Dinosaur Hand Puppet Knitting Pattern
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS THAT SUPPORT HANDY LITTLE ME CONTENT AND FREE PATTERNS.Impress your kids with a homemade dinosaur hand puppet with a moveable mouth!
The dinosaur hand puppet is a great knitting pattern to make up, with a number of body pieces which are then sewn together.
You can have hours of fun playing with this and can adjust to experiment with different animals.
An Easy Level Knitting Pattern
This is an easy pattern for those of you who are advanced beginner level, and the techniques you will need to know are knit, purl, k2tog, P2tog and SKPO.
Using mainly knit and purl stitches, it will also introduce you to decreasing and shaping.
*Please scroll down to see the free pattern*
Resources and tutorials you may find helpful in following this pattern:
This pattern is great for any advanced beginner knitters.
- You should be comfortable casting on (how to cast on knitting) and casting off
(How to cast off knitting for total beginners (step by step)).
- You should be comfortable knitting in garter stitch (how to knit garter stitch).
- You should be comfortable working the purl stitch (how to knit the purl stitch (for beginners + a video tutorial)).
- How to knit two stitches together (K2tog).
- You should also be comfortable reading knitting patterns (how to read knitting patterns for beginners).
- And understanding knitting abbreviations and terms (US and UK).
Dinosaur Hand Puppet Knitting Pattern
The dinosaur hand puppet is a great knitting pattern to make up, with a number of body pieces which are then sewn together.
Materials
- 1 x 100G bulky yarn (I used Hayfield Bonus Chunky) in green
- 1 x 100G bulky yarn (Hayfield Bonus Chunky) in white
- 1 x 50G double knit yarn in black – or a small amount for eyes and nose
- 1 x Double knit yarn in pink (small amount for tongue)
Tools
- 1 x 6.5 mm (10.5 US) knitting needles
- 1 x 4mm (6 US) knitting needles
- 1 x 4 mm (G/6 US) crochet hook
- Darning needle
- Scissors
- Tape measure
Instructions
Body and Head – Make 2 pieces
With bulky yarn in green and 6.5mm (10.5 US) knitting needles cast on 20 sts
Knit all rows until piece measures 10 inches (This can be longer or shorter depending on how long your arm is and how long you want the body to be).
Shape head – Front piece
- Skpo, knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
- Knit
Repeat those two rows until 10 sts are left on the needle
Cast off.
Mouth Insert
Make 1 piece
With bulky yarn in white or flesh tone and 6.5mm (10.5 US) knitting needles cast on 6 sts
Knit 3 rows
Row 4: Increase row – K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 7: Knit
Row 8: K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 9: Knit
Row 10: K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 11: Knit
Row 12: K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 13: Knit
Row 14: K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 15: Knit
Row 16: K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 17: Knit
Row 18: K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 19: Knit
Row 20: K1, M1, Knit to last stitch M1, K1
Row 21: Knit
Row 22: Knit 6 rows
Row 23: – Decrease – SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 24: Knit
Row 25: SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 26: Knit
Row 27: SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 28: Knit
Row 29: SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 30: Knit
Row 31: SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 32: Knit
Row 33: SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 34: Knit
Row 35: SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 36: Knit
Row 37: SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 38: Knit
Row 39: SKPO knit to last 2 stitches K2TOG
Row 40: Knit
Row 41: 4 Stitches left Knit
Row 42: knit
Row 43: Cast off.
Tummy Panel
Cast on 10 sts in white yarn
Beg with a knit row, work 2 rows in st st
Inc 1 st at each end of next row
Beg with a Purl row, work 9 rows in st st
Inc 1 st at each end of next row
Beg with a Purl row, work 3 rows in st st
Repeat the last 4 rows 1 more time
Beg with a Purl row, work 6 rows in st st
Dec 1 st at each end of next row
Beg with a purl row, work 3 rows in st st
Repeat the last 4 rows 1 more time
Dec 1 st at each end of next and every foll alt row until 10 st are left
Knit
Purl
Cast of knitwise.
