Beth Doherty's Gourmet Amigurumi take you into a hip fantasy world of goth/punk bunnies, wide eyed elves, creatures dressed to go raving, French lemurs, and disgruntled cats. If you haven't seen amigurumi, that's Japanese, you will soon. The trend is reaching fever pitch in the crafting community with blogs and craft-alongs dedicated to the craft. Amigurumi is a kind of crochet. "Ami" is a short for the word "amimie" which means "stitch" in Japanese. "Gurumi" is a shortening of the word "nuigurumi" which means "stuffed doll or toy".

The first amigurumi I saw that was made by Beth was a shy kitty in a bikini on a blog. I was so taken with it I had to track down who had made it. Beth's amigurumi truly is some of the best around. Her completed creatures are art. That's no surprise since she completed her BA in art from Columbia College and concentrated in painting. Her interest in Pop art made it easy to start making the brightly colored grown up toys. Beth explains the transition from painting to creating her amigurumi, "In Pop art part of the conceptual basis is that there is a really fine line between critiquing culture and creating culture. Paintings critique culture and now I am making culture. It was a really thin line to step over."

It almost feels like Beth is painting in yarn. And she is clearly dedicated to her craft, searching for the right yarn, felt and doll notions to give her creations personality and life. One recent entry in her blog explained a new way to attach arms. And the details on her little ones are beyond amazing.
One part of her amigurumis that really stand out are their faces. Each honestly looks like they're thinking about something and have clear personalities. Beth says "I am pretty sure [the amigurmis] are all teenagers too. That's what makes them so emotional. I was always accused of wearing my thoughts clearly on my face and I guess since I make them, they can't help it."

While her Etsy shop just opened up last June, she has already signed a book contract. (See, I'm not the only one who is so impressed!) But even though making each amigurumi takes up all her time and creative energy, Beth never wants to move towards mass production. She'd like to see her creations in boutiques and galleries. I think that's where they belong too.





You can find her amigurumi at the Gourmet Amigurumi Etsy shop
And find news in the Gourmet Amigurumi blog
Find more Gourmet Amigurumi at:
Mahar Drygoods
Cut + Paste