Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Puppy Puppets (aka: Finger Puppies!)


Here is the newest finger puppet from my Children's Hospital Poppets line. These are really easy and use scraps of worsted weight yarns and sock yarn for the embroidered details. Knit on 4mm needles (US 6), use light brown for body and dark brown for ears, and cream colour for muzzle. I used blue sock yarn for eyes and black sock yarn for nose and mouth line.
Cast on 10 in body colour... Knit 4 rows (garter stitch: Knit every row). Stocking Stitch next 8 rows (Knit right side, Purl wrong side). Last row: K2together-repeat across row. Cut 8 inch tail and gather these last 5 sts together. WAIT to sew up until all embroidery is done.

Muzzle: with cream colour, Cast on 3. Knit row one, purl row two, knit row 3. Break yarn with 8 inch tail and gather last 3 sts together. Use the tail to sew around the muzzle in position in the middle of face (see photo). Ears: With dark brown, cast on 3. Garter stitch for 6 rows, then Knit 3 together. Knit one stitch on next row. Increase 2 sts (3 total) and garter stitch 6 more rows for other ear. Knit 3 together and break yarn leaving 6 inch tail. pass tail through last st to secure. Using this tail, thread it on a large darning needle, and feed it through the top of head BETWEEN stitches (see photos). Pull firmly until one ear has passed through both sides of the head and only the single stitch center is left inside the dog. (see photo). Using eye colour, make french knot eyes above the muzzle. Using the black, place 2 horizonal lines for nose, and one vertical line from nose to bottom of muzzle, pulling slightly to separate muzzle into 2 halves (see photo). Securely fasten the ends of the embroidery on the inside of the dog. Now you can stitch up the back opening, and sew in all the ends of yarns.

14 comments:

MonkeyGurrrrrl said...

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!! They look just like me girlfriend's dog, Bella. I should make one for her. :) Much bigger, tho (dog's half-horse!)

Anonymous said...

You are soooo creative!!! I love all the projects you post. These are especially cute.

Anonymous said...

I think you should call these adorable little little guys 'finger puppies'.

Anonymous said...

Wow! these are soooooooooo cute! They are so easy to make and great as gifts. Thank you for sharing this with everyone!!

Joan said...

Just found your blog and love it! What cute pups will try to adjust the pattern and make some kitties.

Anonymous said...

Have you tried combining these with the golf club covers? My husband wants a BIG DOG cover, but really likes these guys! Any suggestions on adapting? (I'm still pretty new at this knitting thing!)

chris said...

The problem with making them bigger, is they would likely loose the sturdy, purky shape (become droopy) and you would have to then stuff them like a toy, or somehow double line them with batting to puff them up sturdy enough. Otherwise it would look like a droopy brown sock with ears on my golf club..... hmmm. Maybe felted to a sturdy fabric. I will have to wrap my brain around this one... Keep you all posted if I figure it out.
Chris

Anonymous said...

Thanks! I'm going to play around with it, too. I like the felting idea.

Anonymous said...

thanks
merci beaucoup tres jolis chiens !!

gourmandeve

Unknown said...

thanks for sharing this pattern. they are adorable.

Linda said...

adorable finger puppets, I'll be knitting these for my grandson, thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

Love your patterns, those dogs are so cute

|Lise said...

I just made this cute little dog
I make all kinds and looking for other animals to make. I make them for my daughter who works in the emerge and when the kids come in and they are not feeling well she gives them one . she say's it makes them forget about there pain if you have any other paterns please send them to me
thanks i will be making a lot more of the little dogs
Thanks

Astrology Realm said...


Awesome puppy blog here!