Shalock the Lion Hearted

Today, we continue in our Read Across America celebration with Shalock the Lion Puppet, from Shalock and the Cloud of Bad dreams. You can use this puppet for any lion you wish to make! I tried to make him in the likeness of this Shalock, from this book, for a very special reason. This toy lion gave me the courage to sleep through the night in my own bed, as a young girl who struggled with nightmares.

The original copy of Shalock and the Cloud of Bad Dreams, with the original Shalock the lion, and the second edition published copy.

 

The Back Story

If you remember from Part 1 of our Read Across America Crochet-a-long, this featured story is a book written and illustrated by my father, C.F. Lawrenson of Asaph Waters Editions. It was written about my struggles with nightmares as a child, and how I used my imagination to overcome them. If you’d like to order a signed copy of the book, you can get one on his website HERE!

 



Shalock the Lionhearted, Puppet Pattern

Notes:

The body is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, ears, snout, and mane, are made separately and sewn on. The eyes are sewn on with black worsted weight yarn. Pictures below can give more details into the process. 

Text and images copyright ©2020 by Erin Greene of ​ekayg​, all rights reserved. No pattern may be reproduced or distributed in any form by any method without written permission. Finished products made from this pattern may be used for sale. Please credit back to ​ekayg​. Please direct any questions about the pattern to my e­mail, ​ ekaygcrafts@gmail.com​ . I will respond as quickly as I am able.

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

Materials:

Bulky Weight 5 Yarn:

Small amount of worsted weight black yarn for eyes, nose, and paws. 

Crochet hook – H, 5mm – I used mine from The Hook Nook’s Interchangeable Designer 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 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. 

  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.

Picot – creates a point

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

 



 

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

Rnds 5-7: sc in each st around; 24 sts

Rnd 8: (3 inc, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 30 sts

Rnds 9-12: sc in each st around; 30 sts

Rnd 13: (3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts)2x; 24 sts

Rnds 14-15: sc in each st around; 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 18-30: sc in each st around; 30 sts 

Fasten off and weave in ends. 

 

Arms

Make 2, in color A

Arms begin by making 3 separate bumps for the paws. Fasten off the first two, and then continue onto the arm, connecting them all to the last one made.

*MAKE 2*

Begin with magic ring. 

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts

Rnd 2: sc in each st around; 6 sts

Do not sl st, but just cut yarn and pull through the final loop to fasten off.

*MAKE 1 more, but don’t fasten off*

Repeat rnds 1 and 2, place a stitch marker in the last st worked.

Rnd 3: continue on to sc in next 3 sts of the next “claw”, leaving other 3 unworked sc in all 6 sts of 3rd “claw” connecting back to middle claw, sc in remaining 3 sts of the center claw, sc in all 6 sts of the beginning claw; 18 sts

Rnd 4: (invsc2tog, sc in next st)6x; 12 sts

Stop here and flip the claws inside out, using the extra strands to sew the gaps closed. Then sew the black yarn between the claws of the paw, knotting off and weaving ends inside the paw. 

Rnds 5-12: sc in each st around; 12 sts

Sl st to first st and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew arms into the arm holes of the puppet with the paws facing out. 




Mane

with color B

Ch 45, and sl st to first ch to join, forming a ring.

Rnd 1: ch 1, sc into same ch as joining sl st, (hdc, dc) in next ch, picot, (dc, hdc) in next ch, [sc in next ch,  (hdc, dc) in next ch, picot, (dc, hdc) in next ch] 14x; 75 sts, 15 picots

Fasten off, leaving a very long tail for sewing. Sew the mane around the head. 

Nose

in black

Row 1: Ch 2, turn and 3 sc in 2nd ch from hook

Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc in first st, sl st in middle st, inc in last st; 5 sts

DO NOT TURN

Row 3: ch 1, sl st back into the same ch, ch 1, 3 sc into same ch, ch 1, sl st back into the same ch and fasten off. Leave a long tail for sewing. Use your beginning tail to weave the center part of your nose closed and shape it, so no holes show through. It should look kind of like a fidget spinner. 🙂   

Snout

with color A 

Begin with 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: sc in each st around; 18 sts

Sl st into first st of rnd and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the nose onto the center of the snout, and sew the snout onto the lower part of the face, toward the bottom of the mane. You do not need to stuff it, as it will puff out naturally. 

Eyes

in black

Sew the eyes about 3 rnds above the snout, spanning approximately 3 sts, with about 2 sts between them.

 

 




 

Ears

Make 2, in color A

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: sc in each st around; 9 sts

Sl st into first st of rnd, and fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing. 

Use color B to sew a triangle onto the front of each ear, as though the inside of the ears are darker than the outside. Sew the ears on the top sides of the head, in front of the mane. Weave all ends in, inside the puppet. 

 

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