My new favorite yarns for making crochet amigurumi are DK and sport weight yarns in cotton, cotton blends, rayon blends and dralon microfiber. I’ve found that finding nice yarns to make crochet amigurumi with is a difficult task – especially if you don’t like working with worsted weight acrylics (which I don’t) and love working with cotton or a cotton blend fingering, sport or DK weight (which I do). I’ll tell you why in a bit, but first…..
Previously, I wrote a blog post about Resources for 100% Cotton Fingering Weight Yarn which I feel is best for making detailed amigurumi as it produces a sturdy fabric with fine, tight stitches – but fingering weight cotton yarn is hard to find and it doesn’t seem to be all that popular here in the U.S.
Take a look at my Finny the Mermaid or the LiBelly projects as an example. The larger Finny and LiBelly each were made with Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton yarn (which is light worsted weight in my opinion used with an F hook) and compare it to the smaller Finny or LiBelly which were made with fingering weight cotton and a B hook. Both sizes are absolutely adorable, don’t get me wrong – but everyone ooh’s and aah’s over the smaller Finny and LiBelly simply because the details are so much finer and they look delicate even though they aren’t.
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Because my focus is making unique amigurumi gifts and collectibles that you don’t find very often or at all depending on where you live – I really want to make them totally special, not to mention perfect!
So, I’ve been on a quest for the last almost 2 years (EGADS! I am a stubborn thing) to find yarn that I want to use when making amigurumi and have been experimenting with different weights, brands, and fibers. So, here without further ado are my new favorite yarns for making amigurumi in DK and Sport weight using a C hook ……drum roll please! Yarns are listed according to the photo – top to bottom and left to right
- Plymouth Yarn Bamtastic (DK) – 60% Bamboo Rayon/40% Nylon, 248 yards
- Premier Cotton Fair (DK weight – Affiliate Link) – 52% Cotton/48% Acrylic, 317 yards
- Deborah Norville Serenity Garden Yarn (DK weight – Affiliate Link) – 100% Dralon Microfiber, 185 yards
- Cascade Sunseeker Shade (DK) – 50% Cotton/50% Acrylic, 246 yards
- Knit Picks Comfy Fingering (Fingering Weight) – 75% Pima Cotton, 25% Acrylic
- Knit Picks Shine Sport – 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal, 110 yards
- Knit Picks Comfy Sport – 75% Pima Cotton/25% Acrylic, 136 yards
- Knit Picks CotLin (DK) – 70% Tanguis Cotton, 30% Linen, 123 yards
- Patons Grace (DK Weight – Affiliate Link) – 100% Mercerized Cotton, 136 yards
- Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton (Worsted Weight but it’s very thin – Affiliate Link) – 100% Mercerized Cotton, 186 yards
- And then there are a bunch of DK weight cotton, cotton blends and acrylic yarns that I want to try eventually from Love Knitting – I’m really interested in the Paint Box Yarns
So, I feel like I’m getting sidetracked here – which isn’t surprising because I’ve been working on this post here and there over the last several weeks – I wanted to tell you WHY DK and sport weights are my favorite yarns for amigurumi.
When making amigurumi you need want to have a firm, tight fabric so that when you stuff it, the stuffing doesn’t show through the fabric or worse yet start to escape and make your finished project look, well, less than finished. I find that a worsted weight acrylic, such as say Red Heart Super Saver; even when used with a G hook, tends to stretch. And lets face it, you just can’t get a small, delicate looking stitch with worsted weight yarns.
Size is another important factor when making amigurumi. Worsted weight yarns – even a light worsted weight like Hobby Lobby, I Love This Cotton – produces a much larger amigurumi. For example, let’s look at the LilBelly’s – the larger one is 14 1/2″ long while the smaller one is 10 1/2″, and when you look at the Finny’s the length of the body without the head is 17″ long for the larger one and 12″ for the smaller one. If you are a collector, the smaller amigurumi is much easier to find room for.
Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use worsted weight yarns at all – quite the contrary – worsted weight yarns do have their place in the amigurumi world. In my opinion worsted weight yarns should be used for amigurumi that don’t have quite as much detail – take Nightshade the Unicorn and Jill the Giraffe for example, both of these worked up quite lovely using worsted weight yarns.
Please remember, this is MY opinion and others may have a different opinion – if you have a different opinion, please feel free to share it in the comments below.
