This is quite the departure from the usual patterns I design geared toward wearables and the outdoors, but I was just so inspired by a recent 99 Percent Invisible podcast episode, that I had to create my own Amabie.
Who is Amabie? 99PI describes her as “a 174-year-old creature that has recently become the unexpected hero of the COVID era in Japan.” She has three legs, long hair, a beak, and scales. I was also drawn in by the mermaid/fish attributes; I am a sucker for all things of the sea.
You can also find more about the history of Yokai (of which Amabie is one) in general at Yokai.com. Amabie is said to cure people of viruses when they see pictures of her, so I am adding this form of her to help her continue curing people of COVID-19.
I used a variety of worsted weight acrlyic yarn I already had. This project is perfect for scraps since it uses such a small amount of yarn in each color. You can come up with any color scheme you want and decide how best to display your scales – I used thread and some light embroidery to get the effect I wanted.
Original image of Amabié. Photo courtesy of Main Library, Kyoto University
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DESCRIPTION
Amabie is a mermaid-like creature whose image is said to cure diseases, including COVID-19. She has three short legs, beautiful long blue hair, a beak, and a textured, scaley body.
MATERIALS
- Worsted weight yarn (Weight: 4/medium) ~100 yards in total, five different colors
- Size F (3.75 mm) Crochet Hook or whatever size hook you are comfortable using for amigurumi
- Fiberfill stuffing
- Safety eyes
ABBREVIATIONS
- ch: chain
- st: stitch
- sc: single crochet
- flo: front loop only (tutorial)
- blo: back loop only (tutorial)
DIRECTIONS
I based Amabie’s body plan off of Knot Bad Ami‘s tutorial – with a tweak to the number of legs, and adding on Amabie’s fabulous hair. You will create a head, body, legs, and arms. After stuffing and sewing all of the pieces together you will add your beak, ears, and hair.
HEAD AND BODY
This piece is worked in the round without joining or turning.
Begin with light blue yarn for the face.
(Wondering what the checkboxes are for? Check out this tutorial and make online patterns easier to follow!)
Switch to teal yarn for the scaley body section. Before continuing, finish stuffing head.
Finish off and leave long tail for sewing. Stuff body less tightly than head.
BEAK
Begin with light yellow yarn.
Finish off and leave long tail for sewing.
EARS (MAKE 2)
Begin with dark pink yarn.
ch 4
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.
LEGS (MAKE 3)
This piece is worked in the round without joining or turning.
Begin with light yellow yarn.
Finish off and leave long tail for sewing.
ASSEMBLY
SEAMING
Begin by sewing the beak between the eyes and the ears to either side of the head, level with the eyes. I often pin my ami pieces before sewing them, to get placements right.
Next, close up the base and sew the three legs to the bottom, with two in front and one in back in a tripod shape.
HAIR
Helpful hair tutorial video. Begin with dark blue yarn.
ch 26, leaving a long tail for sewing
sc in back of second chain from hook and in next 24 chs. sl st in next ch.
*ch 26. sc in back bumps of second chain from hook and in next 24 chs. sl st in next ch.*
Repeat between *s until end of original chs. You are creating a strip with 25 st long hair locks off each side. Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.
Fold in half, using one of the long tails, sew the strip together to create a middle part with locks of hair on either side. Then sew the hair to the head on the middle line.
EXTRAS
If you have thread, and are so inclined, you can add on a couple of extra details. Use black thread to embroider eyelashes and turquoise to outline the scales with chevrons.
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