Katerina Nikolaidau (Greece) is married and mother to a wonderful daughter. She was about ten-years old when her loving grandmother taught her to crochet. Now, thirty-four years later, crochet is still a big part of Katerina's life. While experimenting with different crochet projects, she discovered the Japanese Amigurumi technique. After making her first Amigurumi doll, her passion for crocheting increased and soon she was designing her own patterns. Kristi Tullus (Estonia) was looking for a unique gift for a baby shower, when she stumbled upon a few cute crocheted animals. She decided to try making them herself. After that, she made some more... Now, she can't seem to stop. She's been dabbling in amigurumi-making for the past five years and has learned a few things - mostly about how not to do things. Her mission these days is to share the useful knowledge she's gained about making crocheted toys. Kristina Turner (USA) is a crochet designer specializing in cute amigurumi and crochet accessories. Her business, Tiny Curl, encourages crochet fun at any age with amigurumi patterns and ready-made crochet dolls and accessories. Kristina loves bright colors and takes inspiration from her three cats and watching cartoons. Mari-Liis Lille (Estonia) is also known as "lilleliis" and has been crazy about amigurumi since 2008, when she first discovered crochet. Since then, the designing of toys has become her greatest passion and self-realization. Lilleliis patterns are known among true amigurumi fans all over the world. Sandrine Deveze (France) uses yarn and thread to devise her own personal universe, filled with poetry and harmony. More than anything, she loves bringing these adorable, cuddly toys to life for her children and loved ones. She lives with her family in the Atlantic Pyrenees region. In 2009, she created her blog, "Tournicote...á cloche-pied". Soledad Iglesias Silva (Argentina) lives and works in Patagonia, in the valley of the province Rio Negro. Her mother taught her to crochet when she was nine years old, but it was only when she was expecting her third child that her passion for amigurumi awakened. Since then she has tried many different yarns and hooks and crocheted hundreds of dolls. Finally, she discovered that what she liked best was designing and creating new patterns. So, she started "Madelenón", named for her great-grandmother, also an avid crocheter. Tatyana Korobkova (Russia) is from the Ukraine, but lives and works in Istanbul, Turkey. Even though she's designed about two hundred knitting patterns, she is best known for her sweet, amigurumi-style dolls and animals in either knit or crochet. Her designs bring together her love of yarn, skill of pattern writing, imagination and children's smiles. Tine Nielsen (Denmark) always has yarn within her reach... Just the way she likes it. Yarn makes her happy, and she hopes this shines through in her designs. As the designer and founder of "Little Happy Crochet", she writes crochet patterns and books. Her designs are mostly stuffed animals, even though they sometimes don't look like real animals, but rather like animals that make her (and hopefully lots of children) happy.
