She is SIX...

  ...How did THAT happen???

Well, it did.  And of course, there was a party.  We RAN to the park, clucking like chickens for some reason (six year olds!) where we found paper bags and paints all set up for making paper bag hats.  Top right, is Miss M digging into the paint for her hat.  Paper Bag Hats are so easy and fun!  

PAPER BAG HATS:  Use a standard grocery bag, *carefully* turn it inside out (remove handles, if necessary), and sloppily roll the edges up to form the hat. Rolling too tightly makes the hat too big and crushes the paper, so make your rolls big and bunchy.   Messiness is no problem with this project, and it doesn't have to be perfect.  For really little kids, I've found that "pegging" the bag, (like we did the ankles of our jeans in the 90's, remember?  We were super-bad!) works really well.  Give the kids lots of colors to choose from, and make SURE the paint is washable! Go play some games while the paint dries and wear your creations proudly!

Top, right, you can see my son sneaking up on me to jam one on my head and the (blurry) result in bottom right.  Bottom left are two much bigger boys (my son and his BFF) in their Minecraft inspired creations.  If you have any computer geeks in your house, or are one yourself, you may recognize a Minecraft Pig and a Creeper painted on their hats/masks.  Those two are h.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s. and I'm pretty sure that they are the Mutt and Jeff of the 21st Century.  Also in this collage is a cutie patootie from down the street playing with a hula hoop.  I could just eat him up.

While the paint on the paper bag hats was drying, there was a scavenger hunt based on things the kids could find at the park.  

SCAVENGER HUNT:  I made a quick trip to the park a few days before the party to see what could be found and took pictures (most of the kids aren't readers just yet), and photoshopped the pictures onto card stock (see bottom left image).  Then, I just pasted the scavenger hunt cards onto treat bags, so that a.) the kids would have somewhere to out their "finds" and b.) so that the cards wouldn't be lost.  The kids found as many things as they could, and brought the bags back to me for prizes/party favors (we returned the "finds" to the wild).  I also had them write their names on the bag so they could keep it to fill with piñata candy and more party favors later.  

Of course, the punch balloon favors were immediately blown up and (mostly) popped.  Hey! It's not a party until the balloons pop!

There were healthy(ish) treats to be had, and these two partygoers had quite a rousing conversation about how delicious/disgusting tomatoes are.  That sweet little boy was popping cherry tomatoes in his mouth like candy.  I heart him.  

You might notice the cupcakes, bottom left... Yes, they are UNfrosted... You'll see why in a minute.  The cupcake stand, I threw together with some hot glue, candlesticks and serving platters/plates that I had on hand.  I did this last year, too... Except that, LAST year, the hot glue separated easily after the party.  This time, I think I might have used a little too much hot glue! HAHAHA!  Cupcake Stand for LIFE!  

After the kids made their hats, had a couple of sack races and played for a while, I started assembling the DIY CUPCAKE BAR.  I thought it was a stroke of genius, and the kids LOVED it.  So, no, the plain, unfrosted cupcakes didn't look so party-perfect on the cupcake stand.... But, I knew if I frosted them beforehand, the frosting would harden, and the toppings wouldn't stick.  

DIY CUPCAKE BAR:  If you want to try this at your next party, I HIGHLY recommend it!  First, I filled two cupcake trays with different toppings (I used mini marshmallows, mini M&Ms, crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, gummy worms and different colored sprinkles).  Then, I gave each kid a little cocktail spoon and told them they could top their cupcakes however they wanted, but to please take one only little spoon of each topping so that everyone could have what they wanted (gummy Worms being the exception... everyone got a gummy worm).  I frosted each cupcake on the fly as I handed them out to the kids, and then the kids got to work on the toppings.  

The sprinkles were flying, the gummies were slurped, crushed cookie bits raining down... SUPER FUN!  It totally worked! But, I'm really glad that I covered the tables with parcel paper!  GAH!

Of course, the BEST PART about decorating your own cupcake is EATING IT!

