Awesome Animal Finger Puppets!

Last year I decided to learn how to crochet. My wife started a small business called @sisters_dreams2021 in Instagram and she have done a beautiful job so far. I liked the results so I tried myself.

I loved the process and the endless opportunities when crocheting and letting your imagination fly. So I decided to help her on her projects. Since I dont have that much time, I got in charge of the small amigurumis: finger puppets.

In this instructable I will show you how to crochet a finger puppet "blank", and how to finish it to create an animal. The last part of the process is up to you (your skills, your time, your creativity, your imagination, among others) to give the puppet your own touch.

A 33 year old married man, father of two daughters doing crochet?

Yes. Let´s start!

- Yarn of any color you want to use for your animal puppet (the amount is always small because of the size of the puppets). This means that this is an opportunity to use the yarn leftovers you have around.

- 2.5 crochet hook. This is the size I use.

- Markers. If you use it (I don´t :P).

- Crochet needle, medium size.

- Security eyes (6mm or 7mm). Two per puppet. This is optional, you can also knit the eyes using black yarn.

- Knife or any other piece of metal (very important, this metal must be clean of rust and should not be used for other thing than these, you will se why).

- Patience and creativity.

- Polyfil. Enough.

A "blank" is the basic shape and structure of every finger puppet amigurumi. You will always have to create one for a puppet.

As you can ses in the first picture, there are five blanks. Not all of them have the same size and this is because of the availability of the yarn. Like I said, this is the perfect chance to use any scraps that you may have around the house. The yellow one is bigger, this is because it was intended for the thumb, so I used double yarn to crochet it. The one in the middle finger is thinner, this is because that type of yarn was thinner than the one that I used on the other three.

First of all, plan your amigurumi:

- Decide the animal you want to crochet and that you have enough yarn to complete it.

- Then check if the blank is going to use just one color. There are animals that could use two colors: like the cow, it has black spots in the white blank. Or the sheep, that has the upper part beige and the lower part white. You will see this two in the future.

- If you dont have the exact color of the animal, you can also dare to use other colors and see how it goes.

Now let´s go back to the "blank":

1) Magic ring of 6 sc (6)

2) 6 inc (12)

3) (1sc + 1inc) * 6 (18)

4) (2sc + 1inc) * 6 (24)

5) (3sc + 1inc) * 6 (30). See picture 2.

6 - 11) 30 sc (30)

12) (3sc + 1dec) * 6 (24)

13) (2sc + 1dec) * 6 (18). See picture 3.

Now use the two security eyes and install them between the 8th and 9th row, 7 sc apart from each other. Use the insert to secure them and check if they are properly installed.

This next action involves a discarded knive we had in our house. We were concerned with the posibility of any malfunction of the security eyes and that a little kid (principal user of this puppets) could use his teeth to pulck them out. I came out with a simple solution.

a) Turn the puppet inside out and expose the black plastic pointy end of the eye.

WARNING: This involves fire and a knife, but its not that bad :P.

b) Take the knife, place it in the oven and when its red hot use it to flatten the pointy end of the eyes to make the end wider so it is not posible to pluck the eyes out. See picture 4.

c) Use cold water to lower the temperature of the knife and place it somewhere else, away form the ones you use on the kitchen. Beacuse it gets molten plastic residue on it and you won´t that in your food :P.

Stuff the puppet using polyfil. Please see picture 1. To do this properly, use your fingers to roll a piece of polyfil and then stuff through the sides leaving the center without stuff. Please see picture 2.

14) BLO 18 sc (18)

15-19) 18 sc (18)

20) (1sc + 1dec) * 6 (12)

21) 6dec (6)

Leave the yarn long and close it using a needle. Please see picture 3. Without cutting the excess of yarn, work the needle inside the puppet and take out the needle in the middle of the upper part. Please see picture 4. Pull the yarn with some amount of strenght to be able to insert fthe part with 18sc outside in. Use your fingers to help it getting inside the head. Secure the yarn and hide it inside. The result is in picture 5.

With the loops from the BLO round work around it:

14* - 21*) 18 sc (18) If you want to crochet a little more is up to you. I think till row 21 is enough. Picture number 6.

