The Assembly

Crocheted Koala Bear Keychain

Personally, I find the amigurumi assembly process one of the most humorous of crochet processes. I think I just about have to. If I didn't do it with humor, I would have to dwell on the fact that I hate sewing. I wish the pieces would all just crochet together. What is with this sewing stuff? I mean, I learned how to crochet so I wouldn't have to sew. Yet, here I am, attaching arms, legs, ears, and little bunny cotton tails with good old needle and thread. Maybe someday, when I am an old experienced crocheter, I will invent some way to make this easier. Until then, I must look on the task with humor as each little critter comes to life to justify the sore fingers and maintain my sanity.

First off, the heads are hilarious. Unless this was going to be a little grey alien man, this amigurumi looks nothing like the koala bear it is supposed to. It's amazing what a pair of ears will do for a crocheted animal. I remember the first time I made this guy I had serious doubts about the final product. It seriously looks nothing like a koala gear until it's got those ears. So, if I take a moment to gaze in amusement at the baldness of my little grey alien man koala bear wannabe, pulling out my tapestry needle becomes a little easier to deal with.

Second, why do animals have so many extremities??? Good grief. I get done making one arm and think, "Really? I have to make 3 more of these?" And that's not counting the ears, noses, and possible tails that must accompany the creatures. Whew! Lemme tell ya, crocheting into a round of a whopping 4 single crochets isn't my favorite thing to do. Nor is it a favorite of my left-hand middle finger, who gets frequently stabbed with the crochet needle during this process... However, after he finally gets all 384 pieces sewn on, (notable sarcasm), his adorableness makes it worth it. I take what I consider to be a short cut, however. I sew on the arms and legs BEFORE I sew the body to the head. Most directions I have seen for amigurumi say to sew on the arms and legs after the head is attached to the body. This drives me crazy! It's SO much harder to hide knots when you are working in the outside. So, I just do what seems natural and sew on all the little bits and pieces at the get-go and voila, seamless on the outside with a mess of secure and obnoxious knots hidden on the inside. (I typically sew the ears on before stuffing and closing the head. In this case, I got to the last few rounds of the head, attached the mouth, eyes, and nose, and realized I couldn't make the ears because I was still using the grey yarn to finish the head. Good plan. I know. Ideally, one would save some stress and knots by sewing on the ears ahead of time.)

I also find that when I sew the little parts to the bases ahead of time my fingers don't hurt as much from the tapestry needle. I don't have to do as much pushing and pulling when things are sewn on ahead of time. I also stab myself less, which I otherwise tend to do often... This is a real plus considering finger, hand, and wrist comfort are major issues when spending such a bulk of one's time crocheting - not that I'm addicted or anything...

So, when I have all of these things in place, a good laugh at the strange foreign no-ears character, the help of sewing on extremities before final assembly, and less painful fingers, making these adorable amigurumi projects is just a little bit easier :).

Crocheted Koala Bear Keychain

 Thanks for reading,

-Paige