Amigurumi Turtle #1: Soft Baby!

NOTE: To be clear, I did NOT design this pattern. The pictured result is mine, but the info above links to the designer’s website and her free pattern. Check it out!

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The First of Many Amigurumi Turtles

Meet Soft Baby, my first amigurumi project and my first crochet turtle! I was antsy with excitement the whole time I was making this little guy, to the point that I rushed through some of the details a little too quickly. Below you’ll find my notes on what I liked and the techniques I’d like to change or try next time.

I started this amigurumi turtle quest by searching for “crochet turtle patterns” on multiple platforms and clicking on everything. Isn’t the internet great? First, I filtered out the paid patterns and put them in my back pocket. (Look at these beauties! These will be the first paid patterns I buy, no doubt.) Then, I made a list of about a dozen free patterns that appear to use a variety of techniques and shapes to make turtles. There seem to be way more sea turtle patterns than ones for land turtles, which I hope to help balance out in the future.

I chose this pattern by Whistle & Ivy as my first amigurumi turtle because it’s very straight-forward, easy-to-follow, and not intimidating at all. (Remember, I’m a baby amigurumi artist, much like Soft Baby is a baby amigurumi turtle.) I definitely recommend this pattern for beginners and encourage you to check it out using the link above!

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Pattern Notes

YARN CHOICE:

I chose my yarn based on the idea that this amigurumi turtle was an experiment and I might mess it up. Therefore, I shopped my stash and picked a main color that I wouldn’t normally use (sparkly pink). I didn’t want to use up my favorite yarns! Then I picked the glittery white yarn for the edging because I thought it went well with the pink. Both skeins came from my Grandma when she downsized her yarn stash—much to my delight. I ended up really loving the way the pink and white looked together.

However. The pink yarn is very “splitty.” I had a lot of trouble getting clean stitches while trying to keep the work tight. It’s hidden for the most part, but you can see a few stitches on the edges where I accidentally pulled the plies apart. It isn’t a deal-breaker for me, but something to consider. For instance, if I want to create a pristine product, I’ll need extra patience or different yarn.

HEAD:

Whenever the pattern says “sc2tog,” I used an invisible decrease instead. This tip came from a podcast episode and I decided to try it out right away. I thought about using embroidery to make the eyes, but I decided I wasn’t up to the challenge yet and ordered safety eyes.

I left a tail that was about 3″ long on the head, which seemed long to me but wasn’t long enough to attach to the body later. (Duh!) That’s okay, but I’d prefer to use the same string to attach it instead of cutting a new length. Now I know: when an amigurumi pattern says “leave a long tail,” it really means it.

FLIPPERS:

The pattern says to fasten off after row 13, flip the leg inside out, and slip stitch to close the flipper. I always prefer using a continuous string whenever possible, so I just flipped the leg inside out and slip stitched across without fastening off. I tried doing it three different ways, changing up which loops I stitched in:

BELLY:

I ended up making two different bellies, one of which ended up being a coaster. First of all, I accidentally made the first belly in pink because I was crocheting on auto-pilot that night. I also ended up with the wrong number of stitches in the 2nd or 3rd round, which happened because I made a mistake while crocheting up the back of the foundation chain on the first round. In my enthusiasm for finishing the project, I didn’t go back and fix it. But when I remembered that I originally intended for the belly to be white, I decided to make another one and make sure I actually followed the pattern correctly. (Pro tip!) The second time around, I could clearly see why and how I made the mistake the first time. Win-win, I think.

Now, I thought the two yarns seemed very similar in weight, but the belly size ended up being quite different: the white belly was too big for the shell! I was on the verge of just using the pink belly when I realized I could easily pull out about 3 rounds of the white belly to make it fit. Bonus: I used that extra, extra long tail to sew the belly and shell together. That happened to be an easy, unanticipated modification to compensate for the yarn difference.

SHELL:

I like crocheting hexagons! It turns out, they come together to form a very attractive turtle shell. When single crocheting the hexagons together, I left a few holes in some of the corners. I saw these when I stuffed the turtle, but it’s barely noticeable because the white stuffing blends in with the white yarn. That’s pure luck on my part! I’d heard advice about keeping stitches and seams tight in amigurumi, but I now see how easy it is to overlook in certain areas.

TAIL:

The tail was the most fiddly piece to make and the part where I had the most trouble with splitting yarn, because the opening to work the hook in and out of was so narrow. Sometimes I couldn’t see the next stitch properly. I found it helpful to put the end of my hook down into the tail so I could look at the next stitch without also seeing the stitches right behind it. It’s a cute little tail, isn’t it!? I love it.

CONSTRUCTION:

I was so anxious about this part, since it was totally new to me! I’ve crocheted many non-flat pieces before (hats, baskets, bags, etc.), but usually all in one shaped piece. I also don’t have a whole lot of experience sewing seams because I prefer to crochet seams when I can. But, guess what! It was much easier and quicker than I expected and there was no reason to be fearful. It was fun to put all these cute pieces together to bring the amigurumi turtle to life.

A note on stuffing: Since I didn’t want to buy many supplies for this project, I decided to stuff Soft Baby with plain ol’ cotton balls. It worked, although it made for a very firm turtle. I think typical stuffing would be softer and more squishy, such as the Polyfil the pattern calls for. Or maybe I overstuffed it! I don’t know. Since I stuffed them pretty densely, I used many more cotton balls than I expected to. I forgot to count how many went into the body, but the head alone contains four and that blew my mind. (It blew Soft Baby’s mind, too.)

While the overall construction was easier than I expected, it was hard to get the legs on symmetrically! It was so easy to attach the first one, but the other three did not cooperate. I found it hard to do the seaming with pins in the legs, so I ended up not using pins and just going with my gut (which is not the most effective method, I see).

After my struggle with the legs, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get the head on presentably, but it turned out A-okay. I think I pinched the base of the neck and made it a tad too narrow, so I should’ve stitched it down in a slightly wider circumference. It’s just a minor detail that makes his neck look weak. Poor baby…

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Take-aways for My Next Amigurumi Turtle

Overall, I am extremely pleased with my new baby turtle and so proud of how this “experiment” turned out. Here are a few of my take-aways for my next amigurumi turtle:

• I’d like to attempt a pattern where the top shell joins into the bottom shell, instead of forming an “overhang.”
• I love how this shell is made up of multiple pieces and I would like to experiment with different shapes and joins.
• I’ll try working pieces in a spiral instead of joining at the end of each row, to avoid the small ridge traveling (and slanting) up the join. [Done!]
• Be more patient with attaching limbs… Figure out how to seam while pieces are pinned on.
• Start learning how to embroider faces.

Thank you for checking out my first project! There will be many more but, for now, this is Kelsey and Soft Baby, signing off.