Turkish mother explores the colorful world of Japanese stuffed toys

A mother of two children, Özgül Can, 28, is a housewife who knits organic stuffed toys with a technique called "Amigurumi" in Japanese. Currently selling the organic toys on social media, Can opens the doors to a colorful world for children with the colorful toys she knits.

Explaining that she learned the Amigurumi technique via videos on the Internet to prevent her children from playing with plastic toys containing chemicals, Can said she decided to start selling her knitted stuffed toys on social media after she began receiving orders.

A graduate of the child development department at university, Can said Amigurumi, which is a word of Japanese origin, means a stuffed toy knitted in a tight form.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) on Amigurumi toys, Can said: "At first I knitted these organic toys for my children. They really loved them. Then I started to get orders from a few people I know, and I knitted for them. When the orders increased, I started to make my business on social media. I uploaded pics of the toys I knitted for my children on the website, and now I go on producing custom-made toys."

Expressing her pleasure about how knitting organic toys creates a world full of love with a crochet needle and a ball of wool, Can said: "I buy wooden materials made of antibacterial maple and combine them with various animal and fruit figures. I use children-friendly anti-allergy balls while making these toys. Amigurumi balls don't spoil, posing no danger for children to such on them. They are totally hypoallergenic. Mostly, I knit toys of animal figures. Toys like bears, gorillas, monkeys, hedgehogs, lambs, rabbits and frogs are the most popular ones. I fill them up with silicone fibers. As it is knitted extra tight, it is impossible for the fiber to come out. The cost of the toys is TL 20-50 [$5.78-$14.5] according to their size. Their production takes two or three days according to size."

Explaining that parents are increasingly becoming more worried while buying plastic toys for their children as they contain harmful chemicals, Can said, "Especially babies suck on these toys, and this is not healthy at all."

Indicating that the Amigurumi toys are useful and washable, Can said: "Their cleaning is super easy. You can hand wash them or put in the washing machine in 30 degrees. Baby shampoos or baby detergents are used in washing them. You can give them to your child on the condition that you are totally sure that the toy is dry. The wooden parts of the toys, on the other hand, may be disinfected using a mixture of water and vinegar. After applying olive oil and leaving them to dry, you can give the toys to the children. My son has been playing with the same toy for four years. Amigurumi toys are both long-lasting and don't harm children in any way."