GOOD READ
NEED FOR SPEED
After taking quickly to amigurumi, Swedish designer Kim Bengtsson Friis dove full-force into the wild world of crochet design, experimentation and self-promotion
Kim is known for her cute amigurumi animals and designed the adorably chunky birds in this issue
Visit the Crochet by Kim website you’ll encounter page after page of amigurumi toys, each one distinct but all with exaggerated, round bodies and adorable wide-set eyes. It’s clear that Swedish designer Kim Bengtsson Friis has a distinct style, and can apply it to anything – dolls, pets, jungle animals, foods and, of course, birds. Kim lends her super-chunky, perfectly rounded amigurumi style to the Birds of the World in this issue. She agreed to speak with us about her crochet journey, her inspirations, her future as a designer and more.
When Kim first started to crochet in 2017, she was a Swedish emergency services dispatcher looking for a unique baby gift for a friend. Fatefuly, her colleague told her: “You need to crochet a teddy bear.”