About
Amigurumi (lit. crocheted or knitted stuffed toy) is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll. Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings or inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features, as is typical in Japanese culture.
Amigurumi stems from animism, a philosophy in the foundations of many Japanese traditions and customs. Animism is the belief that gods belong to everything: water, food, nature, buildings and houses, even technology. In Japanese, this is called “Yaoyorozu no Kami”. In fact, Japanese people often put eyes, arms, and legs onto non-human objects and give them imaginary lives in order to feel closer to these objects and show them respect as co-existing partners in this world. In recent years, this form of artistic expression has become popular all over the world and is beloved by people of all ages.
About the Instructor - Jing N. Leong is Chinese American raised in New York City. She was first introduced to crocheting in 2009 and is a self-taught, independent, freelance crochet artist. Since then, this inspiration has led her launch, “Nana’s Kollection” in 2012. She skillfully crafts and publishes her own patterns available for free on her website, opened her own Etsy shop and maintains a Facebook fan page to share and connect with people from all over the world. She finds crocheting therapeutic, productive, and is her favorite form of creative expression. She wishes to inspire a younger generation by exposing them to the joy of arts and craft.