About me
My amigurumi and me
Hello! my name is Salomé but everyone knows me as Cucapuntoes
My world on paper
Making a summary of all these years on a single blank page is difficult and talking about myself makes me blush. Maybe all this is too much for me since my refuge is to have a simple life in a place that most people don’t even know
Ever since I was very little I was always curious about the fact that a thread could turn into something beautiful, as if it were plasticine, and I eagerly read crochet magazines so that I could later draw with the hook. The day I discovered that this world could have three dimensions, I got to work on it without delay. All those dolls that I imagined could come to life. So, little by little, I began to join basic shapes and created my first amigurumi.
Amigurumi yes, a strange word, and according to the Japanese tradition that gave rise to it, beyond meaning a crocheted doll, it contains the romanticism of wearing something of yours that, because it’s made with love, it becomes a protection for the person who receives it. it’s a nice thing, right?
Over time, what was an escape route to relax after a day of work became a whisper that told me: why don’t you dedicate yourself to this? You should do what you love, share what you know with other people. .. So, little by little, I was changing my office work and numbers for crocheted dolls, colored threads, sketches, designs and a knitting workshop.
I created my own website and managed to sell my patterns on international platforms. It still seems strange to me to see them published there, it still seems like a dream to me. And the thought that someone buys them, weaves them and, above all, seeing them later in nets makes me have butterflies in my tummy.
In 2021 and after crocheting quite a few amigurumis, my work and the craft that includes the technique I use to make them, reached the necessary level to be a workshop registered in the general registry of the Artesanía de Galicia brand. In case you don’t know it, its objective is to offer a common, harmonic, coordinated and representative brand of Galician artisan products. A seal of prestige that constitutes a sign of identity and a guarantee of quality for consumers and that it is a real pride to be able to represent.
From there everything was easier. The workshop provides the economic support that has made it possible to take the leap to leave everything and dedicate myself to this. There are many hours of work but all of them are hours of satisfaction.
Time has brought me collaborations, exhibitions and, above all, many friends, all over the globe, with whom I can share experiences and organize events. I will tell you all this as new things come up in the blog articles. I hope you like what I have to tell and that what I write reaches you or inspires you.
This is my little world on paper and like all my sketches, it has gone from the notebook to cyberspace so I can share it with you.
My environment
Leaving the city and coming to the countryside can be crazy for many and the opposite path for others. For me, though, it’s the change I needed. I love walking with my dogs through the mountains, going down to the riverbank and simply contemplating it. The beauty of these landscapes causes a bewitching effect that catches and envelops you, the hours pass contemplating it in a matter of minutes. The silence broken by the birds and the wind, a small boat that works, other walkers that cross or the children playing in the sand to put walls to the river. I think that here the colors have more life, the blues, greens and yellows are different. There is a river of water, a sea of vineyards and, sometimes, a field of sunflowers.
The town that is now my home is called Goian, in Tomiño, on the river border of the Miño with neighboring Portugal, a place surrounded by Terras Gauda Albariño vineyards and ornamental crops from plant and tree nurseries. A town with history, which is home to country houses and a fortress that maintains a star shape and which was once a place of defense against the Raia, is now a wonderful viewpoint of the Serra D’arga and the Portuguese town of Vilanova de Cerveira . Passing the Camino de Santiago, I can only think of the thousands of footprints that are hidden under mine and the history that each one carried in their saddlebags and now in their backpack.
My furry little ones
What these crazy playful inspire!
1. Lola
The first of this curious herd. In his own way he speaks to you, with his eyes you fall in love. Playful and affectionate, she keeps me company since the day I picked her up from the cage where she was waiting for me.
2. Martín
The grumpy grandfather. The years of mistreatment left a dent in his character, suspicious and timid. Sometimes, he gives me a lick.
3. Teo
Rescued from the river. My white teddy, a cloud of cotton and pampering. Teo himself crocheted in the shape of a unicorn, always covered in flowers.
4. Oreo
Cream and chocolate, fun and playful, the terror of my slippers. We met on Sunday walks in Aloia Protectora and I still go there every Sunday to free the dogs for a few hours while the volunteers clean the shelter.
The creative process of my little amigurumis
Knowing my designs I will write on another page where I will also tell you the story of each one of them.
Here, as this space is something personal, I explain the creation process that exists behind each pattern.
As you just read a little above, inspiration comes from what surrounds me and, as it is capricious, it can come at any time or anywhere. That is why I think that almost all of us who dedicate ourselves to design carry an agenda or a small notebook where we write everything down the moment it arises. There is not even a sketch there, sometimes it is summed up in a phrase or an idea, just enough so that it is not forgotten. This is the precise moment in which an amigurumi is born. Little by little that idea grows, it takes shape, you imagine it as something that can become a small sketch and that you correct from time to time with pencil strokes so that it is simple and can be reduced to geometric shapes that can be joined together. yes keeping a logical proportion. From there the colors are combined alone.
You may think that from this moment until you say “it’s ok” little time passes, well no, nothing beyond reality. Behind each pattern there are many hours of work and many others of failure, that’s what we crocheters don’t like to “pull the thread” and start from scratch. For me, at least, I have to do and undo countless times to make everything fit. And to put it on paper and for the pattern to be understood, I won’t even tell you, do you know how difficult it is for something that is mechanical for you to be understandable by the one who reads it? Buff, sometimes when I write it I don’t even understand it myself. Add, multiply points, make everything add up, how difficult!
Then it’s time to translate it and photograph the step by step. Because photos help a lot. When I finish with the camera, three identical dolls have already passed through my hands. And the process does not end here, there are some wonderful pixies that test the pattern. Who are these pixies and what is pattern testing? Well, they are knitters who know how to read patterns and who help me find those errors that I have overlooked or who tell me that there is something that does not add up and they cannot understand so that I can explain it better. There is no way to thank them for this help, without them it would not be possible to publish a pattern, because they are the ones that give me security and confidence that everything is going well.
