Turtle Tuck

This guy was much faster to knit, and I didn't have to sew anything together, either.

Pattern is very well written, and easy to follow. One error: when you finish the top of the shell, it doesn't tell you to finish off, or how to do it. You've just finished Rnd 17, you have 9 stitches left on your needles, and the next thing you read starts in on placement for the appendages. Not a big deal, overall, but for anyone new to the craft, you might have been confused by this, as all the other sections tell you to cut your yarn and finish off, in great detail. But that's really more of an editing error.

When I did the second piece on the bottom, the part his legs, head, and tail can be tucked into, I actually did mine backwards. I picked up stitches on the purl round at the bottom of the turtle shell, using the backward loop cast-on to cast on stitches where the head, legs, and tail were, so those parts would be open like they should be. Does that make sense? I picked up and cast on 48 stitches around the bottom, using the same stitches I would have used to sew it on if I'd worked it from the middle out. Then I proceeded to decrease instead of increase as I worked the piece backwards toward the center. I just hate the sewing up that much, I figured out how to work back instead. I know, I'm a little obsessed.

When I embroidered the rings on his shell, I worked the first two as written, but for the last one, around the biggest part, I decided to backstitch a wavy line. Just backstitch, nothing fancy.

You know what? One of the things I like most about Spud and Chloe is the clever names they come up with. I mean, you know why this little one is called Tuck, right? Sure, you can tuck in his parts like a real turtle, but that's only half the story. The part that makes it such a perfect, such an adorable, name? "Durn fool thing must think it's going to live forever."* I mean, how totally perfect is that?

*in the book, it's a toad...but I'm glad the movie people decided a turtle was a better fit.

Yarns: Vanna in Olive and Pea Green