Amigurumi can look really good when it’s finished, but it can also be subject to weird-looking gaps if it isn’t knit together tightly enough. That’s where getting the appropriate hook size for your yarn type comes in handy!
As a general rule, the best hook size for amigurumi is 3.25. Using a smaller hook allows the stitches to be pulled much closer, preventing gaps and holding in the stuffing. The smaller the hook, the tighter the stitch.
In amigurumi, it’s incredibly important to make sure that your stitches are tight so they can hold together properly. Let’s take a look at why smaller hooks do the job so well for this particular style of crocheting.
The Best Hook Sizes for Amigurumi
As is the case with any crochet project, the best hook will depend on what kind of yarn you’re using. Generally, speaking, thicker yarn needs thicker hooks, and slimmer yarn calls for smaller hooks. But that’s kind of obvious. What might not be so obvious is that when it comes to amigurumi, the recommended sizes on the yarn are almost always wrong.
When you do amigurumi, you rely on being able to pull the yarn very tight. Because of this, you’ll pretty much always need a hook that seems fairly small compared to the width of the yarn. It may feel strange at first, but the ideal hook size for Amigurumi is 0.5mm to 1mm smaller than the recommended hook size for your yarn.
Doing this will help your Amigurumi look better right after you’ve finished it because it will prevent gaps that could cause the stuffing to leak or show through. In addition, it will also increase your project’s lifespan. As time moves on, yarn will wear down and lose some of its fluff, revealing gaps and holes that weren’t present when you first finished.
Many people will swear by using even smaller hooks, going all the way down to 2mm smaller than the recommended size. If you’re finding that only 1mm down from the regular size isn’t working for you, then go ahead and go smaller.
I’ve also compiled an entire guide of all my most used tools at this link. There are so many options out there, and as a beginner it can be completely overwhelming to try and figure out where to start, but I’ve demystified it all for you with my favorite crochet supplies!
Here are some common brands, their recommended hook sizes, and the size you’ll want to use for amigurumi:
This is my favorite yarn for amigurumi! It’s acrylic, super affordable, and comes in a huge variety of colors.
The recommended hook size is 3.5mm. This means that your best bet for this high-quality yarn is going to be between 2.5mm and 3mm.
Sweet Snuggles by Loops and Threads
This jumbo yarn has been explosively popular lately because of the jumbo amigurumi trend.
It has a huge array of colors, which I’ve used for my own amigurumi projects. Their recommended hook size is about 11 mm. However, since this yarn is so large, and velvet tends to read as lighter weight than specified, I would actually go for a hook size between 5mm and 6mm.
Red Heart Classic
Red Heart Classic is, as it says in the name, a classic. The company asks for an American size I-9 crochet hook, which is the same as a metric 5.5mm hook. For this yarn, you’ll want to use 4.5mm or 5mm crochet hooks.
More blog posts for amigurumi beginners:
- My Foolproof Guide to Crocheting Amigurumi for Beginners
- What’s the best stuffing for amigurumi? (+ how to stuff!)
- How to Sew Amigurumi Parts Together (easy photo tutorial!)
Examples
There are plenty of good examples of tightly crocheted Amigurumi on this very website! One example is this donut that was crocheted using a D hook (3.25mm) and WeCrochet Brava sport yarn, which has a recommended hook size of 3.5mm to 4.5mm.
A smaller hook was used to ensure that even if some of the yarn might have been a slightly different size (some scrap yarn was used) the hook would still be small enough to do its work.
This cute little ghost is was made with Lion Brand Baby Soft yarn with a recommended hook size of 3-4mm. For this Amigurumi project, a 2.5mm hook was used instead to ensure quality and longevity.
People Also Ask
What is the most versatile hook size?
When it comes to amigurumi, the most versatile hook size is probably 2.5mm. The reason for this is that it’s just so critical for you to use a sufficiently small hook for your projects that sometimes it’s just best to go for the lowest common denominator. If your yarn isn’t too big, this will usually be able to do the job just fine for you.
What is the best yarn for Amigurumi?
The best yarn for Amigurumi is cotton yarn. This is because cotton fibers are easily washed and tend to stick together when tightly knitted. Acrylic yarn can also be used without sacrificing quality.
What if I use the wrong crochet hook?
In the context of amigurumi, there will probably be a few different consequences if you use the wrong hook. The first one is that you’ll end up with a different-sized project than you were expecting, which (in the worst-case scenario) can mean that you need to go back and buy more stuffing.
More importantly, however, using a hook that’s too large will result in gaps that allow stuffing to leak out, which can be a huge problem because your project will look wrong and will become a bigger problem in the future as more and more gaps appear over the object’s lifetime.
Are ergonomic crochet hooks better for amigurumi?
Because you make many incredibly small movements while working on an Amigurumi project, you will want to have hooks that feel good to hold. This can also help to protect you from injuring your fingers or wrist, which is a common problem among the many people who crochet using hooks that are painful for them to use. Using ergonomic hooks can help you avoid these problems!
You can also extend the period of time that you spend crocheting because if your hands aren’t hurting all the time, you’re much more likely to persist at a project for as long as you want to.
Finally, ergonomic hooks just feel good to use, which is a huge benefit to anyone who likes feeling good. If you don’t have a lot of pain in your hands, it’s a lot easier to focus on what you’re working on, which is important because Amigurumi can take some focus to do properly.
All of this combined means that ergonomic crochet hooks are especially useful for Amigurumi.
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