Freedah Cat Puppet

My first experiment melding the puppet head with movable arms. The mouth still wasn’t stiff even though I added a second panel on the inside. Still, can’t beat being able to pick things up and wash your face. It was modeled after my friend’s cat, Freedah.

Cow Puppet

Taking a break from my monster, by starting a cow instead. Here’s the inside mouth, bottom lip, and start of muzzle. Since I’m trying to use up my pink sport weight yarn on inconsequential items, I decided to learn from my past mistake of saggy-mouth-syndrome by making a 2-ply thick inner mouth, which would be tacked onto the mouth top and bottom. It’s definitely a hefty mouth now.

The first two circles I made for the nose were too big and they kept shaping into boobs. So I went with it and made it into a heart. The next two circles were Rnd 1-5: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, then joined together. Next rounds were no increasing or decreasing, then a slow increase of 2 stitches as I worked my way up toward the eyes. The head is made from 10 stiches of single crochet, then I just worked into that base chain, making an automatic oval.

The horns are Rounds 1-8: 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 14 stitch counts. Then next HDC in next 4 stitches, sc, ss, turn work, sc, HDC in next 4 stitches, sc, ss. So what this does is make one side taller, so it curves the horns when you sew to head.

Attaching the mouth to the head is always the hard part. I tried two methods – first I sewed the oval head to the mouth wherever the curve wanted to go. The result is too sharply cornered.

I chose to crochet the two pieces together, but it forces the oval head to pucker over the straight mouth. If I pull it straight, it ends up looking like those cow skeletons in the desert.

I gave him a mole like Cindy Crawford’s. Hope it’s still fashionable, although I think the buckteeth ruin it. All that’s left is a tongue and brains (filler to keep the head puffed up).

Crochet Monster Puppet

I was quite excited to start my new idea of a monster puppet with a mouth that would never close.

I tried many times to use eyelash yarn to make a hairy monster, but gave up after fighting with it so much. Instead I gave it multicolors by changing the body color. Since then, my love for my budding monster has gone astray and I somehow don’t love it quite so much anymore, even though it’s neat to have it stick out its tongue.

Rudy Rooster Puppet

Now I know why patterns are so hard to do. By the 10th time I’ve ripped out the body to get the belly just so, all I care about is getting it finished!

Jean Puppet

Open wide and say “aaahhh”. I thought by using up my accidentally purchased sport weight pink yarn, I’d be doing my overflowing stash bin a favor. Unfortunately, it made the mouth too pliable, and as my 7 yr old nephew asked “Why is the inside of his mouth on the outside?” I wondered why I make things so hard on myself? My good-aunt skills falter as we decide to give Jean a cigarette, but I try to make up for it by making a cherry lollipop too.

Winnie the Pooh

I finished the last stitch on his t-shirt a block away from my sister-in-law’s – just in time for her Xmas gift to be wrapped and hidden to surprise her! Winnie the puppet was quite fun to make, but since I had no pattern to work from was a little challenging at times.

Rosy, the Cat Puppet

Can’t wait to see my niece, Ruby, play with this kitty puppet, Rosy.

I had to weave yarn over the post behind the eyes so it won’t bother her hand when she plays with it. But I just had to use them because I love the cat eyes, so it was worth the extra effort.

Frog Puppet

My nephew couldn’t wait for me to finish the frog’s mouth before playing and hopping around with the puppet. Hard to tell who had the more fun – him playing or me watching.

The side-by-side photo shows the difference between a 3 and 4 mm hook. The pattern and yarn is the same. Since I don’t need to stuff this, I think a 4 mm hook is better as it makes the puppet slightly more flexible because the stitches are not as tight.

The pattern can be found on a Japanese website:
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/gosyo/461397/713923/826132/841462/