The written-pattern describes the process of creating an African

Flower toy/item by crocheting and constructing polygonal motifs in

details. There are not only step by step photos, charts and schemes of
constructing the motifs/parts to make the item but also its decoration.
Skill Level is moderately difficult.

Hello, my name is Natalia Mokrooshina.

THE WRITTEN-PATTERN MAY NOT BE SOLD

The item(s) that you produce with the use of the following instructions and recommendations of this written-pattern
you can use anyway you like to. You can sell it/them/items via internet-shops. The written-pattern that contains the
text of the process, the step by step photos of the process, the schemes and the charts for constructing and creating
the item is the only thing that you cannot sell or publish not as a whole part neither partially in any resource. Please
do not publish/post the photos (even of your own) that show the construction process of the item neither partially
nor as a whole process via any resource. Please, publish/post just finished photos of your item, when all the work
with the item is done. It would be polite of you to mention my name as the designer of the item when posting it via
internet resources.

Thank you for your not distributing my design work as a written-pattern in any form!

If you are asked to let anybody know how you’ve produced the item, please send them to my store:

http://www.ravelry.com/designers/nnattalli-m

Thank you for understanding :)

2013

The main Nickname of mine in internet-resources is:

nnattalli (the other Nicknames of mine in internet-resources when it was impossible to register under the main one are –
nnnatttallli, nnattallie, talie, ukla-talie, tala, tala-ukla-talie, H )

my regular avatars are

Nice to meet you! ))

So . . .

Cutie Turtle
«Let’s create a turtle. Body. (part 1)»
- as it was website named )

Under a codename Turtilio GoOutAndInSideHome-o, for the reason of the everlasting leaving his home-o ))

You will need a hook with a narrow head, if you use a round headed one it will be hard to pass through tight stitches.

Sometimes I had to use a very small size of a hook (as an extra thing), to get a thread out of a tight stitch for the main hook.

Useful link of how to join the motifs:

http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/nnattalli/rubric/4598068/

Color recommendation

The body works best in pastel.

Bottom shell – a little bit more vivid color.

Top shell – the most vivid color as an accent of the whole item. It attracts one’s attention when the turtle is given a glance
over.
Materials:
- I used – Acrylic Yarn «Karolina» 438m/100gr 100% from my local store.

But recently I’ve discovered a very good yarn for my African flower crocheting – it’s KARTOPU KRISTAL yarn - 450m/100gr
acrylic one - it is of a very good twist and can be divided to two threads as well - that is good for my crocheting.

Hook. The steel crochet hooks I used are:

For the turtle’s body – 1,25 mm (you may need a bigger crochet than I used)

For the turtle’s shell – 1,5 mm and 2,5 mm (the thicker the yarn you’ve got the less you need a hook with a narrow head)

Finished size of the item when it is assembled: length - 24 cm height - 10 cm front flippers spread - 27 cm

You can change its size to be a bit bigger or smaller by using another
yarn thickness and another crochet hook that suits to the yarn.

Additional Supplies:

- darning needle for pulling the eyes toward each other; to form part’s and item’s shape(s) and for sewing in the ends

- wide hole sewing needle (when the darning needle won’t pass through the fabric)

- super strong thread

- sewing thread of suitable color (may be useful as an extra thread)

- flat-nose pliers – to pull the needle(s) through tight stitches; side-cutting pliers (I used them to shorten the eye-stalks)

- stuffing (polyfill); and thin polyester quilt batting (for the shell only)

- scissors

- stitch markers
- eyes (I used round «alive eyes» - 10 mm)
Materials for the eyelids:

My turtle has crocheted and then felted lids. You may use knitting wool to felt them as well, but remember the color of the
wool may not correspond to the yarn the motif middles are worked of for the turtle body. By the way if you choose to use
totally different color of knitting wool it may look great as well, who knows.

I wanted the lids сolor to match the body middles color, so for the lids I used right the same yarn that I worked the motif
middles with. So if you wish to make the lids matching the middles color of your turtle body as I did it’s better if the yarn
have some wool, for example the yarn may be acrylic with wool. When there is some wool it’s much better for felting work
which is why I recommend it.

The eyelids are crocheted first, then sewed up to the item and felted afterward using felting needles

But you may leave the eyes of your turtle without any eyelids at all, it’s all up to you, do as you wish to. This is how I made
my turtle, but you may make your own changes, it depends upon your wishes and abilities.

There are also some lidded eyes I use sometimes – these eyes need no knitting, no felting and no embroidering at all.

