As soon as I saw
atsuko's awesome TMNT pattern (
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=209461.0 ), I knew I had to make some for my kids. (And probably pretty soon for my brother, LOL.) I made Leonardo for my son, and a pink one for my daughter -- I named it Artemisia. (See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi )
I used an F hook and soft, worsted weight yarn; the shells are a cool variegated Lion Brand Wool-Ease called Wood.
Also, I loved the pattern, but I wanted to try something a little different for the shell (I thought the original, while adorable, looked kinda like a little backpack.
). So here's the rough transcription of the pattern I came up with - quite rough, it's basically an oval, I hope I wrote it in a way that makes sense (it also uses reverse single crochet, also known as crab stitch, which is kind of a bear, but I thought gave a perfect edge for a turtle shell). (Here's a link to a video of how to do crab stitch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhSbycwfpdo and here are two different written versions:
http://www.needlecraftuniversity.com/libcrochet.htm (scroll down) and
http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa112997.htm )
Alternate oval shell pattern:
Ch. 5
1. Sk 1 ch, sc down one side, 3 sc in end ch, sc up back loops of chain, 2 sc in first chain.
2. sc around, putting 3 sc in each end.
3. sc down one side, 3 sc in end, sc other side, 2 sc in st before end, 3 sc in end
4. 2 sc in 1st st after end, sc down one side, 2 sc in st before end, 3 sc in end, 2 sc next st, sc down side, sl st 4th and 3rd st before end
5. Work crab stitch (reverse single crochet) in front loops only all around, join to 1st crab st, leave long tail for sewing.
Sew on turtle using back loops of row 4, I stuffed mine slightly with yarn scraps before finishing this.
Thank you so much for the pattern, atsuko!! I love it!