Look at those happy faces!  I do believe my son was making a Minecraft cupcake, naturally (bottom right). Looks like a dirt block, reminiscent of his birthday cake last year.

And there was still time to play... And also get covered in paint!  Hahaha! Sorry, mom... But it SHOULD come out in the wash.... In the same picture, you can see our painted hats drying on garden stakes.  I had actually made sweet little coffee filter flower and streamers toppers for the garden stakes, knowing I wouldn't have a lot of time to decorate the park, and I figured I could just poke decorated stakes in the ground to gussy up the park a little (coffee filter flowers were based on the ones I made last year).  That was easy, too.  And, it made a durn good spot for the hats to dry!

The big boys had a go at some sort of hybrid sack race/three-legged race of their own.... Which worked out exactly as I suspected it would.  BOMP!

My husband has a new camera (HE took all these photos, btw... I was kinda busy!) and got to playing with the filters.  These are a little dark, but the ATTITUDE is totally visible.  Oh.my.WORD.  Is she six or sixTEEN???

I had also made a cake for the grown ups, but as it turned out, nearly everyone just dropped their kids off at the party (!) so I saved it for later and Miss M blew out her candle that night.  

Happy Birthday, Baby.  You are just my kinda girl.

Overrun by Art....

Three days worth of Art by my five year old.

Help! I'm drowning in magic markers and paper!!!

But in a good way, of course.

Hope your week sends you skies as blue as the ones in Miss M's World.

Nyan Cat Amigurumi PATTERN!

FINALLY!  I got it done. 

Now... Who will be the first to test this bad boy?  I've worked it twice from my instructions, and it isn't the easiest thing ever, but if you have any Ami experience, you should be able to make your own!  Enjoy!

You can download a PDF on Google Docs...

Or...

Here it is:


NYAN CAT AMIGURUMI PATTERN
(by Julianna McDuffie)

STUFF YOU NEED

• Yarn in a rainbow of colors as pictured. (I used mostly Red Heart Soft and Bernat Satin)
• Felt for the face
• Sequins
• Poly-fill or yarn ends for stuffing
• Size E or F hook
• Hot-glue gun/glue
• Tapestry needle

STITCHES USED

• Chain
• HDC (Half Double Crochet)
• SS (Slip Stitch)
• Bobble Stitch
• Whipstitch for joining pieces
• DC BOBBLE STITCH:  YO, insert hook into next stitch, pull through 1 loop YO, Pull through 2 loops. (2 loops on hook). YO, insert hook (in same stitch), YO, pull up a loop, YO, pull through 1 loop, YO, pull through 2 loops (3 loops on hook). YO, insert hook (in same stitch), YO, pull up a loop, YO, pull through 1 loop, YO, pull through 2 loops, YO pull through all 4 loops.
• HDC SHELL STITCH:  4 HDC all in one stitch.

************************************************************

POP TART BODY

CH 20

Row 1: SC in second Chain from hook. SC across. Working on the opposite side of the foundation chain, continue to SC across in the remaining chain loops, forming an in the round pocket. Join with SS in top of the first HDC in the row. (36 stitches)

Row 2-12: CH 2 (counts as first SC), SC around. (36 stitches)

Row 13: Flattening the piece, join front and back sides together with SS for 8 or 10 stitches. Stuff lightly (it’s a Pop-Tart, not a beach ball!). Continue to SS join front and back sides across. (18 stitches).

POP TART EDGING

(Note: The edging shells may not work out perfectly evenly– especially the Round 2. You may need to add or subtract a shell to hit the corners properly. Not a big deal. There’s enough excess ruffle here – on purpose -- that it won’t be a problem, and no one will notice. The most important thing is to be sure to set up your corners IN THE CORNER on Round One. In Round Two, the corner should be made in Round One’s chain 2 spaces. Yeah. My math skills aren’t great.)

Round 1:

Join Beige Yarn at the top left corner of the closed pop Tart.

