When I came up with the concept of this Turkey Hand Puppet pattern, I definitely had Thanksgiving DIY crafts on the brain. I always love seeing the pictures of little kids turkeys that they make with their hands. Sometimes it’s with finger paints. Other times it’s coloring in their own traced hand on a sheet of paper. Either way, they make such sweet keepsakes of their little hands! This pattern was designed to emulate that! As a pattern tester pointed out, it would be sweet to let your little one color a turkey, and make the puppet based on their drawing.
If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Turkey Hand Puppet Pattern, you can find the design in my Ravelry or Etsy shops! If you prefer to use the free blog copy below, I still appreciate you being here! And another great way to support my blog is simply by sharing! Thank you for supporting my business!
Materials:
- Coffee – approximately 54 yds
- Burgundy – approximately 20 yds
- Saffron – approximately 22 yds
- Carrot – approximately 20 yds
- Tea Leaf – approximately 20 yds
Terms and abbreviations to know:
magic ring
rnd, rnds – round, rounds
ch, chs – chain, chains
st, sts – stitch, stitches
sl st – slip stitch
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
inc – increase, 2 sts in same st
Invsc2tog – invisible single crochet 2 together; this is essentially a decrease, but done in such a way as to make the continuous stitching smoother, and the decrease not as noticeable.
- Insert hook into front loop only of next stitch, DO NOT yarn over.
- Insert hook into front loop of second stitch.
- Yarn over. Pull through 2 loops.
- Yarn over and pull through last 2 loops.
Notes:
The Turkey Hand Puppet pattern is worked from the top down, in the round, with no joining unless specified in the pattern. All 5 fingers are made separately, as the feathers and head, and joined together with sc. The eye used for this pattern is a flat back and glued on with hot glue. This is a great project to collaborate with your child! Let them trace their hand, and color in a turkey, and you create its likeness in puppet form!
Size: This is one size, fitting child through adult, but if you wish to make it smaller for a smaller child to play with, simply tighten gauge or go down a hook size.
Gauge: 7 sts across and 8 rnds down = approximately 2 inches
Turkey Hand Puppet
Begin with feathers and set aside, make 4; one in each color: B, C, D, and E
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring; 4 sts
Rnd 2: (inc, sc in next st)2x; 6 sts
Rnd 3: sc in each st around; 6 sts
Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)2x; 8 sts
Rnds 5-6: sc in each st around; 8 sts
Rnd 7: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)2x; 10 sts
Rnds 8-12: sc in each st around; 10 sts
Fasten off. Leave a small tail for sewing gaps closed between the feathers.
Body
Begin with the head (thumb)
In A – Coffee
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sts in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnds 3-6: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 7: invsc2tog 3x, sc in next 6 sts; 9 sts
Rnd 8: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Rnd 9: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x; 12 sts
Rnd 10: sc in next 9 sts, inc 3x; 15 sts
Rnd 11: sc in next 10 sts, inc 3x, sc in last 2 sts; 18 sts
Note before beginning to connect the feathers, when I say “attaching,” I only mean that you are moving on to that color next. There are NO sl sts in this rnd. You attach the feathers by crocheting into the next one with each additional feather.
Rnd 12: sc in next 2 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 6 sts, attaching the red feather
*sc in next 3 sts, invsc2tog,* attaching the orange feather sc in next 3 sts, invsc2tog, attaching the yellow feather sc in next 3 sts, invsc2tog, attaching the green feather sc in first 3 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in last 3 sts, now working back yellow to orange to red repeat the pattern between * and * 3x, sc in next 6 sts of the neck; 48 sts
Rnd 13: (invsc2tog, sc in next 6 sts)6x; 42 sts
Rnd 14: sc in next 10 sts, (invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts)2x, 2 invsc2tog, (sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog)2x, sc in next 11 sts; 36 sts
Rnd 15: sc in each st around; 36 sts
Rnd 16: sc in next 4 sts, 3 invsc2tog, sc in next 18 sts, 3 invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts; 30 sts
Rnd 17: sc in next st, inc in next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next 19 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts; 30 sts
Rnd 18: sc in next 2 sts, inc in next 2 sts, sc in next 3 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next 17 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts; 30 sts
Rnd 19: sc in next 2 sts, inc in next 2 sts, sc in next 4 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next 16 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts; 30 sts
Rnd 20: sc in next 3 sts, inc in next 2 sts, sc in next 4 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next 16 sts, invsc2tog, sc in next st; 30 sts
Rnds 21-23: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Stop here and turn inside out. Using the tails of each feather, sew the gaps closed between the feathers. Weave in ends, and turn right side out again to continue.
Rnd 24: sc in next 4 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 12 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 6 sts; 26 sts
Rnd 25: sc in each st around; 26 sts
Legs completed in last rnd.
Rnd 26: sc in next 5 sts, pulling color C through to complete the st, [sl st into next st, ch 10, sl st into 4th ch from hook, (ch 3, sl st back into ch with previous sl st)2x, sl st into remaining 6 chs]2x, insert hook into the next st and pull color A through to complete, fasten off color C, continuing with A sc in remaining 19 sts, sl to to join to first st and fasten off. Weave in ends.
Wattle, in B
Ch 6
Turn and sl st into 3rd ch from hook, 2 hdc in next ch sc in next ch, sl st in last ch; 5 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. With the turkey’s head flattened and the increases of their last rnd to the back, sew the wattle to the front neck of the turkey to about rnds 7 to 11. Knot and weave in ends.
*Sewing tip* Weave in ends of such a small amount of color can be tricky. I pull both ends of the piece through to the inside of the head, knot them together twice. Then, instead of weaving both ends in separately, I sew one end right over the top of the other, weaving back and forth over it. Then, if you want to be sure it is secure, dab a bit of hot glue to the ends after cutting.
Beak, in C
Ch 4
Turn and sl st into the 3rd ch from hook, hdc in last ch; 2 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the beak just above the wattle to rnds 5 and 6. Knot and weave in ends. Follow the same sewing tips from above!
Eye
Glue your flat back eye to the head (thumb of the puppet), near the beak. I kept mine one dimensional, as a drawing would be, and only glued an eye to one side, but you can put one on both sides if you’d like!
I hope you have enjoyed making the Turkey Hand Puppet! If you love this design, be sure to check out some of my other free patterns on the blog! Follow me along on Instagram for more sneak peeks and new pattern releases! If you loved making any of my patterns, and show them off on Instagram, please be sure to tag @ekaygdesigns to let me know, and I will share in my stories!