People Who are Freaking Geniuses: Allison Hoffman

Many of you may already know Allison Hoffman, but for those who don’t you’re in for a big treat. Allison is an amigurumi artist who draws on a wide swath of pop culture and has a gift for translating famous people into crochet.

All images by Allison Hoffman, used with permission

It all started back in 2009, when she couldn’t find enough Yo Gabba Gabba toys for her sons and decided to create her own. After many requests, she wrote a pattern, and things blossomed from there.

On her blog, CRAFTYisCOOL, Allison shares her various adventures – and she has better adventures than most people I know. She has a certain obsession with making likenesses of famous people and then giving them to said people. She’s given Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory amigurumi to the actors who starred in the original movie. She’s given a Pee-wee Herman doll to Paul Reubens onstage at SXSW. And she’s given a Conan O’Brien doll to Conan.

Perhaps my favorite creation of her is this Bob Ross doll. With this Billy Mitchell running a close second.

Somehow, Allison manages to also release cute free amigurumi patterns regularly. I love these little monsters! There’s also a boom box, an acre of land, and many others.

I really love Allison’s sense of reverence for her subjects – whether she’s crocheting monsters from Where the Wild Things Are, an Assistant to the Regional Manager or a Coraline doll, she pays attention to all the small details that bring the character to life. These are amigurumi I really want to have in the world!

Pop over and give Allison a howdy, won’t you?