Hoffman's Baby Monster Beginner Amigurumi tutorial is fantastic. If you have never crocheted anything before but want to try making amigurumi, then this is a great project to try. Not only are the projects small and simple, but the step by step photographs show you everything from the magic circle to how to make a single crochet stitch.
The base of this project is so simple, but the possibilities are endless for what you can create from it. I don't consider myself to be any good at embroidery, but I figured that I would give it a shot.
I used a Size E (3.5 mm) crochet hook and KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Spruce (teal - 7g) and unknown name burgandy - 8g.
The teal monster is 1 row short because the row counting for this project did not count the magic circle round as round 1 (unlike the other amigurumi I've made thus far.) I don't think this is that big of a deal, but it did explain the confusion I had while counting rows.
If you're worried about running out of yarn, make the monster base first. Then you can knit the body of the monster as long as you have yarn for.
I know that most of the magic of these amigurumi comes from the finishing touches, embroidery etc. This is something that I"m NOT very good at, but I wanted to give it a chance. (This is also why I only made two little monsters to start out with, what if I don't like the final result?)
I used size 8 mm safety eyes. I decided to make both monsters with one eyes to see how I like the embroidery. I think they came out pretty cute! I stuffed them with polyfill stuffing and scraps of yarn and then sewed on the circular bottoms with a whip stitch.
I'm not sure if I'm going to make more in the future, but I am happy with these two creatures.
