first Uglydoll (based on a drawing by her boyfriend, angry sheep, and a coffee bean. The pirate squid
designer David Horvath) named Wage, a pointy- took first place.
toothed, orange plush creature who wears a blue Kalin says amigurumi dolls are the most popular
apron. According to his back story, Wage works at items on the Etsy site, with a sell rate of over 50%.
Super Mart, even though management at the store They go for anywhere from $10 to $100, but with
doesn’t know of Wage’s existence, and when Wage is certificates of authenticity, Kalin believes the toys
off-duty, he tries to make friends with fire hydrants, could be big business, claiming, “Amigurumi could
phone booths, and anything else that looks lonely. be the next Beanie Baby, only handmade.”
Kim and Horvath’s first order was with Giant The most popular seller on Etsy is a crafter
Robot, an Asian-Americana pop-culture shop in known as Gourmet Amigurumi, a.k.a. Beth Doherty,
West L.A., who asked for 20 Uglydolls. Those sold whose own site includes bikini-clad bears, squishy
out in one day, so Giant Robot ordered 20 more, bean-filled snails, beatnik cats, and screaming punk
then 50. The order shot up to 1,500 dolls within 18 girls. A painter with a fine arts degree, Doherty took
months, and Kim’s hands began bleeding from sew- up crocheting to unwind after she was hospitalized
with crushing migraine headaches. When she found
links to Japanese amigurumi sites on craftster.org,
The order shot up to 1,500 she began making small crocheted animals. “First
I made a dumpy little cat,” she says, but eventually
dolls within 18 months, graduated to little girls and snails. Doherty admits,
“I’m embarrassed to tell people what I do. I have to
and Kim’s hands began explain that they aren’t hideous.”
In fact, it’s just the opposite. Because of her
bleeding from sewing attention to detail and exquisite craftsmanship,
many other doll makers cite Doherty as an inspira-
them all herself. tion. A perfectionist, Doherty admires Japanese
artisans for their precision. “Japanese crafters don’t
mind spending lots of time on a small piece, and it’s
ing them all herself. That’s when she decided it was those little details that really appeal to me.”
time to hire help. By 2003, Uglydolls were a bona Doherty also claims Andy Warhol among her
fide hit with college students and soccer moms influences. “His work isn’t my favorite, but I admire
alike. These days, 60,000 Uglydolls are manufac- his attitude toward art. He blended consumer
tured each month in China, and hand-stitching goods with art.” Doherty seems to have a knack for
dolls is a crafting craze. this as well. Kalin says that not only are Doherty’s
Hundreds of crafters use the internet as their dolls the best sellers on Etsy, they are usually sold
trading post, where they buy, sell, trade, and within 20 minutes of being uploaded.
exchange information on these weird little dolls. Guam-born Jess Hutchison, who now lives in San
Communities of crafters are sharing their creations Francisco and is known for her hundreds of knitted
and feeding off of each other’s ideas, generating robots and cute creatures, doesn’t like to sell her
mini-trends like knitted bears in striped sweaters, goods. “I prefer that people ask me how to make a
knitted Yodas and zombies, cats with two heads, toy rather than how to buy it. Politically, it’s a natu-
hand-stitched body parts, or crocheted cupcakes. ral extension of the DIY thing.” Hutchison explains,
Etsy recently hosted a contest for a specific style “We want to make stuff as humans, and it makes
of stitched doll known as amigurumi. Amigurumi is
a Japanese word meaning crocheted or knitted doll. Knitted zombies and their victims (preceding pages) are made by
The jury is out among doll makers as to whether Hannah Simpson, who’s obsessed with George Romero’s 1978
the cuteness and weirdness of these creatures are Dawn of the Dead. Influenced by Japanese toys, these robots
part of the definition, but Kalin, organizer of Etsy’s (right) were knitted by Jess Hutchison, who’s been making toys
amigurumi contest, encourages entrants to design since she was a kid. Cute with an edge, crocheted rabbit and
“mashups and mutants.” Contest entries included lamb dolls (page 44) by Beth Doherty are examples of what she
butter & toast, a pirate squid, a turtle bird, an sells on her site gourmetamigurumi.com.
