Our third puppet in the Read Across America Crochet-a-Long is the Michael Darling Hand Puppet! Michael, being the youngest of the Darlings, is always quick to immerse himself into his sister Wendy’s stories. He is often corrected by his brother, John, but he never lets that diminish his creative spirit!
Michael, of course, comes with his teddy bear, a feature that J.M. Barrie wrote into the story. Also, why pink pajamas? I’m so glad you asked! No, I did not try to make him in the likeness of the Disney character. His pajamas were not actually described in the book. However, during the era in which the book was written, pink was a common color used for babies or young children in the nursery, regardless of gender. It wasn’t until the 1940s that colors began to be separated by gender roles in small children.
If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Michael Darling 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
- Buff for the skin (A)
- Petal Pink, for pajamas (B)
- Cornmeal, for hair (C)
- Light Raspberry, for pajama buttons (D)
- Cafe for the teddy bear (E)
- Small amount of black for the puppet eyes and the bear nose
Crochet hook, size H – 5mm
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
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.
Dc bobble – double crochet bobble
- Yarn over, and insert hook into designated st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 2 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 3 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 4 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over and pull through 2 loops, leaving 5 loops on hook.
- Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops.
Notes:
The body of the Michael Darling Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, beginning at the head, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, hair, buttons, and teddy bear are made separately and sewn on. The eyes and nose are 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
Michael Darling Hand Puppet
Body – beginning at the head, with A (skin color)
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
Pull pink (B) through to complete the last st of rnd 15, and fasten off your skin color. Continue with pink.
Rnd 16: sc in each st around; 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
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
Rnd 6: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Pull (B) through to complete the last st of rnd 6, and fasten off skin color.
Continue in B (pink).
Rnd 7: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Rnd 8: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x; 12 sts
Rnds 9-13: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave in all the ends, except the last tail, inside the arm, and then sew the arms into the arm holes on the puppet, with the thumbs pointing inward, toward the head. Weave in ends.
Nose, in A (skin color)
Using about 8 inches of yarn and your tapestry needle, sew the nose over two central sts on the face, at about rnd 11. Wrap the yarn around the same sts about 3 to 4 times, then knot and weave in ends inside the puppet.
Eyes, in black
Use about 8 inches of black yarn for each eye. Sew the eyes over rnd 9, about 1 st to either side of the nose, covering the span of about 4 sts, with about 3 sts between them. Knot and weave in the ends inside the puppet.
Hair, in C (Cornmeal)
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
Rows 4-12: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 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 fasten off or turn.
Rnd 1: continue to work 38 sc evenly around the hair until you get back to where you started. This amounts to 13 sts up each side, and 6 sts at each end sl st into the first st of the rnd, do NOT fasten off; 38 sts
Do not fasten off or turn. Begin bangs here.
Row 1: sc in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, dc in the next 3 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next st, sl st in next st, leave the rest unworked currently, and turn work to continue working on these bangs; 10 sts
Row 2: ch 1, sk sl st, sc in next st, hdc in next st, dc in next 4 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next st, sl st in next st; 10 sts
Row 3: turn and ch 1, sk sl st, sc in next 10 sts, sl st back into same st as sl st from row 1, continue on for the other side of the bangs, sc in next st, hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, sl st in next st; 18 sts
Row 4: turn and ch 1, sk sl st, sc in next st, hdc in next st, dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, sl st in next st (the other side of the bangs are done, so leave them unworked now and continue to row 5); 6 sts
Row 5: turn and ch 1, sk sl st, sc in 5 sts, sl st back into same st as sl st from previous row; 6 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew hair onto head, with bangs over the top, and his “part” to the right side with the puppet facing you (puppet’s left).
Buttons, in D (darker pink) – make 3
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring, sl st into first st of rnd to join; 6 sts
Fasten off, leaving a tail for sewing. Sew the buttons in a row, down the front of the pajamas. Weave in ends.
Teddy Bear Pattern
Body in E (brown) – This is worked in one piece, from the bottom up in the rnd, and then around the edges to create the ears, arms, and legs.
Begin with a magic ring, ch 2.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: (3 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts)2x; 10 sts
Rnds 3-5: sc in each st around; 10 sts
Rnd 6: (invsc2tog, sc in next 3 sts)2x; 8 sts
Rnd 7: (3 sc in next st, sc in next 3 sts)2x; 12 sts
Rnds 8-10: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 11: (invsc2tog, sc in next 4 sts)2x; 10 sts
At this point, you will be closing the top of the head by holding both sides of the rnd together, and crochet through both as we go.
First, sc in the first st of rnd 11 to get to the side of the head, and sl st into the next st.
Ch 1.
Working around the bear: through the same sts as sl st AND the st directly behind it when held closed, work 2 hdc sts, sl st through the next 3 sts closed together with the sts behind them, 2 hdc in the last st, sl st into the side of the st, in the last rnd, and now begin working down the side of the body: sl st into side of the next st, sc into the side of the next st, sl st into the sides of the next 2 sts, sc into the side of the next st, (3 hdc, ch 1, sl st) into the side of the next st, sl st into the side of the next 2 sts, ch 1, (3 hdc, ch 1, sl st) into same st as last sl st, sl st into the side of next st, sk over the bottom of rnd 1, sl st into the side of the next st, ch 1, (3 hdc, ch 1, sl st) into same st as last sl st, sl st into the side of the next 2 sts, ch 1, (3 hdc, ch 1, sl st) into the same st as last sl st, sc into the side of the next st, sl st into the side of the next 2 sts, sc into the side of the next st, sl st into the side of next 2 sts, sl st into the same st as the first ear, and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Teddy Bear Snout, in A (or a tan or light brown)
Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring; 4 sts
Sl st into the first st to join and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Use a small amount of black yarn to sew a triangular nose over the center of the snout. Sew the snout onto the face of the bear, with the triangle of the nose pointing down. Weave in ends. I did not add eyes to the bear, because I felt he looked better without them, but you are welcome to! Sew the bear loosely onto whichever arm you prefer!
I hope you have enjoyed making the Michael Darling 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!