Totoro Family

Do you know the Japanese animated fantasy film "My neighbour Totoro"? It is very sweet and beautifully painted , suitable for young kids - and adults ;-) I have seen the DVD last year and I was so enchanted by the cute magical creatures that I was searching the Internet for a plush toy. What I found instead was even more fascinating: a crocheted Totoro! Instantly I wanted to crochet one myself, even though I had not taken up a hook in decades and the pattern was written in English in US crochet terms. I really had absolutely no idea how to do this. But the net is fantastic and provided me with tutorials and translations so I could manage to crochet Totoro and his friends, the little blue fellow and the tiny white one.

You can find the pattern here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grey-totoro-amigurumi
Since I got to know Totoro via my sister who lent the DVD to me, I gave the first set of Totoros to her. And did a second set for myself:

My sister's cat loves Totoro too:

Crocheting the magical creature Totoro was the beginning of a renewed friendship between the crochet hook and me. (I have learned to crochet when I was six years old. My mother used to crochet curtains, table runners and beautiful dresses for me and my dolls. I just crocheted some trinkets for my toys but they never turned out as I wanted them to be, so I lost interest) 

I really enjoy to crochet, usually in front of the TV, it's so relaxing!