Pania the Amigurumi Turtle: Free Pattern

 

Pania swam up to me one cold stormy day as I strolled along the shore. She was ever so tired of the wintry ocean and longed for the warmer seas. I suggested she spend the winter ashore in my warm cosy house, and she heartily agreed.

She has found herself quite at home here and seems to have become best friends with Miss Octopus, both of whom have a love of the ocean and ocean jewels. She has been entertaining me with tales of her namesake, Pania, the mythical Maori maiden of the reef, and as a thank you for my hospitality she has agreed to share how you too can have your very own turtle visit.

Pania the Turtle (or Tortoise!) Amigurumi Pattern

My patterns are written down as I create my amigurumi, but let me know if there is anything missing.
 

Techniques

You will use the basic amigurumi crochet techniques: magic circle, slip stitch, single crochet (sc), increase, and invisible decrease. The pattern gets you to practice making a flat circle and a half sphere.
Note: US crochet stitch terminology is used. ch=chain, sc=single crochet, 2sc in next sc=increase, sc2tog=decrease (crochet two sc together to make one sc). I use the invisible decrease method for all decreases. 

Materials

* Yarn: Dark Green (Shell), Light Green (Head, legs, tail), brown (underside) (your turtle can be different colours of course! These are just what I used)
* Safety eyes (I used 7mm). You can also stitch your eyes or make them out of felt
* Black embroidery thread (for mouth)
* Polyfill stuffing
* Crochet Hook (I used 3.5mm)
* Needle (one with an eye big enough for yarn, and one for your embroidery thread)
* Any other materials to decorate 

Pattern

Turtle: Shell

Dark Green Yarn
RND1:  6sc magic circle [6]
RND2:  2sc in each sc [12]
RND3:  sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat. [18]
RND4:  sc in next 2 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat. [24]
RND5:  sc in next 3 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat. [30]
RND6:  sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat. [36]
RND7:  36 sc around [36]
RND8:  36 sc around [36]
RND9:  36 sc around [36]
Slip stitch to finish off,  leave a long length for stitching (will be used to stitch base to shell). 30-40cm should be more than enough.

Turtle: Underside

Brown Yarn
RND1:  6sc magic circle [6]
RND2:  2sc in each sc [12]
RND3:  sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat. [18]
RND4:  sc in next 2 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat. [24]
RND5:  sc in next 3 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat. [30]
RND6:  sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc. Repeat. [36]
Slip stitch to finish off, trim excess yarn.

Turtle: Head

Light Green Yarn
RND1:  5sc magic circle [5]
RND2:  2sc in each sc [10]
RND3:  sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat. [15]
RND4:  15 sc around [15]
RND5:  15 sc around [15]
RND6:  15 sc around [15] **insert safety eyes & embroider mouth**
RND7:  sc in next sc, sc2tog. Repeat. [10]
RND8:  10 sc around [10] **stuff head**
RND9:  10 sc around [10]
RND10: 10 sc around [10] – optional.
Add as many extra rounds of “10 sc around” as you like, depending on how long you want the neck. Remember, when the head is stitched to the body you will lose a round or two to the inside of the turtle.
Slip stitch to finish off, trim excess yarn.

Turtle: Legs (make 4)

Light Green Yarn
RND1:  4sc magic circle [4]
RND2:  2sc into first, 3 sc around [5]
RND3:  5 sc around [5]
RND4:  5 sc around [5]
Yes, the legs are easy but fiddly! For the sake of simplicity, once you have completed round 2 you can just keep single crocheting in each stitch around until the legs are the length you want. Just make sure all your legs are the same length!
Slip stitch to finish off, trim excess yarn.

Turtle: Tail 

Light Green Yarn
RND1:  4sc magic circle [4]
RND2:  sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat. [6]
RND3:  sc in next 2 sc, 2sc in next sc. Repeat [8]
RND4:  8 sc around [8]
Slip stitch to finish off, trim excess yarn.

Assembly

Your turtle is assembled by stitching the top shell of the turtle to the underside. As you stitch the two together, you will gradually sandwich in the head, legs, and tail between the two and stitch them in. Look at my photos so you can see how it should look.

To visualise how your assembled turtle will look, place the underside on a flat surface. Position the ends of the head and tail on opposite sides of the circle, so that approximately one row of stitching overlaps and rests on the turtle underside. Do the same for the legs. Now position the shell over the top. This is how your turtle will look when finished. Now, you can either pin the head, tail, and legs in position to the underside so they will stay in place as you stitch around, or just remember where you will position them.

Stitching Together
1/ Using spare thread from the shell, use a yarn needle and sew the shell to the underside. The 36sc on the shell and the 36sc on the underside will match up to allow easy sewing (if you are unsure how to, use this website to help).
2/ As you stitch around and get to the point where you will need to add a body part, just sandwich in approx a row of the body part between the shell and the underside. Keep stitching as before, but just run the stitches straight through the body part so it all gets stitched neatly together! Easy peasy.
3/ Before you have nearly stitched up your turtle, stuff the body with polyfill.

 

Your turtle can now be decorated with other facial features (eyebrows, eyelashes, different mouth shapes), clothing (scarf, hats, pins), and whatever other embellishments you can think of. Enjoy!

