Bahraini teenager Amal Rashid has taught herself to knit dolls following the ‘amigurumi’ style originating from Japan, and has started to teach her classmates the art.
Amigurumi is a compound of two Japanese words, ‘ami’ meaning ‘something that is crocheted’ and ‘nuigurumi’ meaning stuffed toy.
“My hobby and passion is to knit three-dimensional objects using just yarn and crochet needles,” 17-year-old Amal told the GDN.
“Thanks to vast resources and communities on the Internet, I can look up the solution for any issue I run into while knitting,” she continued, adding that she learned it all online.
Since Amal began her amigurumi journey, she has made more than 30 stuffed animals which she says were either sold or donated to charity.
The girl from Muharraq also makes bookmarks, purses, scarves, vests, table spreads, keychain charms and even bucket hats out of yarn.
Additionally, she made more than 1,000 ear savers (that help hold face masks in place) back in June 2020 to give free to frontline healthcare workers, as part of an effort by more than 30 Bahraini knitters.
Although she only started knitting three years ago, the crochetier has already given workshops about the craft to fellow Muharraq Secondary Girls’ School students.
“My Home Economics teachers supported me and gave me so many suggestions and ideas, while my classmates encouraged me to start a page on social media to showcase my dolls!”
Opening the page showed her how social media can help develop her skills instead of being a time-sink.
“I used to struggle with constant boredom and mindless scrolling of social media feeds, but now I have learned to use it as a tool to get inspiration and connect with other artists," Amal said.
“This is why hobbies are so important – they can give us purpose and a way to spend our time doing something we love.
“Although it is time-consuming, amigurumi teaches you that beautiful things can be created through patience.
“For example, I could simply buy a decorative pillow from the store, but making it with my own hands is much more satisfying and rewarding.”
It takes Amal one to two weeks to finish a doll on average, with her biggest ever creation reaching 35cm in height, sewn with thick ‘jumbo’ yarn.
However, the high-school senior said that it is hard to balance knitting and school, especially as she will graduate this semester and plans to study to become a laboratory technician.
She added she plans to open orders on her social media page once school is over, and that she wants to learn other related crafts like sewing and embroidery over the summer.
Amal also wants to expand her video tutorial series, where she gives advice to beginners on how to get started and what supplies to buy.
The artist’s works can be seen on her Instagram page @_its.amal._
zainab@gdn.com.bh
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