Now, it is time to give them their personal features. Depending on the animal you want to create, crochet the necessary parts. I will give you some examples in the next steps.

BLANK: As you can see the cow, it has some black spots. So you have to make some change of colors as you go to, turning between white and black.

Mouth:

(With beige color).

1) Chain 6, 1 sc into the 2nd stitch from the hook, 2 sc, 3 stitches in the next stitch, 3 sc, 2 stitches in the next stich. (12)

2) 1 inc, 3 sc, 3 inc, 3 sc, 2 inc. (18).

3) 18 sc (18) Finish and leave the yarn long.

Horns:

(With light brown color, make two):

1) 5 sc magic ring (5).

2-3) 5sc (5).

Ear:

(With dark brown color, make two):

1) 5 sc magic ring (5).

2) 5 inc. (10).

3-4) 10 sc. Finish and leave the yarn long.

Use the needle to sew the parts to the head. Stuff the mouth with a little bit of polyfil.

Use black yarn to make the nostrils.

DONE!

BLANK: Use beige yarn for the head and white yarn for the base. Picture 1.

Wool:

(using white yarn)

To make the wool you need to learn how to make a puff stitch. Here is a video explaining it:

Practice it, and when you have the handle of it start with the wool cover for the head:

1) Using a slip knot crochet 6 Pst .(Puff stitches) (6)

2) (1 Pst + 1 Inc of Pst) * 6 (12)

3) (2 Pst + 1 Inc of Pst) * 6 (18)

4) 18 Pst (18)

Finish and leave the yarn long enough.

Ears:

(using beige yarn make 2)

1) 6 sc magic ring. (6)

2) 6 inc. (12)

Finish and leave yarn long enough.

Mouth:

(using beige yarn)

1) 6 sc magic ring. (6)

2) 6 inc. (12)

3) (1 sc + 1 inc) * 6 (18)

4) 18 sc (18)

Finish and leave yarn long enough.

Using a needle sew everything together. Use black yarn to sew the nose, like you see here in picture 4.

DONE!

BLANK: Use yellow yarn.

Comb:

(Use yellow yarn)

1) Chain 11 sc. Chain one ss (sliding stitch) in the second sc from the hook, 2 sc, 1 hdc (half double crochet), 2 dc (double crochet), 1 hdc, 2 sc, 1 ss.

Finish and leave yarn long enough.

Beak:

(use orange yarn)

1) Chain 10. chain one ss (sliding stitch) in the second sc from the hook, 1 ss, 1 sc, 1 dc (double crochet), 1 tr (treble crochet), 1 dc, 1 sc, 2 ss.

Finish and leave yarn long enough.

Use a needle to sew everything together. Special atention to the beak shape you have to follow the natural curve of it.

DONE!

BLANK: Use mustard color yarn.

Mouth:

1) 6 sc magic ring (6).

2) 3 stitches in the next sc, 1sc, 3 stitches in the next sc, 1 ss (sliding stitch), 3 stitches in the next sc, 1sc. (12).

3) 1 sc, 3 stitches in the next sc, 3 sc, 3 stitches in the next sc, 3 ss, 3 stitches in the next sc, 2 sc. (18).

4) BLO 18 sc (18).

5-6) 18 sc (18). Finish and leave the yarn long enough.

Jaw:

1) 5sc magic ring (5)

2-3) 5 sc. Finish and leave the yarn long enough.

Ears:

(Make two)

1) 5 sc magic ring (5)

2) 5 inc. (10)

3) (1 sc + 1 inc) * 5 (15)

4-6) 15 sc (15)

7) (1 sc + 1 dec) * 5 (10)

8 - 9) 10 sc. Finish and leave the yarn long enough. See picture 2.

Sew everything together. Whit the ears you scan use the extra yarn (once you have sewed the ears) to atach the ears to the head. See picture 4.

Stuff the mouth a little bit with polyfil.

Use dark brown yarn and sew the nose.

DONE!

This is just and experiment. Like you saw in the first picture, the variations are endless. If this instructables gets atenttion, I will upload the rest of the animals in the first two pictures.

This is my wife´s instagram if you want to take a look at her work:

https://www.instagram.com/sisters_dreams2021/

Any questions? please let me know :)