We have to begin our 12 Days of Christmas Crochet-a-Long with the Mother Mary Hand Puppet. Afterall, she is the beginning of this story. The Holy Spirit needed a willing spirit in order to fullfill God’s promise.
And Mary said;
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Might One has done great things for me–holy is his name. ~Luke 1: 46-49
My hope and prayer is that if the Lord calls me to something difficult, something that would cause many to turn away from me, and speak poorly of me, that I would receive it with the same worshipful heart as Mary.
With these crochet Nativity puppets, I hope that you can help bring this story to light with your little ones, your Sunday School Ministries, and church youth groups.
If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Mother Mary 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 yarn – Red Heart Super Saver Yarns
- Buff, skin color (A) – approximately 44 yds
- White, dress and cloak (B) – approximately 120 yds
- Coffee, hair – (C) – approximately 30 yds
- Small amount of light blue for the middle of the dress.
- Small amount of worsted weight black yarn for the eyes.
Terms and abbreviations to know:
magic ring
rnd, rnds – round, rounds
ch, chs – chain, chains
st, sts – stitch, stitches
sl st – slip stitch
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
inc – increase, 2 sc sts in same st
dec – decrease
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 left on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 3 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 4 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over and pull through 2 loops, leaving 5 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops.
Notes:
The Mother Mary Hand Puppet Pattern is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms and hair are made separately and sewn on. The cloak is made separately but made to be removable. The eyes are embroidered on with black worsted weight yarn; the nose with matching skin color.
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 gauge or go down a hook size.
Gauge: 7 sts across and 7 rnds down = approximately 2 inches
Mother Mary 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
Rnd 16: sc in each st around; 24 sts
Pull white (B) through to complete the last st of rnd 16 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 light blue (C) through to complete the last st of rnd 23, but do NOT fasten off white.
Continue with light blue for two rnds.
Rnds 25-26: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Pull white back up through the last st of rnd 26 and fasten off C.
Continue with white.
Rnd 27: sc in next 3 sts, inc in next 2 sts, sc in next 13 sts, inc in next 2 sts, sc in next 10 sts; 34 sts
Rnds 28-34: sc in each st around; 34 sts
Sl st into the first st of the last rnd and fasten off. Knot and weave in all ends inside the body.
Arms, make 2
Begin in skin color (A)
Begin with 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 the last st of rnd 6, and fasten off 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 10-13: sc in each st around; 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.
Nose in skin color (A)
Use the same yarn used for the face and hands, cutting about an 8 inch strand. Sew it over about 3 sts centered at about rnd 12. Sew the yarn over the same spot about 3 to 5 times, or until nose is as puffy as you’d like. Knot and fasten off inside the head, and weave in ends.
Eyes, in black
Using black yarn, st the eyes onto the face over 3 sts on rnd 10, about 5 sts between them, with the nose centered below and between. Insert your needle through about 2 to 3 sts from the outer edge of the face. Pull it back through 3 sts over. Insert the needle back into the original st, and pull it back out under rnd 10, pulling the black yarn under the arch you just made. Wrap the yarn around itself to help hold that curve in place, and then create the first eyelash by inserting the needle to the side and slightly below the eye. Use the beginning tail to create the other lash in a similar fashion. Place the other eye to the other side, over the same ends, about 4 to 5 sts from the first eye. Knot and weave in the ends on the inside of the head.
Hair, in brown (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
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 turn.
Rnd 1: beginning with a sc in the same st as last st in row 14, 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 to join, and continue forming the bangs.
Bangs, in brown (D)
Continuing from where you left of in rnd 1:
Rnd 2: ch 1, sc in same st as joining sl st, 2 hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, sc in next st, sl st in next 2 sts (which should make up the center of the bangs), sc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, sc in next st, sl st into the next st. Continue on to the long strands of hair.
Long strands of hair, in brown (D)
Still a part of rnd 2, but working in strands of chs and sc that connect back to rnd 1; sc in next 6 sts down the side, ch 11, turn and inc in 2nd ch from hook, inc in next ch, sc in next 8 chs, sl st into the same st as last st before the ch, (sl st in next st, ch 11, turn and inc in 2nd ch from hook, inc in next ch, sc in next 8 chs)14x, sc into the same st as last sl st and sc in remaining 5 sts, sl st to join and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the hair onto the head, sewing the bangs folded over the forehead, and sewing around rnd 2 of the hair, leaving the strands dangling free, with one strand to either side, hanging over the arms. Weave in ends.
Cloak, in white (B)
Begin with about an 8 inch tail for sewing later.
Ch 27
Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in each ch across; 26 sts
Rows 2-3: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 26 sts
Row 4: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 22 sts, dec; 24 sts
Rows 5-6: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 24 sts
Row 7: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 20 sts, dec; 22 sts
Rows 8-9: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 22 sts
Row 10: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 18 sts, dec; 20 sts
Rows 11-12: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 20 sts
Row 13: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 16 sts, dec; 18 sts
Rows 14-15: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 18 sts
Row 16: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 14 sts, dec; 16 sts
Rows 17-18: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 16 sts
Row 19: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 12 sts, 2 inc; 20 sts
Row 20: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 18 sts, inc; 22 sts
Row 21: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 18 sts, 2 inc; 26 sts
Row 22: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 22 sts, 2 inc; 30 sts
Row 23: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 26 sts, 2 inc; 34 sts
Row 24: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 30 sts, 2 inc; 38 sts
Row 25: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 16 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 16 sts, 2 inc; 44 sts
Row 26: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 19 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 19 sts, 2 inc; 50 sts
Row 27: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 22 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 22 sts, 2 inc; 56 sts
Rows 28-29: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 56 sts
Row 30: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 24 sts, 2 dec, sc in next 24 sts, 2 inc; 58 sts
Row 31: ch 1 and turn, 2 inc, sc in next 25 sts, 2 dec, sc in next 25 sts, 2 inc; 60 sts
Row 32: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 60 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
Use the beginning tail and the end tail to sew the sleeves together as pictured. Sew the ends of the top rows to rows 3-7 of the bottom, and weave in the ends. You do not need to sew the hood onto the puppet. Simply put it over her head, with her arms through the sleeves.
I hope you have enjoyed making the Mother Mary Hand Puppet! If you love this design, be sure to check out some of my other free patterns on the blog, and look for more from The Nativity Story! 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!
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