{"id":25113,"date":"2018-07-01T19:52:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T01:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allaboutami.com\/?p=25113"},"modified":"2018-07-01T22:58:11","modified_gmt":"2018-07-02T04:58:11","slug":"amigurumi-turtle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutami.com\/amigurumi-turtle\/","title":{"rendered":"Amigurumi Turtle"},"content":{"rendered":"

***This post is sponsored by Boye Yarn Crafts<\/a>!\u00a0 Please note that this is the step-by-step blog post for our amigurumi turtle- the free pattern<\/strong> can be found HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/em>!\u00a0\u00a0You can also purchase an\u00a0INEXPENSIVE AD-FREE PDF<\/b>\u00a0of this pattern on Etsy\u00a0HERE<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and on\u00a0Craftsy\u00a0HERE<\/b><\/a>!<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0This beautifully formatted PDF includes the step-by-step pictures and is a total of 5 pages including the cover page!\u00a0\u00a0You can also find the Turtle PDF in my new\u00a0Amigurumi PATTERN BUNDLE HERE<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Boye Yarn Crafts<\/a> reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in designing an amigurumi pattern for their website.\u00a0 I happily accepted and was thrilled that I would be able to post the pattern on my blog as well!\u00a0 Ryan and I had always wanted to try designing a turtle and we wanted to steer clear of any of the zodiac animals since our tradition is to crochet each zodiac animal when it is their year (e.g. 2018 is the Year of the Dog<\/a>).\u00a0 After sketching our design, we settled upon using a favorite acrylic yarn of many: Vanna’s Choice by Lion Brand Yarn<\/a>.\u00a0 We went with a cream colour for the head, limbs and bottom of the shell; white for a tube that would go around the shell; and two shades of one colour for the shell (one darker and one lighter), for example dark and light green, or dark and light pink as pictured below.<\/p>\n

\"Lion<\/p>\n

We started off by crocheting the head- rather than using normal round safety eyes, we opted to use oval safety eyes<\/strong><\/a> for a different look!\u00a0 We also used pink brads<\/strong><\/a> for the rosy cheeks which give a very clean effect.<\/p>\n

\"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

Using the lighter green yarn, I crocheted half a sphere for the shell.\u00a0 I then used the cream yarn to crochet the bottom of the shell.<\/p>\n

\"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

To add some detail and accents to the turtle shell, we used a technique called surface crochet<\/strong> with the darker green yarn. I learned how to surface crochet using Moogly’s very helpful tutorial and video\u00a0HERE<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!\u00a0 Surface crochet is a way to add slip stitches onto the surface of a piece that gives a very clean look, and you can choose any direction you would like to crochet (it’s very free form as you could even stitch a letter or a design).<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Insert your crochet hook into the turtle shell where you would like to begin.<\/li>\n
  2. With the darker green yarn being underneath the shell, pull up a loop.<\/li>\n
  3. Insert your crochet hook back into the shell in the direction that you would like to surface crochet.<\/li>\n
  4. Pull up the darker green yarn from underneath the shell and continue to pull through the loop on the hook.\u00a0 One stitch has been surface crocheted onto the shell!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

    I continued in this manner and crocheted a circle around the shell between Rounds 6 and 7.\u00a0 Next, I surface crocheted six lines originating from the circle downwards towards the bottom of the shell, making sure the lines were all evenly spaced.<\/p>\n

    \"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

    We then stuffed the shell gently and sewed the cream piece onto the bottom of the shell (we made sure not to overstuff the shell otherwise the bottom part would puff out).\u00a0 Thankfully all the tail ends from the surface crochet were now hidden within the shell!<\/p>\n

    \"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

    I crocheted four tubular limbs: two arms and two legs.<\/p>\n

    \"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

    First we attached the head to the top.\u00a0 Next, we positioned the arms on either side of the head and attached it to the shell.\u00a0 We then attached the legs to the back of the shell.<\/p>\n

    \"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

    We crocheted a small conical tail and attached it between the legs.<\/p>\n

    \"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

    Using white yarn, we crocheted a long tube and stuffed it as we went along.\u00a0 I would recommend using a pen, chopstick or the back of the crochet hook to help push the stuffing into this tube.\u00a0 After sewing the open ends together to form a circle, it was ready to be attached to the turtle shell.<\/p>\n

    \"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

    After placing the white tube onto the shell of the turtle, we then secured it into place.\u00a0 Rather than whip stitching around the entire tube, we found that using several points of attachment was sufficient.\u00a0 We cut a strand of white yarn, inserted it through the bottom of the turtle, through the bottom of the tube, and back down through the turtle (about one stitch away from point of first insertion) and tied several knots.\u00a0 For our turtle, we used FIVE<\/strong> points of attachment to secure the white tube into place: in the head (which tags down two<\/strong> spots- see further explanation below), on both sides of the shell, and towards the tail (for this point we inserted the needle through the tube first, then the shell, and then back through the tube).<\/p>\n

    \"Amigurumi<\/p>\n

    In order to make the white tube wrap around the head more snugly, we tagged the white tube down in two different locations through the head as shown below.<\/p>\n

    \"Crochet<\/p>\n