 

Note: You are free to use this pattern to make as many turtles as you like, but please do not post this pattern anywhere else. The pattern consists of basic crochet shapes so I imagine there are many, many similar turtles elsewhere! But if you follow my pattern exactly and  blog about it I would appreciate a link back to my website (so others can make it too!). I do not mind if you sell items you make from my patterns, but please be fair and acknowledge the pattern source. More information about pattern use here:
http://amysodyssey.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/my-crochet-patterns/

My Crochet Patterns

These are some answers to queries I have had about the use of my patterns. The information below is given briefly at the bottom of my patterns, but there was a need for it to be explained in more detail.

About Reproducing My Patterns…

The crochet patterns I have created and have posted here on my website will remain free and open for all to use. However I must insist that the patterns are not to be reproduced on any other website, magazine, book, etc.

Once a pattern starts getting reproduced (even with good intentions, such as those who want to translate it), the greater the chance the source will get lost over time, and the greater the chance that someone will try to claim it as their own and sell it. If you are able to help with any translating concerns others might have, I am happy for you to put a comment on the pattern page and provide a link to your email or website where you can offer advice, but I don’t want even translated patterns posted elsewhere.

About Selling Finished Products Made With My Patterns…

As I am providing the patterns for free, you are free to do whatever you like with the finished product. Gift, donate, sell, I don’t mind.

If you are selling the finished products online: I ask that credit is given to my pattern. So you are welcome to sell the bumblebees, flowers, etc that you make on your online store (etsy store, ebay store, etc), but please provide a link to the pattern on each page you sell the product from. This is also fair and honest for your customers. There are plenty out there who may like the finished products, but aren’t adept at crocheting. I would also appreciate a comment on the relevant pattern page giving a link to the online store (etsy, ebay, etc) you plan to sell the items in (do not advertise price etc – I will edit out blatant advertising) because 1) it’s good manners to let me know, and 2) it informs people where they can buy the finished products if they can’t/don’t want to make them.

If you are selling the finished products elsewhere (not on the internet): obviously it would be hard to insist on giving credit if you were selling the finished products at a school/church fete, market, swapmeet, etc, so I do not require credit in those situations. But of course it is good manners to mention where you found the pattern if anyone asks – keep up the free nature of the patterns!

Just a note: I wouldn’t advise selling products based on copyrighted characters (Day of the Tentacle, Dizzy), but that is your choice.

I obviously don’t imagine the patterns being used to make products sold in any huge commercial quanties, just crafty people who want to earn some extra money. And I am all for that!

Final Notes

I do not make any money from my website or patterns. I put in the hard work creating these patterns. I also do not make the products to sell myself (no time or inclination!). Insisting the patterns remain on this website and insisting that credit is given to my patterns if you choose to sell the finished product online are fair requests. I hope you understand these requests!

Keep enjoying the patterns,

Amy

Singapore Shopping

Okay, so shopping on Orchard Road in Singapore had to be one of my favourite activities in Sinapore   I come from Perth “city” where the shopping experiences are okay, full of franchises, and very repetitive – you will generally see the same stores all throughout the metro area. Orchard Road in Singapore was full of variety, and the malls were big, dry, and airconditioned. Now I can manage the heat in Singapore (I experience much hotter in summer in Perth), but I cannot cope with the humidity – dizziness and headaches even while gulping down water. Thank goodness for the aircon. The shops also kept us dry from all the torrential thunderstorms that happened almost every day of our stay (I enjoy thunderstorms so that was quite fun!).

Books, clothes, accessories, fun stuff, computer and console games (kept the partner happy )…Ahhh it was great fun

Long Time Lost

Hello All,

It has been quite a loooonnnng time since I have been on here! But in my defense, I have been working, doing my clinical psychology internship, and trying to finish off my masters thesis All I have left to do now is my thesis (there is a light at the end of my university tunnel), so while I can’t get distracted by making posts, I thought I had better leave a note for you all about my absence.

I have not been closely monitoring my site since the start of the year, but I do get approved comments emailed to me so I would like to say a huge thank you for all who have commented (except for the spammers of course). I have been amazed at the number of you who have followed my patterns and created your own amigurumi. They look fantastic! I have worked my way through the comments and posted replies to each of them.

I have done a bit of housecleaning and removed some of my posts I was “meh” on and didn’t feel they contributed much to my website. I am trying to keep the posts more refined to the more useful crochet, photography, and travel posts. Hopefully I will be able to get back to posting some point before the end of the year…I still have a long list of amigurumi patterns I want to create!

Look after yourselves and have fun

King’s Park

King’s Park has to be one of my favourite places in Perth. It has been such a sunny day today (even in the middle of winter!) that I was dreaming I driving up there. Sadly I am stuck at home doing my thesis. But I did have all these photos I took in November last year that I never shared, so I thought today would be the perfect day for it. Thanks to Wikipedia I just learnt that King’s Park is the “largest inner city park in the world” and is larger than New York’s Central Park. It truly is gorgeous sunning yourself on the hill there while looking over Perth.

Hope you enjoy the photos!