Dorothy Hand Puppet

Today is March 2nd, and nationally celebrated as the birthday of Dr. Seuss! I am celebrating with some book themed puppets for this year’s Read Across America Crochet-a-Long! First up is the Dorothy Hand Puppet!

Ok, so maybe you didn’t know it was Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Maybe it’s not as popular a day as I might think, but that’s ok! See, when I was in high school, many years ago, the high school athletes were asked to go into the elementary school classrooms on this day, and read a book to the class. While many students picked Dr. Seuss books, it could be any children’s book of our choosing. Even though I was shy, and didn’t like public speaking, it was so fun for me, spending time with those little kids, and seeing how engaged they were with the story. They were at an age when they were little sponges, soaking up the words, imagining the story play behind their eyes. It was captivating to witness their complete captivation.

This is still a passion of mine, inspiring creativity and encouraging children to enjoy reading. I hope that with my designs, I can help others out there, introduce classics to their children or their students. I hope you enjoy the Dorothy hand puppet, and stay tuned for her friends!

If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Dorothy 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. Buff (skin color) (A) approximately 44 yds
2. White (B) approximately 58 yds
3. Country Blue (C) approximately 35 yds

Lion Brand Handspun, Rococo (D) approximately 35 yds

Small amount of worsted black for the eyes

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

sl st – slip stitch

sk – skip

sc – single crochet

hdc – half double crochet

dc – double crochet

inc – increase, 2 sc sts in same st

RS – right side facing

WS – wrong side facing

tog – together (used when more than 1 st is going into the 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. 

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.

dc bobble – double crochet bobble

1. Yarn over, and insert hook into designated st.
2. Pull up a loop. 
3. Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 2 loops on hook.
4. Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
5. Pull up a loop.
6. Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 3 loops on hook.
7. Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
8. Pull up a loop. 
9. Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 4 loops on hook.
10. Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
11. Pull up a loop.
12. ​Yarn over and pull through 2 loops, leaving 5 loops on hook.
13. Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops.

Notes:

The body of the Dorothy Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining until the skirt of the dress, at which point you switch to joining rnds. The arms, hair, dress bib, and straps, are made separately and sewn on. The eyes and nose 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: 6 sts across and 7 rnds down = approximately 2 inches

Dorothy Hand Puppet

Body – beginning at the head, with skin color – 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

Rnd 5: (3 inc, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 30 sts

Rnds 6-14: sc in each st around; 30 sts

Rnd 15: (3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 24 sts

Attach white (B), and fasten off your skin color. Continue with white.

Rnd 16: (ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts, counting the chs

Rnd 17: (sc into each of the 7 chs, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts

Rnds 18-23: sc in each st around; 30 sts 

Pull blue through to complete the last st of rnd 23, but do NOT fasten off white. You will be picking it up again soon. You do not need to carry it under for rnd 24. The rnds will now be joining rnds. 

Rnd 24: this whole rnd in blue – sc in next st, 3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts, 3 invsc2tog, sc in next 8 sts, join with sl st to first st; 24 sts

Now you begin to carry the unused color under your sts. For the color changes, always pull the next color through to complete the previous st, when color changing. 

Rnd 25: ch 1, and begin in the same st as joining sl st, (blue inc, white inc)3x, 2 sc blue, 2 sc white, 2 sc blue, (white inc, blue inc)3x, 2 sc white, 2 sc blue, 2 sc white; 36 sts ← this amounts to 12 total increases. Pull blue through to complete the last st of the rnd, and sl st with blue into the first st of the rnd to join.

Rnd 26: ch 1 and begin in the same st as joining sl st, (2 sc blue, 2 sc white)9x, finish last st with white, and continuing in white, sl st into the first st of the rnd to join; 36 sts

Rnd 27: ch 1 and begin in the same st as joining sl st, (2 sc white, 2 sc blue)9x, pull white through to complete the last st of the rnd, and sl st with white into the first st of the rnd to join; 36 sts

Rnd 28: ch 1 and begin in the same st as joining sl st, (2 sc white, 2 sc blue)9x, finish the last st with blue, and in blue sl st into the first st of the rnd to join; 36 sts

Rnd 29: ch 1 and begin in the same st as joining sl st, (2 sc blue, 2 sc white)9x, pull blue through to complete the last st of the rnd, and sl st with blue into the first st of the rnd to join; 36 sts

Rnds 30-32: repeat rnds 26-28; 36 sts

Fasten off white, and continue in blue.

Rnd 33: ch 1 and begin in the same st as joining sl st, (3 sc in same st, sk next st, sl st in next st)12x; 48 sts

Fasten off, knot and weave in all ends inside the body. 

Arms – make 2, beginning in skin color

In skin color A

Begin with magic ring.

