Best Yarn for Amigurumi

Amigurumi is exploding in popularity throughout the world. The adorable designs and bright colors turn into an enjoyable crochet project for all ages.

If you’re new to amigurumi, you may be wondering what yarns are best. Here we will cover everything you need to know about choosing a good amigurumi yarn and give you some of our recommendations.

What is Amigurumi?

Amigurumi art comes from Japan. The word “Amigurumi” means “knitted or crocheted stuffed dolls”.

In general, the term is used to describe knitted or crocheted small stuffed animals and dolls that can be made with a variety of colors and designed.

There is really no limit on the kinds of amigurumi dolls that can be made. They can be made in a wide variety of sizes, designs, and colors.

These stuffed animals or dolls make great toys for children, but often they are also just made for the beauty of the intricate designs. Whatever your motives are for starting an amigurumi project, you need to choose the right yarn.

Best Type of Yarn for Amigurumi

The best yarn to use for amigurumi is a cotton or acrylic worsted weight. Each has there advantages over the other, and depending on what your goals are with your project you may prefer one material over the other.

Cotton Yarn

If you’re going to be crocheting or knitting stuffed dolls with the intent to use them as toys for small children or babies, then cotton might be the best yarn for your project.

100% cotton and mercerized cotton are popular choices for these small toys because the yarn is soft and smooth which makes them great for baby toys.

Cotton yarn also tends to hold its shape pretty well and has good stitch definition which helps for these projects. It does require pretty tight stitches though, so keep that in mind when you go with cotton.

Acrylic Yarn

Acrylic yarn is another great choice for these projects.

Not only does it tend to be a cheaper yarn compared to yarns of other materials, but it also leads to exceptionally neat stitches when its crocheted tight enough—which leads to gorgeous projects when they are complete.

Acrylic yarn also tends to be stiffer than cotton yarn—which is actually a good thing for your finished projects.

If you’re just making a project for the joy and beauty of it, and you don’t intend to use the finished doll as a toy for a small child—the stiffness of acrylic is perfect for your end product.

Again, cotton tends to be softer, which is why they make be better for toys.

Blended Yarn

You can also use a cotton blend yarn for amigurumi dolls. Cotton and acrylic yarn blends tend to be popular. It’s not completely unheard of to use a cotton—wool blend or a cotton and bamboo blend either. Some even use wool yarn for their projects but it can be pretty expensive so we don’t usually recommend it.

As long as you have the correct weight of yarn, and the yarn you are using allows you to make tight stitches, it should work for your project.

If it’s your first project though we recommend you definitely choose either acrylic or cotton. These small patterns can be a little challenging to get the hang of, so it’s better to choose something that will behave when you need it to.

Best Yarn Weight for Amigurumi

The best yarn weight for amigurumi is worsted weight. Also known as category 4 yarn or medium weight yarn, worsted weight yarn is ideal for these patterns but light worsted weight yarn is also pretty commonly used. After you’ve got a few projects under your belt you may develop a preference for one over the other.

Best Yarn for Crochet Amigurumi 

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Mira Handcrafts 60 Yarn Skeins – Acrylic Yarn
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RED HEART Soft Yarn
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RED HEART Amigurumi Yarn
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TYH Supplies Acrylic Yarn
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Lion Brand Yarn - Cotton Yarn
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1. Mira Handcrafts 60 Yarn Skeins – Acrylic Yarn

 

Product Features

Brand Name: Mira HandCrafts
Weight Category: 3 Light Worsted
Material: 100% Acrylic
Colors: Assorted Multicolor Packs

Our first recommendation is the Mira HandCrafts 60 Skein  Acrylic Yarn Set. In this set, you get 60 mini yarn skeins coming in a huge variety of colors.

Each yarn skein contains about .35 ounces (10 grams) of 4-ply 100% acrylic yarn.  Each skein has 22 yards of yarn which totals 1312 yards total in this set. The set also includes 7 e-books full of different yarn patterns to try.

The yarn is soft, easy to work with, and the colors are very bright and vibrant—which makes them great for stuffed animals and dolls. This yarn can also be machine washed which is definitely a plus.

Overall this is an excellent set to get started and have a ton of colors to choose from.

This yarn does have a few drawbacks though. For one this is a light worsted yarn. We prefer worsted for our amigurumi projects.

The skeins are also very small on this one. 10-gram skeins does not give you much to work with, but it’s great for using to accent your projects and add vivid colors to bring your dolls to life.

Pros
  • Vibrant rainbow colors
  • Set includes 7 e-books
  • Machine washable
Cons
  • Some colors may repeat
  • 10-gram skeins are small
  • Yarn is light worsted weight
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2. RED HEART Soft Yarn

Product Features

Brand Name: Red Heart
Weight Category: 4 Worsted
Material: 100% Acrylic
Colors: Variety

The Red Heart 100% acrylic soft yarn is another great amigurumi option. This is a worsted weight acrylic yarn—which as we covered earlier is perfect for crocheting or knitting beautiful dolls.

Each yarn ball contains 5 ounces (or roughly 141 grams) of yarn totaling 256 yards. The multicolor balls contain less yarn—roughly 4 ounces each. They currently have 40 different colors to choose from, making this a great selection for any kind of project.

