I made this amigurumi dumpster fire for Tom for his office. Most of the amigurumi I make are worked in the round for the main body and then embellishments are added.

This one, on the other hand, is crocheted as a series of flat pieces and then whipstitched and crocheted together. There are the six sides of the dumpster, the two handles, the two lids, the oval basket that holds the flames, the two flames are themselves two flat pieces each, the four lid hinges, and the four wheels, for a total of 23 individual pieces, plus the face.

I crochet with a pretty tight tension that serves a round piece well, but can lead to awkward curling in flat pieces. I could have maybe fixed it with blocking, but you have to steam block acrylic yarn and it didn’t seem worth it for something that was going to be stuffed. I’ll save the blocking boards for garment/natural fibers projects.

When I stuffed it, I included all the little bits of yarn scraps and tails I had accumulated from this and some other projects, so there is literal trash in the dumpster. The stuffing is sewn inside so no one can see it, but it pleases me to know that it’s there.

Pattern by Twinkiechan, based on the 100% Soft Dumpster Fire toy.