1st CORNER: CH 2 (counts as first SC) and SC in same stitch. CH 2, 2 SC again in same stitch. 1st Corner made.

LEFT SIDE: SC across to Corner.

CORNER: (2 SC, CH 2, 2 SC) all in corner stitch.

BOTTOM: SC across to Corner.

CORNER: (2 SC, CH2, 2 SC) all in corner stitch.

RIGHT SIDE: SC across to Corner.

CORNER: (2 SC, CH2, 2 SC) all in corner stitch.

TOP: SC across to 1st Corner made. Join with SS in first SC. (continued…..)

Round 2: (Changing to HDC here…)

Slip Stitch to 1st Corner CH 2 Space. All in the same CH 2 space: Ch2 (counts as first HDC), 3HDC, CH 2, HDC Shell.

LEFT SIDE: Skip 2, *HDC Shell, skip 2* across, ending 2 or 3 stitches away from corner CH2 space.

CORNER: In the corner CH2 space, (HDC Shell, CH 2, HDC Shell).

BOTTOM: Skip 2, *HDC Shell, skip 2* across, ending 2 or 3 stitches away from corner CH2 space.

CORNER: In the corner CH2 space, (HDC Shell, CH 2, HDC Shell).

RIGHT SIDE: Skip 2, *HDC Shell, skip 2* across, ending 2 or 3 stitches away from corner CH2 space.

CORNER: In the corner CH2 space, (HDC Shell, CH 2, HDC Shell).

TOP To End: Skip 2, *4HDC in next loop (shell), skip 2* across, ending/joining with a SS in top of first HDC. Weave in all ends.

THE KITTY BITS

HEAD - worked in the round

Round 1: CH2 (counts as first SC). 7SC in second loop from hook. Join with a SS in top of first SC. (8 stitches)

Round 2: CH2 (counts as first SC). SC in same stitch. *2SC in each stitch* around. Join with SS in top of first SC. (16 stitches)

Round 3: CH2 (counts as first SC). SC in same stitch. *SC in next. 2SC in next* three times (11 stitches to this point). Form a 4 DC Bobble Stitch in next stitch to make the first cheek. (12 stitches to this point). *2SC in next. SC in next* 3 times (21 stitches to this point). 2 SC in Next. In the last stitch of the round, form a 4 DC Bobble stitch for the second cheek. Join with SS in top of first SC. (24 stitches)

Rounds 4 & 5: SC around (24 stitches). Tie off leaving a long tail to stitch to the front of the Pop Tart body. Weave in end of Round 1.

EARS (Joined and stitched directly to the last row of the head)

LEFT EAR, Row 1: Find the joining stitch of the cheek bobble in Row 3 of the head. Move down to last row of the head. Count 4 stitches toward the top of the head. Insert hook in 4th stitch and pull up a loop to join. CH2 (counts as first stitch). SC in same stitch. SC in next (3 stitches).

LEFT EAR Row 2: CH1. Turn. Skip first stitch. SC in next (this is the middle of row 1). (2-ish stitches) Tie off. Weave in ends.

RIGHT EAR, Row 1: Find the joining stitch of the opposite cheek bobble. Move down to last row of the head. Count 2 stitches toward the top of the head. Insert hook in second stitch and pull up a loop to join. CH2 (counts as first stitch). SC in same stitch. SC in next (3 stitches).

RIGHT EAR Row 2: CH1. Turn. Skip first stitch. SC in next (this is the middle of row 1). (2-ish stitches) Tie off. Weave in ends.

LEGS – worked in the round (Make 4)

Round 1: CH2 (counts as first SC), SC 5 times in first loop of CH2. (6 stitches)

Rounds 2-6: CH2 (counts as first SC) SC around. (6 stitches). ALTERNATELY, you could work each leg in a spiral until you reach desired length.

Tie off leaving a bit of tail for stitching to the back of the Pop Tart body. Weave in end from Row 1.

