DIY Life

Over the last few days, we've talked a lot about amigurumi, cute crocheted or knitted dolls.

Soon after American crafters were introduced to the amigurumi concept, they started making amigurumi inspired by their favorite characters in pop culture. For obvious reasons, this leaned heavily towards SF fandom, anime, and manga, but don't be surprised to find a couple of real people in the mix.

• Star Wars: This detailed amigurumi version of Wicket the Ewok is done in two parts (tutorial here). Not everyone likes the Ewoks, but who can say no to Yoda? Both are for crocheters.
• Futurama: Bender Bending Rodriguez! He likes beer! Like a jerkier version of Homer Simpson, in robot form, in the future.
• Card Captor Sakura: Kerochan, above, the suspiciously cute guardian of a magical deck of cards. The creator of this pattern also crocheted the "studious Amineko" that has been our amigurumi mascot for the last few days.

Click through for pirates, Daleks, and more... oh my!

Invader Zim: The late, lamented Nickelodeon cartoon lives on in reruns, and it seems like everyone has tried to make a version of GIR, the title character's robot sidekick (knit), who sometimes wears a puppy suit (PDF link, crochet, see photo here).

Doctor Who: Daleks would seem like the ideal subject for amigurumi: they're round and, for creatures bent on universal domination, mysteriously loved. Crochet a Dalek or knit a Dalek. Just don't taunt them with stairs. (Also, see a scene with a Fourth Doctor amigurumi.)

Mythbusters: This fabulous amigurumi version of DIY heroes Adam and Jamie showed up on Craftster recently. No free pattern, but not too hard to figure out.

Pirates of the Caribbean: I don't know of any free patterns, but Dread Pirate Sam only costs $5 and may look familiar. On a more literal tack, there's Amigurumi Kingdom's cheek-pinchingly adorable homage to Jack Sparrow (see also Jack Sparrow version II).

My Neighbor Totoro: The nature spirits from Hayao Miyazaki's beloved classic anime, now in crocheted form. There's a blue Totoro and a white Totoro. No CatBus yet that I know of, though.

Howl's Moving Castle: Calcifer the Fire Demon, crocheted from Miyazaki's more recent film and Diana Wynne Jones's wonderful novel.

Pokemon: Is there a kid in existence who can't identify Pikachu? Crocheted.

Pizza Hut: I'm not 100% up-to-date on Cheese-kun's (PDF link) origins, but the designer explains he's a mascot for Pizza Hut in Japan. You'll notice he's more of a pop culture character than an actual foodstuff.

Harry Potter: A few amigurumi were mentioned in our recent Pottercraft article; my favorite is this 12" Harry doll. Outside of the realm of free patterns, there's this nifty Wizard Trio set on Etsy, currently sold out. If it isn't relisted, you could probably do something similar with the Bryan and Shelly doll patterns (registration required) that Roxycraft designed for Lion Brand Yarn.

Just a robot: Robots are cool.

Ninja: So are ninjas. But I couldn't find any free patterns. You can try this "Fighters" pattern by Etsy's Needlenoodles, for $5, or look at this ninja on DeviantArt.

Hug your luck: Maybe more "cultural" than "pop-cultural." You'll commonly see the Maneki-neko, Beckoning Cat, or Good Fortune Cat (PDF link) in Asian-owned businesses, as well as on toys, decorative cell-phone charms, and lots of other things. Depending on the color, maneki-neko welcomes good luck, health, and/or money. Now you can knit one, too.