Crochet Turtle Love

I love, love, LOVE turtles.  Well, to be more specific, I love tortoises.  No idea why, but I have been in love with them, intrigued by them, and protective of them since I was a little girl.  I remember seeing my first one when I was five on my way home from first grade in Little Rock.  I was immediately attracted to this ‘thing’ that so instantly pulled his head into his ‘house’.  Wish I could do that some days!  My big brother gave me the inside scoop on the creature and the love affair began.

So, when I saw this cute pattern, I had to share it.  It’s so colorful and cheerful.  I can think of many ways to use the small piece.  You can get the details at Sonia’s site, where you can also find a lot of other goodies, including links to a lot of other cute turtle/tortoise crochet projects.  Turtle heaven!

And, yes, I’m well aware that turtles don’t typically come with such colorful shells.  Once upon a time, you could buy those tiny Red Ear turtles whose shells might have been painted any number of colors.  But, the thing I like about this interpretation is that the shell of a turtle or tortoise or terrapin is never just a single color.  The have scale-like embossings on them or lines and each is a variety of colors – from greens to browns to grays and darker, depending on the environment in which they live and need to be camouflaged.  So, this guy could easily hang out in my yarn room and be well hidden……  But, I think I’d rather have him as an applique or a pair of earrings.  Just saying.

UPDATE:  So many people have asked for a pattern for the cute little turtle.  Thanks to my sweet online friend Sheri, I can share this one with you (that Sheri found for us).  It’s not this exact turtle, but if you use just the center of the square on this link and work it in variegated bright colors like Sonia has, you should be able to make one very much like Sonia’s.