TAIL

Row 1: CH 13. SS in second stitch from hook. SS in next. SK next stitch. SS, SS. SS three times in next stitch. SS, SS. SK next stitch. SS, SS.

Row 2: CH1 (counts as SS). Turn. SS next. SK next. SS, SS. SS three times in next stitch. SS, SS.

SK next. SS, SS. Tie off leaving a bit of tail to stitch to the back of the Pop Tart body. Weave in end from Row 1.

THE RAINBOW

Note: The rainbow is worked as a ripple stitch (think, “ripple afghan”). If you would like to make your Nyan Cat into a long, rainbow scarf, make your initial chain as long as you would like your scarf to be, and then add a few chains for good measure. You can always undo a few loops on the end of the chain to make it “fit” the pattern. Won’t hurt anything, and it’ll be easier than counting in the long run. Plus, I’m bad a math. I may have already said that.

Row 1: WITH RED, Chain 25.


Row 2: Ch 2, Turn (counts as first HDC). HDC in next two chains. *2HDC in next chain. HDC in next 3 chains. Decrease in next by (HDC 2 chains together). HDC in next 3 chains.* across.

Row 3: SKIP 1st stitch, Repeat Row 2, using ORANGE.

Row 4: : SKIP 1st stitch Repeat Row 2, using YELLOW.

Row 5: : SKIP 1st stitch Repeat Row 2, using GREEN.

Row 6: : SKIP 1st stitch Repeat Row 2, using BLUE.

Row 7: : SKIP 1st stitch Repeat Row 2, using PURPLE.

Weave in all ends.

FINISHING

1.) Working from the front, join Head to bottom right-hand corner of Pop Tart, using the long tail to whipstitch. Hide your stitches as much as possible, and leave the ears “free” so that they can stick out a little and move. Stuff the head with Poly-Fil when you are ¾ of the way closed. Finish whip stitching the head to the body and weave in the ends. Note: I chose to join the head all the way into the corner, even sewing directly to the Pop-Tart fringe in the corner, but it’s your call.

2.) Working from the back of the Pop Tart, join Legs, (let the bottom row of Pop Tart pink as your guide), using the long tails to whipstitch legs to body. Weave in ends. I started with one leg all the way in each of the bottom corners, and then placed leg three directly next to leg one, and leg four directly next to leg one, leaving a belly-space between each set of legs.

3.) Working from the back of the Pop Tart, join Tail to the upper right-hand corner (you are opposite the head on the from side, right?), using the right hand side of the Pop Tart Pink as a guide. Do not sew to the Pop Tart Fringe to keep the movement.

4.) Working from the back of the Pop Tart, and using pink Pop-Tart yarn, join RAINBOW vertically down the right-hand side of the Pink Pop Tart, one row over from the end/edging so as not to overlap the tail.

5.) Cut facial features from felt and hot glue. I kept with the theme and made everything but the cheeks square, like pixels. I tried square cheeks as well, but just thought circular cheeks added to the overall cuteness factor.

6.) Randomly hot-glue sequins on the pink of the Pop Tart. Fly through the sky…..

NyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNyaNya….

GOSH! Napoleon Dynamite Amigurumi

Napoleon:  It took me like three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip. It's probably the best drawing I've ever done.

Napoleon: Tina, you fat lard, come get some dinner.

Napoleon:  I caught you a delicious Bass.

D-Qwon: Welcome to D-Qwon's Dance Moves.  Are you ready to get your groove on?

Napoleon: Yessss.

Napoleon: Who are you?

Lafawnduh: I'm Lafawnduh.
Napoleon: What are you doing here?
Lafawnduh: I'm waiting for Kip.
Napoleon: Kip?
Lafawnduh: Why are you so sweaty?
Napoleon: I've been practicing.
Lafawnduh: Practicing what?
Napoleon: Some dance moves.

Holy Hannah, I love that movie.
  

Kitchy Goodness.  Another custom order to be shipped to Niagara Falls Toot-Sweet.  Am gonna have to make one for myself as well, if I can bring myself to cut out all those teeny letters again. 

