PlanetJune Craft Blog

Latest news and updates from June

announcing my next book: The Complete Guide to Amigurumi

โœจ The Complete Essential Guide to Amigurumi:ย COMING LATE 2023 โœจ

UPDATE: Since writing this post, the title of my book has now changed to The Essential Guide to Amigurumi. I’m keeping the old title in the remainder of this post, but ‘The Complete Guide to Amigurumi’ is now ‘The Essential Guide to Amigurumi’ ๐Ÿ™‚

Sign up here to be the first to know when it’s available for pre-order!

Background

In 2010, I wrote a best-selling amigurumi reference book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amigurumi, filled with tips and techniques for making and customizing amazing crocheted toys. Although now out of print, it was the definitive reference guide to amigurumi techniques. To this day, it’s the only book of its kind, but it’s now very dated:

  • It was printed in black and white on lower quality paper (that’s what how-to books were like, back in the day!)
  • It’s missing a dozen years of amigurumi innovations and recommendations that I’ve come up with since then.
  • It was saddled with an unfortunate name (Idiot’s Guide) that made it sound like I believe you to be an idiot, when nothing could be further from the truth.
  • It’s been out of print for a couple of years now, and as a result the price for the remaining copies, even used copies, is ridiculously high.

I’ve gone through the long process of getting the rights back for my content, and now that’s sorted, I can finally create the amigurumi reference book of my dreams!

ANNOUNCING: The Complete Guide to Amigurumi

The Complete Guide to Amigurumi will be crammed full of all my techniques and recommendations for making fantastic amigurumi, with close-up step-by-step photos, clear, concise instructions, and a variety of adorable and original amigurumi patterns to experiment with.

Here’s a mockup of a few pages – if you’re familiar with CIG to Amigurumi, you can see how completely different (and 100% better) this book will be, even before I add all the new and updated content:

sample spreads from the upcoming book The Complete Guide to Amigurumi by June Gilbank

I’m uniquely qualified to write this book:

  • I’ve been a pioneer of amigurumi since the days it first emerged from the shores of Japan.
  • I’m a prolific amigurumi designer at PlanetJune, with over 200 unique nature-inspired patterns to date.
  • My background as a technical writer allows me to create exceptionally clear and accurate crochet patterns and tutorials.
  • I’ve been developing and refining amigurumi techniques since 2007, and I continually come up with new tips and techniques to improve your amigurumi.
  • I’m an expert in amigurumi instruction, with over 100k YouTube subscribers to my @PlanetJune amigurumi tutorial channel.
  • I’m an experienced instructional craft book author with 4 previous titles published with Quirk Books, Alpha Books and DK.

So I know I have what it takes to make this book a reality. Even so, I have a lot of work ahead of me over the course of this year, to bring my concept to life. I’m one month in at this point, and things are progressing well, as I hope you can tell from the sample spreads above!

The Complete Guide to Amigurumi will be an essential companion for your amigurumi journey, whether you’re looking for a beginner’s guide, searching for tips to improve your results, or even considering getting into amigurumi design yourself! I’ll be compiling my expertise on all these topics into a high-quality reference book that you’ll refer back to again and again.

I can’t wait to bring this book to you, and I hope you’re as excited as I am to see it brought into the world!

Please sign up for updates now and I’ll send you quarterly(ish) updates on how the book is progressing, with sneak peeks and info on how you can be the first to pre-order The Complete Guide to Amigurumi – and maybe even join the book launch team this fall!

19 Comments »

  1. Ruth Lister said

    Sounds great June. I look forward to seeing and hearing news of your new upcoming amigurumi book. I have watched many of your instructional videos and love your wonderfully written and illustrated patterns. Youโ€™re so talented. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. ??

  2. Gabi said

    Yay!!! Iโ€™m so excited! The og book was my go-to tool over 10 years ago when I first started crocheting as a young teen. So looking forward to the updated version as I continue working on my amigurumi craft ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Katy K said

    Iโ€™m so excited for this book! The IG book (actually both of the IG books) were instrumental to my learning crochet, and amigurumi.

  4. Doug said

    Super cool!
    I know a few people in person who were put off by the old title.
    I know, if they were die-hard Amurigumi-ists it shouldn’t have mattered,
    but really looking forward to a friendlier title and all the new content!

    • June said

      Yeah, I really didn’t like the old title either, but as a new author you take the publishing deals you can get, and no other publishers saw the value in a reference book – all they want are simple pattern books. (That’s fine by me though, it just means there’s still a gap in the market for my new book!)

  5. MEG PLATIS said

    Oh please have an e-book/kindle version. Iโ€™m not the only one trying to cut down on physical possessions.

    • June said

      Yep, it won’t be on Kindle, but I’ll definitely have a PDF ebook version available to buy directly from me ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Doug said

        Cool, having an eBook will make doing amigurumi “on the go” so much easier.
        Hopefully even a bundle with the printed book, one for home, the other for out-and-about!

        • June said

          Yep! It’ll be slightly convoluted, as ebook sales will be direct through PlanetJune and print books will be through all the regular channels (amazon etc, or your local bookstore), but I’ll set up some kind of deal where you can get the ebook for a small fee with your proof of purchase of the print book ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Dee Walter said

    Will there be more in the book then on your website? I use and order from your site a lot. I would like to know how you come up with ideas, then put it in crocheting. All I do is amigurumi. You’re the best!

    • June said

      Thanks Dee! Yes, the book will have a section on designing amigurumi that will have new content, tips and advice that I haven’t shared anywhere before.

  7. .: petrOlly :. said

    Exciting news! I can’t wait to see how you pimped up the old amigurumi book. The sample pages look so much better already (not that the old book was not good – I still use it sometimes and I’ve learned a lot from it). And what do I read? “Book launch team” – that sounds mysterious! Fingers crossed so that your plans go, well, as planned ๐Ÿ™‚ You can do it!

  8. Robbi Rainwater Wallen said

    I completed my first amigurumi (a unicorn) for our latest granddaughter in 2017 and was โ€œhookedโ€ from that point on. I have since made several as time would allow. A book like yours will be invaluable to me.

    Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

  9. Nicole said

    Yay!
    I read the first book as I had it. It was my first English book, I read it entirely from beginning to end!

    I guess, this one will be an eBook or so, too? Then, yay, I can reread it! ๐Ÿ˜€ (ok, I think, I have somewhere the ebook, though)

    • June said

      Yes! There will be an ebook, and I’ll be setting up a deal where you can get the ebook for a small fee with proof of purchase of the print book, so you can keep a copy on all your digital devices as well as having the print book on your bookshelf ๐Ÿ™‚

  10. Judy said

    I cannot wait to get this book! Iโ€™m so excited!

  11. Adri said

    I can’t wait to see this book in all it’s updated and improved glory! I’m sure it’ll be fabulous!

  12. Kimberly said

    This sounds awesome! As someone who started crocheting (and doing amigurumi) just in the last couple years, I definitely missed out on the IG version. I’m highly looking forward to this – can’t wait! Wishing you all the good vibes to get it done. ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. Kendra said

    I am so excited for this book! I bought your other book and was so impressed with it; the layout of the pages, the photos, the clear and concise instructions, everything. Amigurumi is my favorite, so I can’t wait to see what the new book will look like!

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