Longest project ever is FINISHED!

We found out at the end of summer that my cousin is pregnant.  I've been procrastinating knitting a blanket for her because, well, she's not due until February.  And Christmas was coming.  And I've been promising my brother a Ninja Turtle pillow for months.  And she's not due until February.

It's January now.  So that baby can be here is just a few weeks.  That's not a lot of time.  Luckily, I finished all my Christmas gifts, as seen in the last post.  I also finished that damn pillow.  Let's dwell there for a moment.

BFF turtle pillows

I know I've mentioned the turtle pillow before.  On the right is the pillow my grandmother crocheted for Andrew almost 20 years ago when we were kids.  So many problems, I don't know where to start.  You may notice that the darker green doesn't necessarily match.  As in, she used 2 different dark green acrylic yarns to crochet him.  One was definitely thicker than the other.  If you were able to look closely, the turtle's head is stuffed with not only fiber fill, but also random yarn scraps.  Not green ones, but probably every other color you can imagine.  Now, I'm economical/eco-friendly in the same way, except I stuff my hexipuffs with yarn scraps.  Not a pillow/doll that's made almost entirely of loose double crochet stitches.  Another problem- his shell should be on his back, not his stomach.  I think I find that one the funniest!

Of course, this guy shows the wear of almost 20 years of lovin from my brother.  His face embroidery is almost all gone and his arms are barely holding on these days.  Which is why Andrew wanted me to make a new one for him.  This way he can keep the one Grandma made and destroy the one I make.

I tried to match Grandma's turtle as best possible, while making my own improvements.  For one thing, my turtle is almost entirely done in single crochet.  And his shell is in the right spot :o).  But I tried to shape the head to look like the actual Ninja Turtle and I crocheted the limbs, head, shell and belly together with that green panel (Grandma sewed her pieces together....I'm too lazy for that).  I tried to make the arms and legs muscular and "realistic" shaped*.

I took a ton of notes and wrote down every stitch I made.  Maybe eventually I'll write it up but I really need a break from this guy.  He's been in the works for about a year now and I just don't want to look at him again for quite a while.  Unless I'm in my brother's room to watch = 3 with him.

As for that baby blanket, it's almost done.  Hopefully it'll be in the mail by the end of this week.




*How realistic can it be when it's modeled after a cartoon ninja turtle??