3 Unexpected Crochet Tools for Amigurumi

When I began crocheting, I was on a very limited budget. At the time, I wasn’t making money from crocheting, which meant I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on tools and supplies. I found a few items that worked so great that I still use them today! These everyday tools just might surprise you. They are tweezers, hair scrunchie, and a paper clip.

1. Tweezers

Tweezers are handy for grabbing those pesky unwanted pieces of stuffing that peek through amigurumi, especially around the facial features. They drive me crazy, haha! Sometimes I am able to pull some stray pieces of stuffing out with my fingers, but some of them are a little harder to snatch. If you try tweezers, be gentle. Make sure you don’t tug the yarn.

2. Hair Scrunchie

Hair scrunchies are perfect for holding unraveled yarn, aka yarn barf. It helps keep the skein together and prevents the yarn from tangling or getting wrapped up with other yarns. This is a good temporary fix until you get around to winding the yarn if you choose to do so.

3. Paper Clip

When I first learned how to crochet, I used a small piece of contrasting yarn as my stitch marker. For whatever reason, it never worked for me. I was overthinking where to place it. So, I had a paper clip on my desk. Just a plain, simple paper clip. I opened it up just enough to slip through the stitches of the current amigurumi piece at the time. It stayed in place and it was thin enough to remove and replace quickly. I have tried safety pins, but they are too sharp for me. I have accidentally snagged my yarn, so that was a no-go. Paper clips are light weight, so they don’t pull your work down or distort your stitches. Although, this is my absolute favorite stitch marker, I only use it with weight #4 yarn or thinner. The paper clip tends to get lost or fall out of thicker yarns. I have a few clover stitch markers and some from other makers in the crochet community that work perfectly with plush yarn. I will have another post about those coming up soon.

Do you currently use any of these tools when crocheting amigurumi? If so, which one? If not, are you going to try any of these? Let me know in the comments.