Bunny Puppets

This is the last of my 2022 Easter projects I'm preposting in June so I don't lose track of my projects.

This pattern is no longer available but if it returns I will post a link to it.

I had never used Velvet yarn prior to this project. I understand the attraction to this yarn as it has the feel of a traditional stuffed animal. While I love amis the yarn versions are not nearly as snuggly as traditional stuffed animals. The Velvet yarn brings a softer feel to projects.

There is a trade off to working with the velvet yarn however in that it sheds and wears as you crochet with it. You don't tend to have this challenge working with traditional yarn. I found it was rather unforgiving when I had to pull out a section to redo something. I often found I could get one redo if I was lucky and that was it as the yarn was then to worn to use again. It had lost its plushy feel.

Fox Hand Puppet

I mentioned when I made the Gingerbread Babypuppet that I still had to make the fox to complete the set. I've been trading off projects doing some small tight ami's like the finger puppets with some that aren't so tight like the fox to give my hands a break. The pattern for this puppet comes from the same out of print leaflet as the Gingerbread Baby,Crochet Storybook Puppets by Sheila Leslie. It was printed by House of White Birches in 1991.

I used Hobby Lobby's Yarn Bee Breath Deep Clay for the Fox main body. As I mentioned previously I've been struggling to find browns and rust colors in worsted weight yarn. This yarn is incredibly soft but I'd honestly trade just a little softeness for a little more body you get from more traditional acrylic yarns to hold the body of the puppet.

It is without a doubt one of the softest puppets I've ever made, but I'd love for it to hold its shape jsut a little more which you get with a Caron Pounder or Red Heart Super Saver. That being said I'm just grateful I was able to find the colors.

I recently found some Vanna's Choice in brown's during a shipping offer from Herrschners. I haven't worked with Vanna's in a while. I remember it being a softer yarn but I thought it had more body than the last yarns I've tried for puppets so far. We shall see. I'm hoping a range of brown shades come back to traditional acrylic brands as I can't be the only one that uses them.

Gingerbread Baby Hand Puppet

I was looking for a crochet project to go along with one of my Christmas present books Jan Brett's Gingerbread Babyand I came across an out of print book of fairy tale and nursery rhyme puppets. The booklet is Crochet Storybook Puppets by Sheila Leslie. It was printed by House of White Birches in 1991.

There is another out of print leaflet from Leisure Arts, Story Book Puppets to Crochet Leaflet 242 by Judy Bolin that generally pops up when you start searching for story book puppets which is why I decided I'd provide as many details as I could about this one for those of you who are interested. I own both, but this one is the more interesting of the two to me. I wish I had a copy before I made my Goldilocks puppets as the bear patterns are adorable.

This booklet includes patterns for The Gingerbread Man and the Fox, Bo Peep and her Sheep, the Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma and the Wolf. I mention this because I know from my experience the more information you have when looking for an out of print pattern the more likely you are to find it.

On to the Gingerbread Man or Baby in the case. I love Jan Brett's books and when I found this pattern the match seemed a good one. This is one of the most unique crochet puppet patterns I've made to date. It is almost a cross between a hand puppet and a finger puppet in that the legs are formed so you can make the puppet "run" by using your fingers.

Most of the hand puppets I've made have left the bottom of the puppet open for than hand to manipulate the puppet. This one was unique because it left the back open so you would have access the the feet to make them run. It was an interesting design and one I've not seen before.

I've been finding it challenging to buy middle shades of brown yarn lately. I can find light brown and dark brown but those middle shades where many of my ami and puppet projects live are becoming a more challenging find. I wish I'd have kept a record of the brands and shades I used before but now I'm left scrambling trying to find new options. For this project I tried Hobby Lobby's Yarn Bee Soft Secret Yarn in Cognac. I hadn't used this yarn before, but it does remind me a bit of Caron Simply Soft. It wouldn't be my first choice for a project like this but as I said color choices for brown have been hard to find.

If I do make the Gingerbread Man again I'm hopeful that more shades of brown in more tradition acrylics become available again as I think it would work better for this project.

I'm making the Fox with Hobby Lobby's Yarn Bee Breathe Deep Yarn in Clay and so far this has been a better match for puppets. This was the closest yarn I could find to a fox color when looking through traditional acrylic brands. Sadly this Yarn Bee yarn has extremely limited colors. I was lucky the clay was at least close to the fox color I needed as I hadn't found anyting in the traditional Caron Pounders, Red Heart SS, or Joan brand yarsn that would work for either the Gingerbread Man or the Fox.

Bat Hand Puppet

We come to an end of the Halloween puppet sets with the bat. These were really fun easy projects to make and I'm hoping they bring some fun to what is going to be a different Halloween this year with COVID. You can find the free pattern here.

I added some sew on googly eyes that I've had in my stash for some time and have been trying to put to use this year. I thought it would add some fun to the bat puppet. I also tried to provide the fangs with a bit more shape than the pattern provided.

The yarn was a pleasant surprise too. I tend to lump my worsted 4 weights yarn together unless I know a certain brand is a lighter weight or a different texture than another. When I went looking for black yarn I found the remains of this black skein and was surprised at how soft it was on my hands. I wish I knew which brand it was as I'd like to h ave more.

I've ordered the Halloween books for this year's box so I feel like I'm making progress to get this box out before the end of September.