 Just for funsies, here is a list of Things I Tried while making the "Vote For Pedro" t-shirt:

• Sewing it with yarn (not good enough)
• Nicer embroidery (yeah.... not my forte)
• considered an iron-on (didn't have any on hand),
• toyed with just writing it on white fabric to sew on (again, not good enough)....

....and then! I remembered how Lindsay over at Filth Wizardry makes these awesome iron-ons out of plastic bags (she DOES! It's so cool!), and I tried that, too--- writing on a white plastic bag with red Sharpie and ironing it to a test swatch (ok... I tried it like, 5,000 times), but, alas! When ironed, the red Sharpie faded to fuchsia, which made me kinda sad. And slightly bummed. Then I tried printing out the logo on a piece of paper and sandwiching THAT in between two pieces of clear plastic. It WORKED, but was a little too thick for my liking.  for THIS project, anyway.  I'm totally going to try that again for something else.

(Have I ever mentioned that I can be a bit of a perfectionist? No? Mmmm. It's true. To the point of making myself insane, really... it's a tossup as to whether it's a good quality or not.)

So the only thing I had on-hand (that I could think of) as some Heat-N-Bond iron-on fusible stuff. The kind that you aren't supposed to sew. The kind that is really tough once ironed. I also had a bit of red satin left over from Miss M's Snow White costume a few years back.

And here's the really fun part..... did you know you can PRINT on Heat-N-Bond???

You Totally Can.

I found the "Vote for Pedro" logo on the web, reversed the lettering as I would to print a regular t-shirt iron-on, sized it to fit my Napoleon t-shirt, cut out a 4"x6" swatch of Heat-N-Bond and ran that baby through my ink jet printer. Then I fused the Heat -N-Bond to my red satin and cut out a much of it as I could. With tiny fabric scissors. For a loooooong time. Couldn't get the interior of the "P"s, though. Too tiny! It isn't perfect, but it's the best I can do.

Although, I think if I make one of these for myself, I will probably go the easier route and just do it with a regular iron-on, even if it won't look as nice. I'm just a big cheapskate, and geez that took a long time.

GIMME YOUR TOTS!

F@&$ it, Dude. Let's go Bowling. An Amigurumi Lebowski. The Dude.

As seen on Ravelry...

Yesterday, Miss Julia over at Mommy's Little Monkey asked if I might be able to make "that character from Lebowski"?

To which I replied, "WHICH character? They are ALL crazy characters!"

Turns out, she's never seen 'The Big Lebowski', and while admittedly feels the necessary shame about it, I'm shaming her in public to MAKE her watch.

Go do it, 'k, Julia???

Best.Movie.Ever.

Amirightoramiright?

So. Indeed. The Dude Abides.  In crochet.  In Amigurumi, even.

It was, of course, our hero, The Dude she was looking for. Here he is.

I love how his hair turned out. Pretty Dude-like, if I do say so, myself, and shouldn't.

Bathrobe complete with pockets for your checkbook.

You know... Because you never know when you'll need to write at check to Ralph's for $2.49 for a carton of half & half for your next White Russian.

Also, the comfort sandals. Those are important. Like... for walking on rugs that really tie the room together.

Watch out, Dude, I think Jackie Treehorn just slipped you a Mickey.

Yeah. He TOTALLY did.

Some days you eat the bahr, some days the bahr eats you.

He's a good man. And thorough.

Bottoms up, Dude.

No, there's no pattern.  Sigh. 


I just make this stuff up as I go along.... if you can make your own amigurumis, you can make Lebowski.  It's your basic head/body (although, I do use doubled-over pipe cleaners for arm and leg fillers, so that I can pose 'em), a separate bathrobe and sandals, some hair... felt bits...  it's all in how you put it together, really... and how many White Russians you've had...


Kidding.  I'm not sure I could actually make this while tossing back a few White Russians.  It would probably look more like Walter Sobchak if I did.