Just for an example let’s have a look what are the other sorts of toy eyes look like with the item:
If you do the felting you need:

«Thick» and «Thin» felting needles

Chart stitch Key (US terms):

inc(s) – increase(s)

(….. )rep «number» – repeat the instructions within the parentheses as many times as directed by a «number»

= «number» - the «number» of stitches that should be worked out by the end of the round

rnd(s) - round(s) ; st(s) – stitch(es)

You will meet …

I have charts for an example of how to work out the African flower motifs. The charts are just partially sketched.

Using the charts below, work out as many angled motifs as you need:

(chart 1); the final round when you join the motifs is shown in (chart 2).

Work the motifs according to the charts above (see. chart 1/chart 2), unless you are directed to work some other way.

Start to work a motif

with chain stitch: Ch 4,
join with a slip stitch to
form a ring - insert the
hook into the first
chain made, it is not
counted in the chain
stitch, but you just
work sl-st though it
(see Fig. 1).

Make the ring the

smaller the better. Do
work tightly, please.
Please Note!
You can work out the long dc sts three ways: а) under both loops of the second rnd stitches (fig.1 below), b) BETWEEN dc
sts of the second rnd sts (fig.2 below), c) some work out the long dc sts under both loops of the first rnd sts (right through
the tops of the first rnd sts that look like a star tips).
I work long dc sts under both loops of the seond rnd stitches (fig.1).

To avoid the tightened joints as shown below - don’t forget to straighten them out when stuffing unless they are needed
for another purpose ;)

Use a darning needle to move the stuffing under the

tightened joints with the help of it to straighten them
out. The Chinese chopsticks can help you to move the
stuffing when the item parts are still opened wide
enough as well.

***********************
Head (the schema of constructing the head motifs is down below)
Blue symbols – mean the number of the motifs corners (pentagon, hexagon, etc.)

Red symbols – the order for constructing the motifs.

My turtle was made using these colors (it depends upon your choice):

rnd 1– mossy

rnds 2-3 – milk

rnd 4– mossy

rnd 5– milk
For better looking joint lines of the head I want to show you step by step head motif construction.

- First, work the 2 hexagons that will have eyes inserted in them later. PLEASE NOTE! In case you use toy-eyes on stalks (or
may be buttons on stalks) you need to work the starting rings of chain stitches in these two motifs a little bit wider – the
starting rings of just these two motifs should differ from the other ones. You can work the chain sts for these two “eye-
motifs” loose or you can also work not for about 4 but for about 5 and more chain sts to make the rings wide enough for
the eye stalks to pass through. You will see what works best by practicing. Please, do remember about eye-inserting when
working these two eye-motifs ;) I worked 5 chain sts in my starting rings.

Then work a pentagon - it’s for the nose.

NOTE!

The side edges marked red (I meant motifs final rnds, the motifs are two hexagons and one pentagon) – should be worked
with dc stitches only (remember: no increases and no chains between stitches in the motifs angles - the points are marked
red arrows in the middle of the red marked lines - over 1 "petal" on each of two hexagons, and over 2 "petals" on the
pentagon) stitch to stitch only. You need to do that if you don’t want to have sharp angles in the turtle nose.

*** you may want to use a stitch marker or piece of yarn to mark the points which are "different." This will help when
joining them.

Work the following motifs as usual unless you are instructed to work them in another way.
Turn over the head and work with the bottom.

Join up the next motif - it’s a pentagon (№4). One edge of it should be joined to the last free edge of the nose-pentagon
(see the photo and chart below).

Turn over the head– hexagon at the top of it.

**************************
Adding The Eyes and Lids
You can see where the eyes should be placed, so add the eyes and eyelids now.

Moreover, by doing this right now all the yarn and sewing tails can be sewed in the head while it is not stuffed yet, so all
knots and threads are hidden carefully inside ;)

First I worked lower lid – when the eye is fixed with the clip it’s almost impossible to work any sts under the eye, so don’t
clip the eye with a clip until the lower lid is worked (the photo below shows adjusted but not clipped up eye just to show
you the area under the eye for working the lower lid)

I worked just four stitches pulling the hook under the

stitch heads of an eye-motif first round. They are
numbered.

I worked under the stitch heads of the motif 1-st rnd like this:

1sc, 2hdc, 1sc. The end.

Leave long yarn tail to hide it.

Do the same lower lid on the opposite side of the head with the same number of stitches as directed before.

