Yarn Hair Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to put yarn hair into your amigurumi.  If you prefer instead to use embroidery floss, which allows you a little more freedom in the styling area, click here. 

First off, a note.  I find that regular worsted weight yarn is a little too bulky for hair.  Here are some of my preferred yarns.

Silk Bamboo Yarn for the dark haired characters.
Simply Soft Yarn for the lighter haired characters.

I like these yarns because they are a little thinner than the worsted weight, and I like the way that they hang.

Another note:  With hair I've found that less is more.  If you bulk up on the hair too much it will sit funny, even with the thinner yarn.  Put in less hair plugs than you think you need.  You can always add more later if you have patches, but the fewer the better.

 Tutorial

Step 1: I like to cut all of the hair lengths before I start.  That way I don't have to stop after every stitch and cut another piece.  Strands should be from 6 inches -12 inches long, depending on how long you want the hair.   Remember, the strands will be doubled over, so be sure you cut a long enough piece.  You can always cut it shorter!

When you have all your yarn ready, insert your hook into the ami's head.  Start at the bottom of the hairline; about halfway up on the head (as shown below) is low enough.

 Step 2: Take one of the lengths of yarn and fold it in half.  Grab it with your crochet hook and pull through.

 Step 3: Wrap the yarn around the crochet hook and pull through the loop on the hook.

 Step 4: You should have a little knot made.  Repeat this process around the head.  Start off pretty sparsely at the bottom, only adding volume once you get to the top of the head.  If you put too many loops at the bottom your ami's hair will stick straight out.

 Step 5: Once every loop is in, cut the hair!  For the ami's with longer hair, this might just mean a snip at the bottom to make the strands even.  For the ami's with shorter hair, this can mean some pretty complicated styling.    You are going to want to cut the hair at the bottom first, and then work your way up.  The hair at the top will be shorter than at the bottom.  Basically you want the top of the hair to be just long enough to cover the knots of the bottom.  Start slowly and reevaluate often.  You are probably going to cut a lot more than you thought, but if you are unsure always stay on the longer side.  You can always cut it shorter!