Tunisian Crochet (or 'Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks')

I'm not the sort of girl who can just go on doing the same old same old thing over and over and over again. No. I'm not.

I ran into a Tunisian Crochet pin on Pinterest the other day that intrigued me-- I've seen this sort of stitching before, but didn't know how it was done. Was it Knit? Was it Crochet?

Turns out, it's a little bit of both.

It's crochet in the sense that you use a hook, you pull up loops.... And it's knit because you leave pulled up loops on the hook, much as you work with yarn on a needle.

Each row is made up of two "passes"-- on the first pass, you pull up loops across, leaving them on the hook. The second pass involves yarning over and pulling through loops and dropping each stitch off the hook as you go. At the end of the row (the end of the second pass), all loops but one are off the hook.

I learned everything I needed to know over at StitchDiva. Their tutorials are perfect, and the 3-color Tunisian method has crazy potential. In fact, when my mother called me and requested some new cotton dishcloths (she loves the nubby crochet goodness), I knew this was the way to go.




This is the simplest Tunisian stitch (Tunisian is also called "Afghan Stitch", if it looks familiar to you). The vertical bars you see are the loops that you pull through on the first pass. It's very easy to see where you are inserting your hook, and the 3-color method is even easier, as each step has a single color thread to work with. So--- on one pass, you are working only with color A, on the second pass, you are yarning over with color B. Beginning row 2, you introduce color C, and just leave all the colors waiting for you at the end of the row. No joining at the end of each row... the colors are right where you left them.

It's like magic, I tell you.





This is the front of a 3-color piece that I made this morning. I like to use two solid colored yarns (here shown in lilac and brown) and one variegated yarn (here, a green/white mix).





And the BACK is what makes it perfect for my mother's nubby dishcloth needs. Very nubby. Almost scrubby, even. Looks quite similar to the reverse side of a knit piece, actually.





And speaking of knit.... This cloth was made using a stitch that mimics a traditional knit stitch so closely, I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the difference. But I didn't use knitting needles. I used a crochet hook.

There ARE special hooks for Tunisian crochet.... They are much longer than a traditional crochet hook, and have a stopper at the end, much like a knitting needle.... But I didn't use them for these samples. I found that it was easy enough to keep up to 30 stitches on my traditional crochet hook without even trying. Won't need to special order an Afghan hook, or even head out to my local yarn store until I decide to make something larger. Although, knowing me, it won't be too long until I do just that.





Front and back of the Simple Tunisian Stitch. It's worth noting that you want to use LARGE hooks with Tunisian crochet, otherwise, it's just too tight. It seems too loose as you are working the first pass, but with the second, you are adding two more strands,so it works out. For these samples, the recommended hook size for the cotton yarn was a US size H/8 (5mm). I ended us using a US J/10 (6.00.mm) for the Tunisian stitches, and switched to the H for the traditional crochet borders.





Now. If I can just convince someone to weave in all those ends for me, I'll be set.


What have YOU learned or taught yourself lately? Hmmm?

Hand Made Dog Toys....

Since I DO have a dresser-ful of fabric....

...and since poor Andy's toy basket is down to decimated
bits of dismembered stuffies and assorted strings of
former rope chew toys.... I pulled out my trusty Husqvarna
this morning and made him a few new toys.

I made him several different ones, but the bone is his favorite.

Can you tell?

Look at that HAPPY!

Mmmmmm... stuffing.

But it's not long for this world, I'm afraid.

So the real question is... Is it worth it to make your own dog toys?  Have you ever?

What Happened, Here, Exactly?

Without getting into the whole dog thing again (not just Jack gone now, but my sweet Wally as well)....let's just fast forward to the present, shall we?

I have a puppy. A 6-month old puppy from the Shelter, whom we brought home quite literally the very day after we lost our Wally-Dog. I just couldn't bear not having a dog in the house.

Andy is very sweet.

