I have been asked, more than once, if I might create a Cow Hand Puppet design. This year, I decided to start tackling some of your requests! Eventually, you might be able to create a whole farm. You could sing “Old McDonald,” with puppets, and what fun would that be?! There is a pig hand puppet available for this as well! I believe the combination of music, creative play, and animals, is such a fun way for little ones to learn!
With my puppets, so many of them can be combined to make additions! You can create the Pig Hand Puppet here, without the bibbed overalls. You can even add the overalls to the cow if you’d like! Add a Scarecrow Hand Puppet to the collection to protect their harvest of course. 🙂
If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Cow 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:
Bulky Weight 5 Yarn:
THE HOOK NOOK, YUMMY TWEED: Cookies & Cream (A) approximately 90 yds
THE HOOK NOOK, YUMMY: Latte Foam (B) approximately 6 yds
THE HOOK NOOK, YUMMY: Cherry Blossom (C) approximately 10 yds
THE HOOK NOOK, YUMMY: Charcoal Toothpaste (D) approximately 12 yds
Crochet Hook, size H – 5mm
Stitch marker
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Terms and abbreviations to know:
magic ring
rnd, rnds – round, rounds
st, sts – stitch, stitches
ch, chs – chain, chains
sl st – slip stitch
sk – skip
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
inc – increase, 2 sc sts in same st
BLO – back loop only
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 body of the Cow Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, snout, spots, and ears, are made separately and sewn on. The bulky weight yarn used for this pattern is on the thinner side, and worsted weight yarn would work just as well!
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 the gauge or go down a hook size.
Gauge: 7 sts across and 7 rnds down = approximately 2 inches
Cow Hand Puppet
Body – beginning at the head, with A
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)6x; 18 sts
Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)6x; 24 sts
Rnds 5-8: sc in each st around; 24 sts
Rnd 9: (6 inc, sc in next 6 sts)2x; 36 sts
Rnds 10-14: sc in each st around; 36 sts
Rnd 15: (3 invsctog, sc in next 12 sts)2x; 30 sts
Rnd 16: (3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 24 sts
Rnd 17: (ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts, counting the chs
Rnd 18: (sc into each of the 7 chs, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts
Rnds 19-34: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Fasten off, and weave in ends.
Arms (Make 2) begin in Latte Foam
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 3: BLO sc in each st around; 12 sts
Pull A through to complete the last st of rnd 3, and fasten off B.
Complete arm in A (same color as the body).
Rnds 4-13: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew onto the arm holes in the body.
Snout in C (Pink)
The snout is worked in the rnd, but around a base ch to elongate and create an oval.
Ch 8
Rnd 1: turn and inc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 5 chs, 3 sc in last ch, turn work to crochet on the bottom side of the ch, sc in next 5 chs along the bottom, sc in last ch, do not join; 16 sts
Rnd 2: inc in next 2 sts, sc in next 5 sts, inc in next 3 sts, sc in next 5 sts, inc in last st; 22 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)2x, sc in next 5 sts, (inc, sc in next st)3x, sc in next 5 sts, inc in next st, sc in last st; 28 sts
Sl st to beginning st of rnd 3, and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew nostrils onto the snout with black yarn, weave about 2 strands over 2 sts around each curve toward the outer top sides of the snout. Knot the black yarn on the back side of the snout, and then sew the snout onto the center of the face. The top of the snout will be just below rnd 10, and bottom at rnd 16.
Eyes in black
Place eyes over rnd 8, about 2 rnds above the top of the snout. See the pictures for guidance. I began in the far corner, leaving a tail there to use later for the bottom lash. To get the curve of the eye to stay up, pull the yarn under the curve, and wrap yarn around itself before creating the lash. After making the eyes and lashes, knot and weave in ends inside the puppet.
Ears with D, Make 2
The ears are worked in the rnd, but around a base ch again, similar to the snout.
Ch 7
Rnd 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc in next ch, dc in next 2 chs, hdc in next ch, 3 sc in last ch, turn work to crochet on the bottom side of the ch, hdc in next ch, dc in next 2 chs, hdc in next ch, sc in last ch, do NOT join with a sl st, but fasten off with a knot, leaving a long tail for sewing; 12 sts
Weave in the beginning tail, and use the end tail to sew onto the head at about rnds 5-8 on each side of the head. Weave in ends.
I made one spot in each size, but feel free to make more, if you’d like!
Large Spot, in black (make 1)
Begin with a magic ring
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: (sc, hdc) in next st, (hdc, sc) in next st, 2 dc in next st, 2 sc in next st, (hdc, dc) in next st, 2 dc in next st; 12 sts
Rnd 3: 2 sc in next st, hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, dc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st, 2 sc in next st, sc in next st, 2 dc in next st, hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, dc in next st; 18 sts
Sl st into first st to join and fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing. Placement is up to you, but I sewed the large spot down under the puppet’s right arm (your left with the puppet facing you), so that a little was wrapping around the side.
Small spot, in black (make 1)
Begin with a magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: 2 hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, 2 hdc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st, 2 hdc in next sts, join to first st with a sl st and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing; 12 sts
Sew to the upper left side (your right), under the puppet’s arm, and weave in ends.
I hope you have enjoyed making the Cow 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!