The Workshop

How a kritter happens

1. A ball of yarn and a hook. Nearly everything here is worsted-weight acrylic on a 3.5mm hook — small enough that the stuffing doesn't show through the stitches.
2. A magic ring. Everything round starts the same way: a loop you pull tight at the end so there's no hole left in the nose.
3. Rounds, not rows. Amigurumi is worked in continuous rounds rather than back-and-forth rows, so there's no seam anywhere — you just have to keep count, forever.
4. Safety eyes go in before the stuffing. They lock with a washer on the back, and once the filling is in you can't reach them any more. Get the placement wrong and the whole face is wrong.
5. Stuff as you go. Once the opening gets small you can't reach inside, so the filling goes in before the last few rounds close it up.
6. Assembly, last. Arms, legs, ears and tails are made separately and sewn on at the end, then the mouth and any details are stitched over the top. This is the part that decides what the kritter's face actually looks like — and the part that takes three tries.

Caleb doesn't appear in the photos or videos — it's hands, yarn and finished kritters only. That's deliberate, and it's also just how crochet is best filmed.