Amigurumi
Amigurumi is crochet worked as sculpture. You make a tight fabric in the round with a hook a size or two smaller than the yarn asks for, so the stuffing can't show through, and you shape the piece with increases and decreases rather than a pattern of stitches.
The patterns here are written round by round with a running stitch count on every line, because that count is the difference between a smooth ball and a lumpy one. Each one tells you where to stuff, where to stop stuffing, and how the pieces come together at the end.
Getting Amigurumi right
Go down two hook sizes from the ball band
A worsted yarn that recommends a 5.0 mm hook wants a 3.5-4.0 mm hook for amigurumi. The stitches should feel almost too tight to work into. A loose fabric lets fibrefill poke through and leaves gaps at the increases; a dense one holds its shape and takes detail.
Start with a magic ring, but have a backup
The magic ring closes the centre of a piece with no hole. If it defeats you, chain two and work the first round into the second chain from the hook, then snug the tail - the hole is small enough to hide under a face or a seam. Don't let the magic ring stop you starting.
Stuff firmly, in small amounts, as you go
Add fibrefill a pinch at a time and stop while the piece still gives slightly under a squeeze. Overstuffing stretches the fabric until the stitches separate; understuffing lets the shape collapse at the neck. Once the opening is down to a few stitches it's too late to fix, so check before you close.
Use stitch markers and count every round
Amigurumi has no row ends to check against, so it's easy to lose or gain a stitch and not notice for six rounds. Move a marker up into the first stitch of each round and trust the number in the pattern over what your eyes tell you.
