.com. So those would be the three best places to find me and keep up with my work.

Brittany: 46:54
Awesome. Okay. And do you still have your Etsy shop too?

Holly: 46:57
I do. Yes, I have my Etsy shop. So, and storylandamis as well.

Brittany: 47:01
Awesome. Awesome. Well, I’ll link to that all in the show notes page so people can have easy access to that. And Holly, I just want to thank you again so much. It’s been such a pleasure connecting with you and learning about this new form of amigurumi.

Holly: 47:14
Yeah, thank you so much, Brittany. I had a lot of fun talking with you about it.

Brittany: 47:19
Alright, I hope you enjoyed that message and this introduction to this cool craft—this extreme amigurumi idea. I hope you enjoyed that from Holly with Storyland Amis. I definitely encourage you to check out her Instagram page if you aren’t already connected with her there. She does share a lot of fun photos with these giant, lovable creatures, and I know that I really enjoy seeing that in my feed. I think you’ll enjoy it too.

So thank you, Holly, for sharing your wisdom with us today and for inspiring us to think outside the box and maybe create a giant stuffy that we can either gift to somebody who’s special to us. Or for me, I kind of want one sitting in the corner of my studio. So man, I’m going to have to come up with an extreme amigurumi. It’s definitely going to happen.

Now, don’t forget to check out Annie’s Hook and Needle Kit Clubs. If this is something that interests you—if you want to receive a project at your door every single month—you have all of the instructions in a very portable format. You get a knit pattern and a crochet pattern. It’s basically the same project, but it looks nearly identical.

That was one of the cool things that I found with the Hook and Needle Club. A lot of times when you use a subscription service or you have a project delivered to your door every single month and it has a knit version and it has a crochet version or a pattern, then they’re different. They look completely different. But this one is unique in that the crochet version and the knit version—the projects are almost identical. You can hardly tell the difference between the two.

So no matter if you know how to knit or you know how to crochet—maybe you do know how to do both—but if you don’t, it doesn’t matter what craft you’re skilled in, you’re going to be able to make that project and it’s going to be beautiful. So check them out at annieskitclubs.com/bhooked. That’s B-H-O-O-K-E-D.

That’ll wrap things up for this week, guys. Thank you so much for joining me once again. Stay tuned. Next week, we’re kicking off a brand new month. So that means we’re going to have a new theme.

Well, I want to tease a little bit because you know that you designers are very near and dear to my heart. I have a lot of questions come through about how to become a professional designer, how to advance your skills, perhaps different ways of being published in different types of media. That’s what next month is going to be about. It’s all for you, the crochet designer, and ways that we can help you achieve your goals.

So stay tuned for the first episode of that next week. I’m talking with somebody who I just enjoy so much. I just enjoy her company every time that we chat. And she shares some great tips with us. And I can’t wait to share some more of her wisdom with you next week. So I will meet you then. Have a wonderful weekend. And I will see you next week. Bye-bye.

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