Progress on the Terrapene carolina...

TRANSLATION: Progress on the common box turtle...

A few weeks ago at a knitting get together, I mentioned to my fiber pals that I did not know why I had been so drawn to knitting toys as of late, and the Great Enabler thought that it might be because it "gave me the chance to be fussy..."

Yea, I see the irony, and maybe the Pope is Catholic too, right?

I recognize that I am the slightest bit detail-oriented, and possibly a little obsessive as well. The Sheldon pattern from Knitty is not exactly a hard pattern, but it leans heavily on the fussy side of things. This is not a pattern to knit mindlessly on at all. The pattern calls for Knit Picks Shine Sport, which is 60% cotton. Cotton makes my hands tired, and with all the pattern work on the shell I did not feel like fighting with a no-give fiber. I chose Designer Sport yet again because it is very soft, and it has a nice "sproing" quality. I am using the colorways Pistachio and Celedon for Sheldon.

Don't let my whining put you off if you are interested in making a Sheldon, just plan to spend some very focussed time with the project.



He is coming along, and believe it or not the shell has been the quickest part of him to knit so far. I think he will be very cute, and I hope much loved by my nephew, Max. This will be for his birthday, but will likely be completed after the fact. Also, his eyes will not be plastic, but embroidered on for safety's sake - Max is soon to turn one.

The body has been stuffed and seamed, but the instructions request the legs be stuffed and attached later.






This is the nearly half-completed shell. I had my doubts about it in the beginning, but so far so good.




Off to knit.