Mouse King Hand Puppet

Day 11 of the 12 Days of Christmas Crochet-a-Long is the Mouse King Hand Puppet! He will fit in perfect with the gang. Well, maybe not perfectly. It’s true that he and the Nutcracker have some history, but you can help your little one bring this Christmas classic to life with some epic puppet battles!

If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the mouse king 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. Gray (A)
2. Blue (B)
3. Black (C)
4. White (D)
5. Small amount of tan for snout
6. Small amount of yellow for belt buckle and crown
7. Small amount of black for eyes

THE HOOK NOOK CROCHET HOOK, size H – 5mm (I LOVE the hooks from the Designer Interchangeable Hook Set)

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 sts in same st

hdcdec – half double crochet 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. 

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.

puff st – puff stitch

1. Yarn over and insert hook into next st.
2. Yarn over and pull up a loop (3 loops on hook).
3. Yarn over and insert hook back into same st.
4. Yarn over and pull up a loop (5 loops on hook).
5. Yarn over and insert hook back into same st.
6. Yarn over and pull up a loop (7 loops on hook).
7. Yarn over and pull through all 7 loops. 

picot – 

1. Ch 3
2. Sk 2nd ch from hook
3. Sl st into 3rd ch from hook

Notes: The body of the Mouse King Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, ears, snout, teeth, and crown, 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

Mouse King 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 6-15: sc in each st around; 30 sts

Rnd 16: (3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 24 sts

Attach blue (B), and fasten off gray. Continue with blue.

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 19-27: sc in each st around; 30 sts 

Attach Black (C), but don’t cut blue. You will pick it back up in a couple rnds. 

In black-

Rnds 28-30: sc in each st around; 30 sts

Pick blue back up for the rest of the body, and fasten off black.

Rnd 31: sc in each st around, join to first st with a sl st, and fasten off blue. 

With the puppet upside down, laying flat, make sure that the arm holes are lined up with stitches matching to best find the center of your last rnd. I use my crochet hook, lined up through the middle to find the center st. With the front side of the puppet facing you (the fastened off yarn in the back), insert your hook into the first st just left of center. This should be the 7th st from the left.

Rnd 32: join blue in the above mentioned st, with a sc, and sc in next 28 sts around, leaving that center st unworked; 29 sts

Rnd 33: ch 1 and turn, sk first st, sc in next 27 sts, sl st in last st; 28 sts

Rnd 34: ch 1 and turn, sk sl st and first sc, sc in next 25 sts, sl st in last st, and fasten off; 26 sts 

Weave in ends.

Eyes, in black 

The placement of the eyes is very important, so that there’s room to sew the snout and nose, centered below them. Using black yarn, place the eyes in an upward curve over rnd 8 of the head. The bottom of the eyes will be below rnd 8, and the top peek will be above rnd 8. To help maintain that curve, I also wrap the yarn around itself, after bringing the needle through at the peak, underneath the curve, and then send the needle back through into the head, through the beginning st. Knot off inside the head and weave in ends. 

Belt buckle –  (same process as Santa) using yellow, work a surface sl st around the black stripe at the center of the body, about 3 sts up and 5 or 6 sts across. Fasten off, knot, and weave in ends inside the puppet. 

Arms, Make 2 

Begin in gray.

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 white through to complete the last st of rnd 6, and fasten off gray.

In white

Rnd 7: puff st into each st around; 9 sts

Pull blue through to complete the last puff st of rnd 7, and fasten off white.

In blue

Rnd 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. 

Ears, make 2, in gray

Begin with magic ring.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts

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

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

Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)3x; 15 sts

Rnd 5: (inc, sc in next 4 sts)3x; 18 sts

Join to first st with sl st. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the ears onto the head, on either side, over approximately rounds 3 to 5. Weave in ends. 

Snout/Nose, Begin with Tan 

Ch 10

Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across; 9 sts

Row 2: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 5 sts, dec; 7 sts

Row 3: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 3 sts, dec; 5 sts

Row 4: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next st, dec; 3 sts

Row 5: ch 1 and turn, 3sctog, pull black through to complete the dec; 1 sts

Fasten off tan (leave long tail for sewing), and continue with black.

Row 6: ch 1 and turn, puff st in the only st at the top; 1 sts

Fasten off. You will need a little bit of a black tail for sewing the nose on. Sew the whole snout/nose onto the front of the face with the beginning ch sewn on to about rnd 16 of the puppet, just between the arms, and the nose going upward to the center of the face. 

Teeth, make 2, in white

*Note – you might want to tighten your stitching on these so that they aren’t too big.

Ch 4, sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in last ch; 2 sts

Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. Sew onto the lower front of the snout. 

Crown in yellow

Ch 9, turn and (sc, hdc) in 2nd ch from hook, picot (hdc, sc) in next ch, sl st in next ch, (hdc, dc) in next ch, picot, (dc, hdc) in next ch, sl st in next ch, (sc, hdc) in next ch, picot, (hdc, sc) in last ch; 14 sts, 3 picots

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the crown to the top of the head, between the ears, and weave in ends. 

I hope you have enjoyed making the mouse king hand puppet! If you love this design concept, be sure to check out some of my other hand puppets, always free on the blog! This is a part of our 12 Days of Christmas Crochet-a-Long, Nutcracker collection. 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!