Turtle Power!

Remember these guys?

Back in 1987, my eldest had me videotaping a new cartoon series that had just hit our screens, and which, unfortunately, aired just before he made it home from High School. Ergo the daily videotaping.

At least for a while.

I can’t remember whether he got over the TMNTs or whether the airing time changed and he was able to see them as they aired.

Probably a bit of both.

Anyway there have been many incarnations since. The cartoons aimed at kids were of necessity a bit lighter in tone than the comic book versions aimed at a slightly older audience, and the look of the turtles changed a bit when CGI came in.

I thought they’d faded into the mists of forgotten merchandising fads

Apparently not so.

My #2 grandson is currently enamoured with said Chelonians, so – at his daddy’s suggestion – I decided to make him a Raphael hat as part of his birthday present. This is Raphael:

I couldn’t find a pattern that I liked, and murky-turtle green was in astonishingly short supply in my stash. However, a quick hit on the Bendigo Woollen Mills website provided the appropriate colour [ although – surprisingly – they call it ‘Bracken’ rather than murky-turtle ] in the weight of yarn I preferred, and then my improvisational crochet skills were called into use.

First version using a conventional earflap … passable but not quite what I had in mind.

Version 2 with a more helmet type shape and with shaping into the back of the neck for maximum warmth:

Then I had to decide on how to do the eyes. Roundish and googly like the original turtles or more teardrop-shaped [ and slightly sinister ] like the later iterations?  I really preferred the look of the teardrop shaped ones, and after a little experimentation came up with these:

But then it was gently suggested that similar hats for his siblings for be happily received , so a blue [Leonardo ] one for Riley, and a pink one for Asher even though there are no girl turtles as far as I know.

Finished this morning, for delivery tomorrow, and now all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed that I managed to get the sizes right.

… and that they like them

 

ETA: the pink turtle now has eyelashes