Rudolph Hand Puppet

Aside from Santa, I don’t think any character quite screams Christmas, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Songs and stories have been written over the years, with many varying tales of this magical reindeer. He is the one reindeer of them all that stands out in every story, his own unique tale shining more brightly, if you will, than any of the others. Maybe this Rudolph Hand Puppet can help to bring some of those stories to life in your home! One of our favorites, which my youngest two often had me read to them, even outside of the holiday season, is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, by Robert L. May. It is an older story, with newer illustrations, and it is written in beautiful rhyme, much like The Night Before Christmas. It tells the story a bit differently than the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special.

Pair this Rudolph hand puppet with a wonderful book like this, for a great Christmas gift this year!!

If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Rudolph 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. Cafe Latte (brown) (A)
2. Black (B)
3. Buff (tan) (C) 
4. Cherry Red (D)
5. Coffee (dark brown) (E)
6. White (F)

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

dec – decrease, combine 2 sts into only 1 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. 

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.

3sctog – decrease, turning 3 sts into one

1. Insert hook into designated st.
2. Pull up a loop.
3. Sk next st and insert hook into the second st from first st.
4. Pull up a loop. 
5. Yarn over and pull through all 3 loops (in this case, yarn over with next color [red], to continue for the nose)

puff st – puff stitch *Note – a traditional puff st ends with pulling through 7 loops. This is made a touch larger for the sake of the nose.

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 insert hook back into same st.
8. Yarn over and pull up a loop (9 loops on hook).
9. Yarn over and pull through all 9 loops on hook. 

Notes: The body of the Rudolph Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, snout/nose, eyes, antlers, and ears, 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

Rudolph 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: (ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts, counting the chs

Rnd 17: (sc into each of the 7 chs, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts

Rnds 18-32: sc in each st around; 30 sts 

Fasten off, and weave in ends. 

Arms (Make 2) begin with Black (B)

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: BLO sc in each st around; 12 sts

Pull A through to complete the last st of rnd 3, and fasten off B

Continue in Brown

Rnds 4-12: sc in each st around; 12 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew onto the arm holes in the body. Weave in all ends. 

Snout/Nose, Begin with Tan (C) 

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 red (D) through to complete the dec; 1 sts

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

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 red 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 16/17 of the puppet, just between the arms, and the nose going upward to the center of the face. 

Antlers, in Dark Brown (E), 

Tall antler – Make 2

Begin with magic ring.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts

Rnds 2-7: sc in each st around; 6 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. 

Short antler – Make 2

Repeat rnds 1-4 of the tall antler, and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew to the side of the tall antler, and then sew the tall antler onto the top sides of the head, about ends 2 and 3 of the head.

Eyes in black and white, Make 2

Begin with black (B) in a magic ring.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring, join with sl st to the first st, but pull white (F) through to complete the sl st, instead of black. Fasten off the black and continue with white. 

Rnd 2: ch 1 and sl st in same st as joining sl st, (sc, hdc) tog in next st, 2 hdc in next st, (hdc, sc) tog in next st, sl st in next st. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Be sure to have a small black tail to sew the black part as well. And use the shorter white tail to sew on a fleck in the black of the eye. Sew the eyes onto the head, at about rnds 7 to 11, on either side of the nose. 

Ears with A and C, Make 2 

Inner Ear – in C

Ch 7, turn and sl st in 3rd ch from hook, hdc in next 2 chs, dc in next ch, 4 dc in last ch and turn work to work on the bottom side of the ch, dc in next ch, hdc in next 2 chs, sl st in next ch, and fasten off. 

Outer Ear – in A

Repeat the inner ear instructions, but do not fasten off. Place the inner ear over top of the outer ear, and begin single crochets all the way around through both, connecting them. The first two sc line up with the two loops at the top of the ch, and the rest should line up sl st to sl st, hdc to hdc, and dc to dc; 14 sts total around

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave the tail down through the ear to the bottom, and sew the ears in place on the head to the outsides of the antlers. Weave in all ends. 

I hope you have enjoyed making the Rudolph hand puppet! If you love this design concept, be sure to check out some of my other hand puppets, always free on the blog! You can join with me in my Christmas Puppet Crochet-a-Long! So far we’ve made a Snowman, and Gingerbread Man. Follow me along on Instagram for more Christmas themed puppets to come, or join my Facebook group! 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!