Rnd 1: 6 st in magic ring; 6 sts

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

Rnds 3-4: sc in each st around; 9 sts

Rnd 5: dc bobble, sc in next 8 sts; 9 sts

Rnds 6-9: sc in each st around; 9 sts

Pull white through to complete the last st of rnd 9, and fasten off skin color.

Continue in white.

Rnd 10: inc in each st around; 18 sts

Rnds 11-12: sc in each st around; 18 sts

Rnd 13: (invsc2tog, sc in next st)6x; 12 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave in all the ends inside the arm, and then use the long tail to sew onto the arm holes of the body. Weave in ends. 

Dress bib

*Odd rows facing, are the RS. Even rows facing you are the WS. When WS is facing, carry the color in front, so that it doesn’t disrupt the color changes of the RS 

Begin in blue (C) 

Ch 11

Row 1: turn and beginning in the 2nd ch from hook, (2 sc blue, 2 sc white)2x, 2 sc blue; 10 sts *row ends with blue still on the hook (RS)

Row 2: ch 1 and turn, (2 sc blue, 2 sc white)2x, 2 sc blue; 10 sts * pull white through to complete the last st of the row before turning (WS)

Row 3: ch 1 and turn, (2 sc white, 2 sc blue)2x, 2 sc white; 10 sts *row ends with white still on the hook (RS)

Row 4: ch 1 and turn, (2 sc white, 2 sc blue)2x, 2 sc white; 10 sts *pull blue through to complete the last st of the row before turning (WS) Fasten off white. 

Row 5: all in blue, ch 1 and turn, (sc, hdc)tog in next st, 2 dc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, sc in next st, sl st in next 2 sts, sc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, (hdc, sc)tog in last st; 16 sts (RS)

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew to the front of the body, so that the outer blue squares on the bottom, line up with white squares at the top of the skirt. Knot and weave in ends. 

Right Side

Wrong Side

Straps, make 2 

In blue

Ch 21

Row 1: turn and beginning in 2nd ch from hook, sc in each ch across; 20 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew them so that the back crosses, making an X, and the front is sewn down to the top points of the ruffle on the bib of the dress. Knot and weave in ends. 

Hair with Lion Brand Homespun (D)

Ch 7

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and next 5 chs; 6 sts

Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 4 sts, inc; 8 sts

Row 3: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 6 sts, inc; 10 sts

Row 4: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 8 sts, inc; 12 sts

Rows 5-11: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 12 sts

Row 12: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 8 sts, dec; 10 sts

Row 13: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 6 sts, dec; 8 sts

Row 14: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 4 sts, dec; 6 sts

Do not turn.

Rnd 1: continue to work 40 sc evenly around the hair until you get back to where you started. This amounts to 14 sc down each side, and 6 sc across the bottom, and the top. 

Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. Shape the hair around the head so that the back is just 2 or 3 rnds above the white, and shaped rnd 1 over the top of the head so that there appears to be a part, dented in the form of an upside down V. If you look at picture 8 to picture 9, I simply lined up the hair and when I folded it over the top of the head, I pinched the center up to give that draped bang effect. Weave in ends. 

Curls, make 2 (2 curls on each side of her head), in Lion Brand Homespun 

(Ch 15, turn and begin in 2nd ch from hook, inc in each ch across)2 times, for two curls

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the curls, folded together, at the lower side of the hair, so that the curls hang over the shoulders, at about ends 11-13 of the head. Continue using the tail to sew over the sides of the hair up toward the center part. This will give the hair a little bit of a twisted style look. 

Nose, in skin color

Using your tapestry needle and about 12 inches of the skin colored yarn, sew the nose over a few sts, center of the face, about rnd 10. Knot and weave in ends inside the puppet. 

Eyes, in black

Using your tapestry needle and about 12 inches of black yarn, sew the eyes over about 3 sts, above and to each side of the nose, about rnd 8. Knot and weave in ends inside the puppet.

Add a little blush to finish off your Dorothy Hand Puppet, and give her a little life!

I hope you have enjoyed making the Dorothy hand puppet! If you love this design, be sure to check out some of my other hand puppets, always free on the blog! This is the first puppet of our 2nd annual Read Across America Puppet Crochet-a-Long. (You can now find the Scarecrow HERE) Follow me along on Instagram for more Christmas themed puppets to come!  If you loved making any of these patterns, and show them off on Instagram, please be sure to tag @ekaygdesigns to let me know, and I will share in my stories!

Want to check out last year’s Read Across America Crochet-a-Long? There’s the Erin Puppet, Shalock the Lion Puppet, Red Riding Hood Puppet, Wolf Puppet, and Bear Puppets.