Ghost of Christmas Past Hand Puppet

The Ghost of Christmas Past Hand Puppet joins our A Christmas Carol Crochet-a-Long to teach Scrooge a few things about his past, and how that has shaped who he is today. This also gives him glimpes of how he can change back to the young boy he once was.

This spirit was a bit ambiguous, described as both old and young looking, so it was a little hard to nail down. I hope you enjoy my interpretation!

If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Ghost of Christmas Past 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 – colors you feel are best suited! Below is what I used, and some alternate yarns that may work! 

Red Heart With Love – Aran (A) – approximately 32 yds

Red Heart Super Saver Yarn – White (B) – approximately 40 yds

Big Twist Twinkle – Grey (C) – approximately 8 yds

   OR Caron Simply Soft Party – Silver

Caron Simply Soft Party – Snow Sparkle (D) – approximately 44 yds

   OR Big Twist Twinkle – White

Red Heart Super Saver Yarns in Spring Green, Cherry Red, Light Raspberry, and Pale Yellow for the holly berry branch, leaves and flowers

Small amount of black worsted yarn for the eyes.

Crochet Hook, 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

dec – combine 2 sts together to make 1 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 Ghost of Christmas Past Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, hair, holly, belt tie, flower, and leaves are made separately and sewn on. 

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

Ghost of Christmas Past 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

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

Rnd 16: sc in each st around; 24 sts

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

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 19-24: sc in each st around; 30 sts

Pull sparkling grey through to complete the last st of rnd 24, but do NOT fasten off white. You will pick that up again in a couple rnds. Continue next two rnds in sparkling grey.

Rnd 25: (3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 24 sts

Rnd 26: sc in each st around; 24 sts

Pull white back through to complete the last st of rnd 26, and fasten off the sparkling grey. Complete the body in white.

Rnd 27: (3 inc, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 30 sts

Rnd 28: sc in next 3 sts, 3 inc, sc in next 12 sts, 3 inc, sc in last 9 sts; 36 sts

Rnds 29-34: sc in each st around; 36 sts

Fasten off and weave in all ends. 

Belt ties, in C (sparkly grey) 

Ch 24

Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 9 chs, dec over 3 chs as follows: insert hook into next ch, do NOT yarn over, sk next ch and insert hook into next ch, yarn over, pull through 2 loops, yarn over and pull through last two loops, continue with sc in last 10 chs; 21 sts

Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave in the first tail, and then with the long tail,  weave it up to the center decrease, but don’t pull tightly. Then sew the middle to the side of the belt on the puppet, pinching it together a bit at the top so that they look like tied up, and hang down to the bottom of the puppet. Weave in ends. 

Arms, make 2

Begin with color A (skin color), in a magic ring.

Rnd 1: 6 sc 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

Rnd 6: sc in each st around; 9 sts

Pull white through to complete last st of rnd 6, and fasten off the skin color. Continue in white.

Rnds 7-8: sc in each st around; 9 sts

Rnd 9: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x; 12 sts

Rnds 10-15: sc in each st around; 12 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave all ends, except the last one, inside the arm, and then sew the arms to each arm hole on the puppet with the thumbs inward toward the head. Knot and weave in the last end inside the puppet. 

Eyes, in black 

Using about 6-8 inches of black worsted yarn, sew the eyes down to about rnd 9, starting above the rnd, and pulling the needle through just below the rnd to create the curve of the solemn closed eye. Weave ends in inside the puppet.

Nose, in A (skin color) 

Using about 6 inches of your skin color, sew the nose between the eyes, about 2 rnds below, and weave ends in inside the puppet.

Hair, in D (sparkling white) 

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

Row 13: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 8 sts, dec; 10 sts

Row 14: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 6 sts, dec; 8 sts

Row 15: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 4 sts, dec; 6 sts

Do not turn

Rnd 1: continue to work 38 sc evenly around the hair until you get back to where you started. This amounts to 13 sc down each side, and 6 sc across the bottom and the top, sl st into the first st of the rnd, but do not fasten off or turn. Then begin the strands of hair. 

