Word to the wise: never, ever begin a crochet a long while you’re in the middle of a website change! I never imagined it would take this long, but I am finally figuring it all out! I am so thankful to my design team for all their help with this, because I never would have figured it all out on my own! If you’re looking for web design for yourself, please check out J. Alexandria Creative. I highly recommend!

If you have not been following along this Under the Sea CAL, first we made the Mermaid, then we made the Crab, and now we have the Octopus! As always, you can use this pattern for free or you can purchase the printer-friendly PDF and a low cost in my Ravelry shop.

octopus hand puppet

Notes:

This pattern is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The eyes and tentacles are made separately and sewn on. Pictures below can give more details into the process. 

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 8 rnds down = approximately 2 inches

Materials:

 




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 sts in same st

Dec – decrease

Sc2tog – basic decrease, turning 2 sts into 1

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.

Octopus Hand Puppet Pattern

Body

in Eggplant 

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: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)6x; 30 sts

Rnd 6: (3 inc, sc in next 12 sts)2x; 36 sts

Rnds 7-9: sc in each st around; 36 sts

Rnd 10: (invsc2tog, sc in next 16 sts)2x; 34 sts

Rnd 11: sc in each st around; 34 sts

Rnd 12: (invsc2tog, sc in next 15 sts)2x; 32 sts

Rnd 13: sc in each st around; 32 sts

Rnd 14: (invsc2tog, sc in next 14 sts)2x; 30 sts

Rnd 15: (invsc2tog, sc in next 13 sts)2x; 28 sts

Rnd 16: (invsc2tog, sc in next 12 sts)2x; 26 sts

Rnd 17: (invsc2tog, sc in next 11 sts)2x; 24 sts

Rnd 18: sc in each st around; 24 sts

Rnd 19: (3 inc, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 30 sts

Rnd 20: (ch 4, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 11 sts)2x; 30 sts, counting the chs

Rnd 21: (sc into each of the 4 chs (using the back loop under the chs will create a neater look in the sts for sewing on the arms later), sc in next 11 sts)2x; 30 sts




 

Rnds 22-34: sc in each st around; 30 sts

Fasten off and weave in ends. 

 

Tentacles

in Eggplant, make 8

*2 of these are for the finger holes on the puppet. The others will be sewn strategically around the body

Begin with a magic ring.

Rnd 1: 3 sc in magic ring; 3 sts

Rnd 2: inc, sc in next 2 sts; 4 sts

Rnd 3: inc, sc in next 3 sts; 5 sts

Rnd 4: inc, sc in next 4 sts; 6 sts

Rnd 5: 2 inc, sc in next st, invsc2tog, sc in next st; 7 sts

Rnd 6: sc in next st, inc, sc in next 5 sts; 8 sts

Rnd 7: sc in next 2 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog; 9 sts

Rnds 8-10: sc in next 3 sts, inc, sc in next 3 sts, invsc2tog; 9 sts 

Rnd 11: sc in next 3 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog; 10 sts

Rnd 12: invsc2tog, sc in next 2 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 2 sts, invsc2tog; 10 sts

Rnd 13: sc in next 4 sts, 2 inc, sc in next 4 sts; 12 sts

Rnds 14-16: sc in each st around; 12 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Make and sew the undersides of the tentacles FIRST, before sewing tentacles onto the body. 

 

Tentacle Underside

in Dusty Purple, make 8

Ch 4

Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, and each of the next 2 chs; 3 sts

Rows 2-4: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 3 sts

Row 5: ch 1 and turn, sk first st, sc in each of the next 2 sts; 2 sts

Rows 6-10: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 2 sts

Row 11: ch 1 and turn, sk first st, sc in next st; 1 st

Row 12-13: ch 1 and turn, sc in st; 1 st

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew onto the underside of all your tentacles. Be sure they are on the side that you want facing out! Sew 4 of them on with the tentacles curving left, and 4 with the tentacles curving right.

Sew two of your tentacles into the arm holes of the puppet. Then sew one on each side, toward the bottom of the puppet, and four across the front. You can have some fun with these tentacles and sew them in different ways and different directions to give the octopus a different look!  




Eyes

in Black, White and Purple, Make 2

Begin with Black in Magic ring.

Rnd 1: 4 sc in magic ring, join to first st with sl st; 4 sts

Fasten off Black, and attach Dusty Purple.

Rnd 2: inc into same st as joining, inc in each remaining st around, join to first st with sl st; 8 sts

Fasten off Dusty Purple, and attach White.

Rnd 3: inc into same st as joining, sc in next st, (inc, sc in next st)3x, join to first st with sl st; 12 sts

Continue in White.

Rnd 4: sk joining st and 2 hdc into next st, sc in next 2 sts, (hdc, dc) into next st, dc in next st, hdc in next st, (hdc, sc) into next st, sc in next 2 sts, 2 hdc in next st, sl st in next st, but do not join to the first st. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing, Sew onto the face as pictured, low on the head. 

 

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