webmark.ing/url/fakesteve.net

Photo: Jen Blum It’s pretty cool what a skilled crocheter can do with a bunch of yarn, some stuffing, and a geeky set of interests. The recent trend of crocheting cute (but still cool) small dolls called amigurumi (which literally means “knitted stuffed toy” in Japanese, where the trend began), has spread to the world of geekdom. Geeky crocheters have been making amigurumi based on all sorts of familiar themes, from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings to Tron to Evil Wil Wheaton, among many others. I am privileged to be married to such a geeky crochet artist, though she often tries (in vain) to protest the “geeky” label. Jen Blum, my wonderful wife of nearly eleven years, taught herself to crochet in the autumn of 2008, and caught the amigurumi bug not long thereafter. At first she only made them as gifts for friends, but recently she’s been selling lots of them and making custom orders. She’s also been making less-geeky but still cool smiling kidneys to sell as a fundraiser for a good frie