I inserted eyes and fixed them up with the eye-clips. Fortunately I had some :)

I shortened the long eye-stalks for about 4mm with the

help of side-cutting pliers, because the long eye-stalks
will cause problems when stuffing.
Upper lid (Make 2):

Chain 3. join with a sl-st to form a ring - insert the

hook into the first chain made, it is not counted in the
chain stitch, but you just work sl-st though it. Then
turning chains 3 and 6dc through the ring, work not
too tight and not too loose - something average. Try to
make the lid to fit the turtle’s eye by adjusting the lid
from time to time to the eye. The end.

Adjust the lid. The two long dc sts (I pointed at them with red arrows below) will help you to find the points *from and *to
for sewing the lid. Sew the lid. I sewed the lid up with my working yarn, but you can also use suitable color sewing thread
instead of the working yarn that I used, it’s all up to you.

When using the main yarn for the sewing up, you may get some rumples on the lids, if you get some just try to hide them
up with the help of an appropriate color sewing thread. It’s better to hide the rumples (if you get some) when the head is
stuffed. Let’s say it’s like a “polishing” process of the lid forming. Stuff the head as the finished item.

Pulling the eyes toward each other

I’ve got «Super strong thread» (you can take any similar one that you can buy from your
local store, it can also be some other color that matches the color of your fabric).
I pulled the eyes toward each other as follows:

- pulled them to each other, by working the threaded needle from one eye to the other
one circling round the eyes edges.

For the thread not to be seen I laid the needled thread among/along the stitches around
the eyes edges, putting/pulling the thread through/inside the stitches to hide it.
By the way I wished to make the eye-lids shape a bit better (more natural let’s say) so I used the felting needles to felt
them. First I worked with a thick felting needle just for a while not putting it too far through the lid stitches, I just used one
third of the needle working length. Do spear the lids in all ways with it. Then use the finishing needle (thin needle I mean)
just the same way, but this time you should work the thin needle just a bit longer until you like the result (but not too long).
I don’t know for sure whether it’s possible to felt acrylic yarn like that. Maybe it’s not possible to felt it at all, but even in
my case I achieved some results. Trim any excess yarn fuzz.

If you are felting the crocheted lids I think it’s better to

use the yarn with some wool as I said earlier. I suppose
the yarn with some wool is much better for felting ;)

In case you want to make the item eyes in some kind of

different way, or maybe you prefer to work with the
eyes when the whole work is done I mean when the
item is finished – it’s all up to you ;) Do as you think is
better for you to do in this case.

There are a lot of eye-making tutorials on the internet

of how to make crocheted, embroidered, felted,
sculpted, painted eyes and so on … ) Good luck with
them then ;)

**********************

Flippers (the schema of constructing the flippers down below)

It doesn’t matter in which order the next motifs for the front flippers will be joined up.

You can join them in any order you like.

To make a flipper you need:

1 – triangle

1 – hexagon (see the photo below)

1 – pentagon (see the photo below)

You should have 4 of these joined together like this:

2 of them should be continued with two modified hexagons for each front flipper. The hexagon modification is described
below the following photos.

If you do crochet KARTOPU KRISTAL yarn, or any other one, that can be divided to two threads, then you can add ½ of the yarn to the
thickness of the original yarn for crocheting the hexagons on the backside/upperside of the flippers (the mentioned hexagon is shown
below). So that the upper hexagons/motifs will be bigger in size than the bellysided ones that are set under the upper ones and the flippers
should bend down naturally by themselves (the hook for the doing this should be bigger the main one, it depends upon your choice).

The four hexagons in two front flippers should be worked out as follows: when working the final fifth rnd of the motif
you should work one angle with dc stitches only, just st to st to the base rnd - the area is marked red (remember: no
increases and no chains between stitches in the motif angle that is in the middle of the red marked line, the red point
shows the exact point without increases, see the photo above. You need to do that if you don’t want to have a sharp angle
in a flipper.

NOTE!!! The tops of the triangle motifs of the front flippers should face TOWARDS THE TAIL.

Stuff a little bit (the flippers should stay flattened). Don’t stuff them too tightly. Don’t make them fat. Squeeze them hard
between your palms or use your palm to press them down, when they are on a flat surface.
Then join two more hexagons to each flipper to finish the flippers.

– front flippers are finished. Let’s stuff them a little bit. Don’t stuff them too tightly. The flippers should be flattened. Don’t
make them fat. Squeeze them hard between your palms or use your palm to press them down, when they are on a flat
surface.

***********************

Body: (the schema of constructing the motifs is at the end of this Part 1 written-pattern)

Please Note!!!

When the “working motif" (number 1 ) crosses the angle with

three joined motifs, you should join the “number 1” motif to
“number 2” and “number 3” motifs only skipping the crossed
motif.

