Dodo Hand Puppet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Puppet

Our next puppet is the Dodo Hand Puppet! I was actually quite disappointed to find that the Dodo’s role in the book was far less than that in the film, but still, the caucas race is a fun anecdote, filled with entertaining word play!

Much like the Mouse Hand Puppet, you can use this as part of the story, or just for animal learning and play. It’s such a fun bird!

“Why,” said the Dodo, “the best way to explain it is to do it.”

If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Dodo 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:

Worsted Weight (4) Yarn

Red Heart Super Saver Yarns

1. Soft Navy – Body (A), approximately 94 yds
2. Buff – face and beak (B), approximately 11 yds
3. Burgundy – beak (C), approximately 16 yds
4. Pool – wings (D), approximately 12 yds
5. Gold – wings (E), approximately 12 yds

Small amount of worsted black for the eyes. 

Crochet Hook, H-5mm

Scissors

Stitch marker

Tapestry needle

Terms and abbreviations to know:

magic ring

rnd, rnds – round, rounds

ch, chs – chain, chains

st, sts – stitch, stitches

sl st – slip stitch

sk – skip

sc – single crochet

hdc – half double crochet

dc – double crochet

inc – increase, 2 sc sts in same st

3sctog – decrease, turning 3 sts into one

1. Insert hook into designated st.
2. Pull up a loop.
3. Sk next st and insert hook into the second st from first st.
4. Pull up a loop. 
5. Yarn over and pull through all 3 loops

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. 

1. Insert hook into front loop only of next stitch, DO NOT yarn over.
2. Insert hook into front loop of second stitch. 
3. Yarn over. Pull through 2 loops. 
4. Yarn over and pull through last 2 loops.

Notes:

The body of the Dodo Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The wings, feathers, face, and beak are made separately and sewn on. The eyes are sewn on 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

Dodo 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 10-11: sc in each st around; 36 sts

Rnd 12: (6 invsc2tog, sc in next 6 sts)2x; 24 sts

Rnds 13-16: sc in each st around; 24 sts

Rnd 17: sc in next 2 sts, ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 8 sts, ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 6 sts; 30 sts, counting the chs

Rnd 18: sc in next 2 sts, sc into each of the 7 chs, sc in next 8 sts, sc into each of the 7 chs, sc in next 6 sts; 30 sts

Rnds 19-20: sc in each st around; 30 sts

Rnd 21: sc in next 3 sts, 6 inc, sc in next 9 sts, 6 inc, sc in next 6 sts; 42 sts

Rnds 22-28: sc in each st around; 42 sts

Rnd 29: sc in next 8 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 17 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts; 38 sts

Rnd 30: sc in each st around; 38 sts

Rnd 31: sc in next 7 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 15 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 8 sts; 34 sts

Rnd 32: sc in each st around; 34 sts

Rnd 33: sc in next 6 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 13 sts, 2 invsc2tog, sc in next 7 sts; 30 sts

Rnd 34: sc in each st around; 30 sts 

Fasten off, and weave in the ends.

Arms/Wings, in A (make 2)

Begin with magic ring.

Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring; 4 sts

Rnd 2: inc, sc in next 3 sts; 5 sts

Rnd 3: sc in each st around; 5 sts

Rnd 4: inc, sc in next 4 sts; 6 sts

Rnd 5: inc, sc in next 5 sts; 7 sts

Rnd 6: inc, sc in next 6 sts; 8 sts

Rnd 7: inc, sc in next 7 sts; 9 sts

Rnd 8: inc, sc in next 8 sts; 10 sts

Rnd 9: inc, sc in next 9 sts; 11 sts

Rnd 10: inc, sc in next 10 sts; 12 sts

Rnds 11-13: sc in each st around; 12 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the arms into the arm holes of the puppet with the first rnds pointing downward. Weave in ends. 

Wing Feathers, (make 4) 2 in D and 2 in E (see pictures 1-4)

Row 1: Ch 16, turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 5 chs, 3sctog, sc in last 6 chs; 13 sts

The feathers are made to be perpendicular to row 1, connecting to every other st of row 1 as you go. 

Feathers: still at the end of row 1, (ch 7, turn and sl st into the 3rd ch from hook, sc in next ch, hdc in next 2 chs, dc in last ch, sk the next st of row 1 and sl st into the next st of row 1)6x, sl st into the last st of row 1 and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing; 5 sts on each feather, 6 feathers total

Sew the feathers made in E to the bottom of the wings, allowing the point of the 3sctog in the center to point upward a bit higher in the middle. Then sew the feathers made in D above them with the point of the 3sctog folded slightly over the top of the wing/arm, so that some of the yellow can be seen from the front. Weave in ends. 

Face in B (Buff)

Ch 9

Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from the hook, sc in each ch across; 8 sts

Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 6 sts, inc; 10 sts

Row 3: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 8 sts, inc; 12 sts

Row 4: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 10 sts, inc; 14 sts

Rows 5-6: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 14 sts

Row 7: ch 1 and turn, 2 dec, sc in next 6 sts, 2 dec; 10 sts

Row 8: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 6 sts, dec; 8 sts

Rows 9-10: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 8 sts

Row 11: ch 1 and turn, dec, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next st, sl st in next 2 sts, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next st, dec; 10 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Make the beak and eyes before sewing onto the head of the puppet. Sewing instructions are at the end of the eye instructions below. 

Beak, beginning in C (Burgundy)

Begin with magic ring.

Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring; 4 sts

Rnd 2: sc in each st around; 4 sts

Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)2x; 6 sts

Rnd 4: inc in each st around; 12 sts

Rnd 5: (inc, sc in next st)6x; 18 sts

Rnd 6: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x, sc in next 9 sts; 21 sts

Rnd 7: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)3x, sc in next 9 sts; 24 sts

Rnds 8-9: sc in each st around; 24 sts

Rnd 10: (invsc2tog, sc in next 3 sts)3x, sc in next 9 sts; 21 sts

Rnd 11: (invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts)3x; sc in next 9 sts; 18 sts

Pull color B through to complete the last st of rnd 11, and fasten off color C. 

Continue in B.

Rnds 12-14: sc in each st around; 18 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing onto the face. 

Knot the ends on the inside of the beak. You can gently stuff if you’d like. I designed it to not need stuffing, so the side with the increases puffs up naturally. Line it up with the last rnd of the beak to the top of row 2 of the face, with the right side of the face up. You will be looking at the backside of row 2 where there is a loop across. Sew the beak through two sts on the beak while folded closed, and into each loop across. Knot off on the back side of the face piece. 

Eyes in black 

The eyes are placed about row 7 of the face piece, spanning about 3 sts with 1 st in between them. Sew your black yarn over 3 sts between row 7 and 8. Bring yarn back through above row 8, and under the black strand you have lying at row 7. Pull taught then sew the black yarn around itself and send back through the face piece behind the eye. This holds it in place with that arch. Knot the two strands behind the face. Repeat for the other eye. 

Sew the whole face piece to the front of the puppet’s head, with row 11 at about rnd 3 of the head, and the beginning ch at about rnd 14 of the head. No need to sew the whole beak down. Weave in ends. 

I hope you have enjoyed making the Dodo 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!