Rnd 2: *ch 21, turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in each ch, and sl st into the next st of rnd 1,* work bangs across the next several sts of rnd 1: hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, hdc in next st, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, hdc in next st, sl st in next 2 sts, begin working strands again around the head by repeating *to* 2 times, then (ch 23, turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in remaining chs, sl st in next 2 sts of rnd 1)12x, ch 21, turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in remaining chs, sl st into the beginning sl st of the rnd and fasten off, leaving a very long tail for sewing. Sew the hair around the head, attaching rnd one to the head, connecting about 3 strands on either side of the face, to be draped down over the arms, framing the face. Knot and weave in ends. 

Holly Branch, in green (adapted from my Holly Christmas Stocking Ties Pattern)

Beginning with the first leaf, working 2 rnds around the chain.

Ch 8, turn, and use the back loop (bump) behind the ch, for the first part

Rnd 1: 2 sc in 1st loop, hdc in next 2 loops, sc in next 2 loops, sl st in last 2 loops, turn work to work the bottom side of the ch (this will now have 2 loops like the top of a sc, if you used the back loop for the first part), work through both loops like the top of a st, sl st into the same spot as last sl st, sl st into next st, sc in next 2 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in last st (same space as the first 2 sc), do NOT join or fasten off, but continue to next rnd; 15 sts

Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of the next 2 sts, hdc in next st, ch 2, sl st into the side of the hdc, sc in next 2 sts, ch 2, sl st into the side of the last sc, sl st into the next 5 sts, sc in next 2 sts, ch 2, sl st into the side of the last sc, sc in next st, hdc in next st, ch 2, sl st into the side of the hdc, sl st in the last st on the leaf, do NOT fasten off, but continue to make the length of the branch.

Ch 7, turn and beginning in the 2nd ch from hook, sc in each ch across; 6 sts

When you get back to the first leaf, sl st into the next st on the leaf where you’d left off to create the ch, and begin work on the 2nd leaf. Again, you will be working two rnds around the chain.

Ch 8 (again, use the back loop or bump, behind the ch for the first part of the rnd. 

Rnd 1: sl st into first 2 loops, sc in next 2 loops, hdc in next 2 loops, 3 sc in the last ch, turn to work the underside of the ch, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, sl st in next 2 sts

Rnd 2: sl st in next 2 sts, sc in next 2 sts, ch 2, sl st into the side of the last sc, sc in next st, hdc in next st, ch 2, sl st into the side of the hdc, 2 sc in each of the next 3 sts, hdc in next st, ch 2, sl st into the side of the last hdc, sc in next 2 sts, ch 2, sl st into the side of the last sc, sc in next st, sl st in next 2 sts and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave in the beginning tail. Save the last tail for assembly, after making the berries.

Berries, in red 

Ch 3

Turn and dc bobble into the 1st ch, ch 5, turn and dc bobble into the 3rd ch from the hook. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. 

Sew the berries onto the center of the two leaves, clustered together, and weave in ends. 

Using the last tail of the holly leaves, sew the branch and leaves down to one of the puppet’s hands. Knot and weave in ends. 

Floral leaves – make these before flowers, so the flowers can be sewn on over top of them – 2 sets

Leaf 1: ch 4, 2 hdc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next ch, sl st in last ch, turn to work the underside of the ch and sl st into the first ch opposite your last sl st, sc in next ch, hdc in last ch, sl st into the first st of the leaf, do NOT fasten off, but continue to second leaf.

Leaf 2: ch 4, sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in the next ch, 3 hdc in last ch, turn to work on the other side of the ch, moving the first leaf to the right out of the way, sc in next ch on the other side, sl st in last 2 chs, fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. 

Flowers, in a variety of spring colors of your choosing! I made 4 pink and 2 yellow – see Assembly. 

Begin with magic ring

Rnd 1: (ch 1, 3 hdc, ch 1, sl st into ring)3x in magic ring; 3 small petals.

Fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing. Use beginning tail to pull magic ring closed, and weave in that end. Use end tail to sew the flowers down along the hem of the tunic. Weave in ends. 

Assembly

Sew the leaves down first, off to the sides a bit. The two flowers of a different color than the rest; sew them down to the bottom center of the leaves. Then sew the other flowers down to either side of the center flowers. Weave in all ends. 

I hope you have enjoyed making the Ghost of Christmas Past 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!