Although, he does have mange (and THAT is an entire blog's worth of problems, right there, let me tell you...).

Skipping ahead, skipping ahead....

Andy has separation anxiety. There is a lot more to the story, but as I mentioned... We're skipping ahead...

I came back to this after a fifteen minute jaunt to the local El Pollo Loco drive-thru:

My joke on Facebook was that maybe it wasn't so much separation anxiety as a hatred for technology:

He massacred my brand-new, still in the wrapper "Wired" Magazine.

I was pretty shocked and amazed, and almost couldn't be angry.

Almost.

I mean, I giggled a little.

But I was still kinda mad.

And then I decided I HAD to leave the mess where it was, just to see the look on my husband's face when he came home.

I even grabbed my phone when I heard him pull in.

Here, he is both in shock and laughing.

He asks the dog what happened. Dog appears to know nothing about it.

And here, I do believe he's gone speechless.

The Great Magazine Massacre.

Wow.


(I might also point out that my house is not painted mustard yellow on the inside.  It's a very nice, muted, shade of green.)

Amigurumi Turtle Pattern

When Miss M said she wanted a little Amigurumi Turtle yesterday afternoon, it made me think.... WHERE did my yarn go??? It had been awhile since I crocheted anything (like, a whole week or so), and I could.not.remember where the yarn was.

Oh yes.

In the new storage ottoman.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Silly Mommy.

Yarn problem sorted, I started making tiny little hexagons for his shell, but soon abandoned that idea and went with a simple, one-piece bobble construction. MUCH easier. You'll appreciate that as well. Trust me. 

Oh!  If anyone tries this and has a pattern question or a comment or it just simply doesn't work the way it's supposed to, Please let me know. I'll make it right. 

Oh! OH!  And furthermore... If you make one or two or 16.... I'd love to see pictures! 

**************************************


AMIGURUMI TURTLE PATTERN
(c) 2012 by Julianna McDuffie
Feel free to make and give. Not to sell, sugar. Thank you!

INGREDIENTS/TOOLS
-Worsted Weight yarn in two (or more!) colors of your choosing
-Amigurumi eyes or beads or felt or French knots for eyes
-Black thread for smile and stitching eyes
-Polyfill for stuffing (or stuff with thread ends and pieces, if you prefer)
-US Size E Crochet Hook (or smaller/larger depending upon how tightly you crochet)
-Needle for stitching

STITCHES USED
-SC, Single Crochet
-HDC, Half-Double Crochet
-DC Bobble Stitch: *YO, insert hook in next stitch and pull up a loop. YO, pull through one loop (three loops left on hook). YO, pull through two loops (two loops left on hook). Leave loops on hook. Repeat * four more times, leaving the last loop of each stitch on the hook, until you have six loops left on the hook. YO once more, and pull through all loops. Bobble stitch completed.
-BLO (Back Loops Only)
-HDC BLO Invisible Decrease: YO. Insert hook in BLO of next stitch. Do not YO. Do not complete the stitch. Insert hook into next stitch (again). Pull through two loops (both BLO stitches on the hook). YO, pull through all loops. Be careful here! When making a BLO Invisible Decrease, make sure you are inserting your hook into the NEXT stitch and not into one of the two you've already decreased. When completed, the Invisible Decrease looks like it was done in the first stitch/loop that you pulled through at the beginning of the stitch, and it's easy to think that the second of the pulled through stitches in your last decrease is the starting point for your next decrease. It's not. In my head, I always say "skip". 'Cause it LOOKS like that.
-SC BLO Invisible Decrease: Insert hook in BLO of next stitch. Do Not YO. Do not complete the stitch. Insert hook in the next stitch (again). Pull through two loops (both BLO stitches on the hook). YO, pull through all loops. You may note the crazy similarity to the HDC BLO Invisible Decrease.  You are so very clever.