So “we” join just three motifs numbered 1, 2, 3 together (see the

schema). I would recommend that you limit motif joining to no
more than three at once (see the useful link at the beginning of
this “part 1” pattern that leads to some tutorials “how to join the
motifs” and you will find there – “how to join 3 motifs together”
as well.
Belly side:

Let’s start to join 3 pentagon motifs on the belly (but first we join the flippers to the head):

belly belly

belly
Back side:

2 hexagon motifs

back

next motifs

Belly side and Back side:

1 heptagon

3 hexagons

belly
 back

The marked area should be stuffed very tightly (I mean chest and neck area, shoulders, upper limbs). All the motifs and
their joints on the belly side and on the bottom of the neck should be straightened out enough with the stuffing (see the
photo below).

- When the stuffing is finished the head should face up at approximately a 45-50 degree angle.
- The front flippers should be in a horizontal position because of the tightly stuffed shoulders and upper limbs
(see the photo “in profile” below).
You can also find some more photos of the finished item at the end of this “part 1” pattern).

belly
When the stuffing of the marked area is finished you’ll get a fold on the top of the neck as real turtles usually have ;)

Back flippers:
The last 2 pieces for making flippers that were put aside earlier should be continued as follows…

Join two hexagons to each flipper piece.

BUT now the tops of the triangle motifs of the back flippers should face TOWARDS THE HEAD. Please, don’t forget it! ;)

The situation is similar to the front flippers.

If you do crochet KARTOPU KRISTAL yarn, or any other yarn, that can be divided to two threads, then you can add ½ of the yarn to the
thickness of the original yarn for crocheting the hexagons on the backside/upperside of the flippers (the mentioned hexagons are shown
below). So that the upper hexagons/motifs will be bigger in size than the bellysided ones that are set under the upper ones and the flippers
should bend down naturally by themselves (the hook for the doing this should be bigger the main one, it depends upon your choice).

Don’t stuff the Finished flippers too tightly. The flippers should be flattened. Don’t make them fat. Squeeze them hard
between your palms or use your palm to press them down, when they are on a flat surface.
For the tail – let’s work out the following modified hexagon that I call “tail motif”. There are no other changes in
working out the “tail motif” except the stitches in the marked area showed on the following photo.

Let me describe you what the black marked stitches mean in the following chart: (work into the base 2-nd rnd arch): dc,
2htr, 3tr, 2htr, dc.

In the next rnd you should work 3sc inc (marked red) right into the middle of the of the black marked petal stitches of the
base rnd, it increases the motif angle.

The last rnd you should work the dc stitches according to the number of the base rnd stitches. There is no extra inc in this
rnd, but just st to st working with regular angle incs and ch 1 in them when working the angles. I marked the modified angle
of the final rnd with dark blue dc stitches and ch 1 to let you see it.

(see chart below)

join it . . .

back
 back

back

belly

back
 back

Stuff the central part I mean the body without flippers Tight. Don’t stuff the marked areas too tightly as they should be easily
bendable (marked yellow). Bend the back flippers back and forth to find the appropriate quantity of stuffing in marked areas.

belly
NOTE!!! It’s better to leave the body
opened at this stage:
- you can leave one side of the last
“tail motif” opened – don’t join it yet,
because it may help you to stuff the
body to an appropriate size to match the
inner size of the shell later. So do the
following tail-forming when it’s time to
close/finish the body.

Join the last modified hexagon I call «tail motif».

You should stuff the tail tightly.

Tuck as much stuffing into the tail as you can through the last hole left. It’s right before joining the last side of the last
motif. The stuffing should be enough to form a tightly stuffed cone-like tail when the body is closed. When the body is
closed spread the tucked stuffing all over inside the tail with a help of a darning needle.
*** so as not to damage the motif surface
when forming the appropriate tail shape you
should put the needle through the existing
holes that occurred while crocheting the
motifs (as shown on the photos, for example).
The procedure may be repeated later because
while trying on the shell the tail stuffing can
change its position.
You should shape up a straight-sided stuffed cone-like tail that is almost a “sharp” right angle – it’s a Firm triangle (the area
is marked red on turtle body below).

Please, don’t forget to stuff lightly the “bendable areas”, just the slightest filling of the areas marked yellow (see the photo
below). Otherwise you can’t bend the back flippers to get the turtle into the shell later.

belly

we’re Born, Hurray! )

Here «we» are from all the sides )

nnattalli m.
 nnattalli m.
nnattalli m.

……………you should have a look at the pdf file «Let’s create a turtle. Shell. (Part 2)» to continue