Tortoise II

For some time I have had buyers of my Tortoise Knitting Pattern contact me, as the wool that I originally knitted the sample tortoises with is no longer available. This was upsetting, particularly as the wool used for the shell was particularly tortoisey. 

I hunted around for some more tortoisey wool, and recommended Rico Creative Melange, 50g Beige/Brown 007, and for tan sections one ball of Rico Essentials Merino, 50g, Ivory 22. But it was concerning me that I should not really recommend a wool unless I had used it to make the pattern.

So here is Tortoise II, made with the wools above. It does work, although I am altering my pattern to increase the needle size by a half. I use small needles, as it needs to be a fairly tight knit, but I thought I could go up a little. It is odd knitting my own pattern so long after I wrote it. Particularly liked how I shaped the head!

I am happy with Tortoise II, although feel the colours of the first Tortoise were slightly more realistic. So I am still on the look out for other tortoisey wool. But perhaps other knitters are not as obsessed with realism as I am, and a tortoise could look great in all sorts of colours. But if you purchase the pattern from now onwards, these will be the recommended wool, needles, and photos used.

... And someone got a little bit too involved in my photoshoot!