Sheldon & Sheila

the project currently gracing my title

After completing one of my recent projects, the Sourpatch top for Lil' Miss, I realized I had a whole mess of yarn leftover after knitting all those bubble stripes.  After checking the Ravelry database for patterns using the yarn I realized I could make not just one, but two of the Sheldon turtles.  I had been eying this pattern for awhile now so was happy to finally be able to make it.

Sheila smelling the lavender, beware of the bees!

It was a relatively tricky pattern, but I was able to conquer it.  I think the part that was the most difficult was guessing the crochet hook size since it is not indicated in the pattern.  I used a size US D which ended up being too small as the bottom part of the shell opening didn't really stretch very much and made it difficult to get the shell on and off the turtle.  Which isn't such a bad thing, maybe this way the shells won't get misplaced!

Sheldon trying to blend in with the thyme, doing pretty good too.

I knitted these turtles in tandem, knitting the bodies first, than legs for one and then legs for the other, etc. so that they would be done at about the same time.  I knew one child would feel left out if the other already had their turtle and they were still waiting.  I got them done pretty close together, Sheldon was finished about an hour or two before Sheila so both kids ended up pretty happy.  Unfortunately the necks aren't holding up too well to little kid handling.  The pattern does say to stuff them firmly and I did the best I could but it still wasn't enough.  On another project I saw notes about the knitter making an extra leg, stuffing it firmly and putting it into the neck to keep the stuffing there.  In hindsight I wish I had done this too, but at least the kids love their turtles!

those shells sure were tricky!