Velvet & Chenille Yarn

Which chenille for amigurumi?

Himalaya Dolphin Baby is the chenille most people have in mind for soft toys. It is rated super bulky but worked on a 4 to 5 mm hook, so the pile packs into a dense, plush fabric. It carries OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Class I, the class for baby articles. For noses, ears and paws, DMC Happy Chenille comes in a 15 g ball of 38 m, so you aren't buying 100 g of a color you need a few metres of.

Use a smaller hook than the band suggests, so the stuffing doesn't show between stitches.

How many balls for a blanket?

Ball size matters more than usual, because each join in a pile yarn is a place it can work loose. Ganga Blankie Speckled puts 150 m on a 300 g ball. A baby blanket takes two to three balls, a sofa throw four to six. Standard Blankie is 50 m to 100 g in 36 plain shades, and it combines with the Multi and Speckled versions. DMC Super Happy Chenille is 96 m on 300 g. For a throw in an afternoon, Ganga Super Stitch is worked on 20 mm needles or by arm.

What is finger knitting yarn?

Alize Puffy, Puffy More and Puffy Color are finger knitting yarns: a strand of ready-made loops that you pull through one another with your fingers, with no needles or hook. That makes them a good first project for children. A 100 g ball of Puffy is about 9 m of looped strand. Puffy More puts 11 m on a 250 g cone for larger pieces. Keep each loop untwisted, or it shows as a lump.

Counting and finishing

Pile hides stitches, so place a marker at the start of every round and count by feel. If loops pull out of the fabric, called worming, you are working too loosely: go down a needle or hook size. At the end, knot the tails before weaving them in, and weave them a little further than usual.