THE PATTERN

TURTLE SHELL (Work with Color One)
ROUND 1: Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). 9 HDC in second Ch from hook (the first Ch you made). Join in top of first HDC. Tighten the ring by pulling the tail end tightly. (10 stitches)

ROUND 2: Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). 2 HDC in same stitch. DC Bobble stitch in next. *3 HDC in next. DC Bobble stitch in next.* Join in top of first HDC. (20 stitches, including 5 Bobbles)

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). HDC in same stitch. DC Bobble in next. *2 HDC in next. DC Bobble.* around. join to top of first HDC. (30 stitches, including 10 Bobbles)

ROUND 4: Ch 2 (counts as first SC). SC around. Join in top of first SC. End first color. Tie off and weave in ends. Alternately, you can just leave the last tail from the shell and weave it into the next row as you go. That's what I do. But you still need to weave in the first tail from Round 1.) (30 stitches)


BELLY (work with Color Two)
ROUND 1: Join Color 2 to BLO of first stitch in last round of shell. If weaving tails in as you go, be sure to carry both the Color 1 and the Color 2 join tails for at least 5-10 stitches as you embed them.. Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). HDC BLO Invisible Decrease around. Join to top loop of first HDC. (16 stitches)

ROUND 2: Ch 2 (counts as first Sc). SC BLO Invisible Decrease around. STUFF BEFORE JOINING to top loop of first Sc. (8 stitches)

ROUND 3: Ch 2 (counts as first Sc). SC BLO Invisible Decrease around. Join to top of first Sc. (4 stitches). Tie off. Weave in ends. NOTE... If you aren't quite closed enough at this point, you can just close the hole a little further with your needle as you weave in the end.


LEGS (Make four, using Color 2... Or, HEY! Get nuts. Make this with a totally NEW Color!)
Option ONE: Make four legs separately and sew them on to the body:
ROUND 1: Make a Magic ring with 6 HDCs.
ROUND 2: Ch 2, HDC around.
ROUND 3: Ch 2, HDC around.
Sew leg to body. Repeat for three more legs.

Option TWO (my way, although its probably more difficult...) Pick up stitches and crochet directly to the body:
ROUND 1: Pick up a stitch on the body where you would like your leg to begin. I start along the division between my color change. I also weave in the tail of the joined color as I go. Ch 2, HDC in same stitch. YO and Pick up another stitch next to the first. HDC 2 x in same stitch. YO and Pick up a third stitch, completing a triangular angle to the first two. HDC 2 x in same stitch. Join to top of first HDC. (6 stitches)

ROUND 2: Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). HDC around. Join to top of first HDC. Slip Stitch into the HCD directly opposite of your hook to close the leg. Should be the second or third HDC from round 2. It's not a precise thing. No worries. Tie off and weave in ends.

Repeat for three more legs.


HEAD And NECK
ROUND 1: Make a magic ring with only three Chains. Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). HDC 5 times into the ring. Join to top loop of first HDC.

ROUND 2: Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). HDC in same stitch. 2 HDC in each stitch around. (12 stitches)

ROUNDS 3&4: Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). HDC around. (12 stitches).

STUFF Head at this point.

ROUND 5: Ch2 (counts as first HDC). HDC BLO invisible Decrease, *HDC, HDC BLO Invisible Decrease* around. Join at top of first HDC. (8 stitches)

ROUNDS 6&7: Ch 2 (counts as first HDC). HDC around. Join at top of first HDC. (8 stitches)

Tie off, leaving a long tail. Sew neck to body with the yarn tail: Flatten and place the base of the neck along the line where the shell meets the belly. Sew neck to body at the base of the neck, then place a few stitches a little higher on the neck, sewing the neck to the shell so he can hold his 'lil head up. Weave in ends.


TAIL
Pick up a stitch where the tail should be. Join Color 2 to picked up stitch and Ch 2. YO and pick up a second stitch right next to the first. HDC. YO and pick up a third stitch at a triangular angle to the first two. HDC. Ch 2. Tie off. Weave in ends.


FINISHING
Give 'em some eyes! Stitch on a droll little mouth! Happy Turtle!