The yarn itself is incredibly soft, shiny, and easy to work with, even when making the tight stitches required of these kinds of projects. It’s also pretty budget-friendly too—which is a plus.

The only negatives thing we have to say about this yarn is that we wish they had more bright colors to choose from because most of them are pretty subdued. Overall this is still an excellent option though.

Pros
  • Budget friendly
  • 40 colors
  • Great material/weight for amigurumi
Cons
  • Lack of bright colors
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3. RED HEART Amigurumi Yarn

 

Product Features

Brand Name: Red Heart
Weight Category: 3 Light Worsted
Material: 100% Acrylic
Colors: 12 Multicolored options

Another great option from Red Heart brand is their Amigurumi yarn series. With this option, you get a roll of yarn that changes colors in a way that is perfect for making a matching color-themed doll.

The preselected colors blend well together and each roll contains enough yarn for 2 little amigurumi dolls. The patterns are included with the yarn—so this is great for beginners if you want to follow preset instructions.

The yarn is 100% acrylic, light worsted, and contains four colors in each wheel. The colors are vibrant and very well selected. This is a really awesome product.

Pros
  • Great for beginners
  • Includes patterns
  • Preselected colors make cute designs
Cons
  • You  may prefer to choose your own colors instead of these preselected wheels
  • Some Have found the instructions difficult to follow
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4. TYH Supplies Acrylic Yarn

 

Product Features

Brand Name: TYH Supplies
Weight Category: 3 Light Worsted
Material: 100% Acrylic
Colors: Assorted Multicolor Packs

The THY Supplies Acrylic Assorted Yarn is another great choice for making stuffed animals and plushies.

This yarn is 100% acrylic light worsted weight yarn that comes in a variety of assorted color packs. They offer mini skeins with 10 grams/22 yards per skein up to larger skeins containing 50 grams/110 yards per skein.

They have a good selection of colors that make for cute projects. The mini skeins are good for smaller projects and for using as doll hair but if you want to make a slightly larger project make sure to buy the larger 50-gram skeins.

Pros
  • Good color selection
  • Offer mini skeins or 50-gram skeins
  • Assorted packs contain no doubles
Cons
  • The mini skeins are only good for smaller projects
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5. Lion Brand Yarn – Cotton Yarn

 

Product Features

Brand Name: Lion Brand
Weight Category: 4 Worsted
Material: 100% Cotton
Colors: 20 Color Options

If you’re looking for a great cotton yarn to use for your projects, this Lion Brand Cotton Yarn is excellent.

The yarn itself is 100% cotton and is medium weight/worsted weight yarn which is perfect for crocheting amigurumi.

The yarn comes in packs of 3 skeins with each skein containing 100 grams of yarn. So in each yarn pack, you receive 300 grams. That makes this yarn a great value, though you may not need that much of one single color depending on what you are making.

The yarn itself is soft, yet sturdy, which makes it very easy to work with on these kinds of projects. Overall this is an excellent option from one of the most well-known yarn brands there is.

Pros
  • Soft yet sturdy yarn excellent for dolls
  • 300 grams of yarn per pack
  • 20 color options
Cons
  • You may not want 3 skeins of one color like they offer here
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Amigurumi Tools

In addition to your yarn, here are a few other items you may need to make your dolls or plushies:

Crochet Hooks

Crochet hooks are essential if you’re going to be crocheting amigurumi. You will need to use small crochet hooks to make the tight stitches required of these projects.

Your goal is to make the doll firm and hold its shape, which means using the right size is important. Of course, the size is always dependent on the pattern and kind of yarn you choose, just make sure you are using the appropriate size for your project.

Knitting Needles

Alternatively, you can also knit amigurumi over crocheting. Crocheting is definitely the more popular route, but it can make for an enjoyable knitting project as well. Again usually you will be using smaller knitting needles, but it always depends on the specific yarn and pattern.

Stuffing

You want to use some kind of stuffing to give your stuffed animals or plushie toys a soft and fluffy feel. It also helps to hold the shape of your doll. Cotton or polyester fill is generally used for these projects.

Pipe Cleaners or Floral Wire

If you need your doll to have a certain shape, sometimes using pipe cleaners or floral wire can help create cute poses that would be hard to make otherwise. By adding these details you can really bring your projects to life and take them to the next level.

Weight

If you want certain parts of your doll to be held upright using some kind of weight is often required. Some patterns required weighting down the base of your project to get the proper form. In these scenarios often small pebbles or pellets are used.

Safety Eyes

The finishing touch on your projects will be to add safety eyes. These will add the final amount of cuteness to your doll and is also important for safety reasons if your toy is meant for children. You can buy Safety Eyes at most online retailers or your local craft shop may also have them.

Closing Thoughts

Many crocheters and knitters are slowly developing a love for creating amigurumi projects—and for good reason. It is fun and rewarding to create these cute little dolls and they also make great gifts for children.

It may seem hard at first to get the hang of making these but after you get some experience and have a few projects under your belt you’ll be an expert in no time. The hardest part is getting started.

So if you’ve been wanting to start a project for a while, we recommend you stop overthinking it and just get started. Choose a good pattern, get the right equipment, and get to work! In the end, you’ll be glad you did.