Tongue
With pink double knit yarn and 4mm (US 6) knitting needles cast on 3 stitches
1. K1, M1, K1, M1, K1
2. Purl
3. K2, M1, K1, M1, K2
4. Purl
5. K3, M1, K1, M1, K3
6. Purl
7. K4, M1, K1, M1, K4
8. Purl
9. K5, M1, K1, M1, K5
10. Purl
11. K6, M1, K1, M1, K6
12. Purl
13. K2TOG, K1, K2TOG, K8, K2TOG
14. Purl
15. K2TOG, K1, K2TOG, K5, K2TOG
16. Purl
17. K2TOG, K1, K2TOG, K2, K2TOG
18. Purl
19. K2TOG, K2, K2TOG
20. Purl
21. K2TOG, K2TOG
22. P2TOG
23. Fasten off.
Arms – Make 2
With green yarn and 6.5mm (10.5 US) knitting needles cast on 8 sts
Start with a knit row and work in st st till piece measures 9″
K1, K2TOG then sew remaining stitches down the side seam, inside out.
Eyes – Make 2
With double knit yarn in white and 4mm (US 6) Knitting needles cast on 4 sts
1. Purl
2. Purl
3. Knit
4. Purl
5. Knit
6. Purl
7. Purl
8. K2TOG to end
Thread yarn through all edges then pull tight into a ball.
Stitch through the bottom of the ball to secure.
Leave a tail of at least 7 inches for sewing onto the puppet head.
Stitch a black dot into the eyeball or make a smaller bobble to stitch ontop, using the same pattern but fewer sts, cast on 2.
You can also add plastic safety eyes if you have them.
Nose – Make 2
With double knit yarn in black and 4mm (US 6) Knitting needles cast on 8 sts
Work in st, st until piece measures 1.5″
Thread yarn through all edges then pull tight into a ball.
Stitch through the bottom of the ball to secure.
Leave a tail of at least 7 inches for sewing onto the puppet head.
Teeth (Make 16)
In white yarn with 4mm needles cast on 2 sts
Knit
Purl
K1, M1, K1, M1 (inc in every st)
Purl
Inc in first and last st
Purl
Knit
Purl
Cast off knitwise
Tail
In green yarn, cast on 2 sts
Knit
Purl
Inc into each stitch
Purl
Inc into first and last st
Purl, Knit, purl, knit, purl, knit, purl
Inc into first and last st
Purl, knit, purl
Inc into first and last st
Purl, knit, purl, knit, purl
Inc into first and last st
Purl, Knit, purl
Inc into 1st and last st
Purl, knit, purl
Cast off knitwise
Triangles for the back (make 6 pieces)
With green yarn and 6.5 needles cast on 2 sts
Knit 3 rows in garter st
Row 4 – Inc in first and last st
Repeat these 4 rows until piece measures 3.5″
Sew two pieces together and turn out ready to be stitched onto the hand puppet back piece.
Make 6 triangles for 3 finished pieces.
Cast off knitwise.
Making up.
1. Stitch the tummy panel onto the front body piece.
2. Sew in any loose ends on the body pieces that are not needed.
3. Place mouth insert with right sides facing and stitch half the mouthpiece together.
4. Turn the right side out, then place second body piece on top and sew mouthpiece into place. Turn the right side out.
5. Stitch the tongue into place in the middle of the mouth insert piece.
6. Sew the mouth insert piece to the front head/body piece (inside out) leaving a gap for where the hand will go inside
7. Turn inside out and sew body side seams together, stitch the arms into place, insert 1cm of end inside. Turn the right side out.
8. Sew tail pieces together with right side facing. Turn the right way out and stitch to back piece of the body.
9. Eyes – stitch medium size stitches around the white knitted square, pull together to form a ball shape. Either stitch a black line across the middle or fix a plastic eye into the shape.
10. Stitch through pulled up square and stitch into place on the head.
11. Nose – stitch nose balls into place
12. Back triangles – stitch them into place down the back piece of the hand puppet.
13. Teeth – stitch the teeth into place around the mouth. You may have to make extra if there are any gaps!
Notes
Gauge - 4 inches/10 cm = 16 stitches in 14 rows of st st. (6.5mm needles)
Abbreviations
K – knit
P – purl
P2tog – purl 2 stitches together
Sts – stitches
Garter stitch – every row knit
Stocking stitch – knit 1 row (front), Purl one row (back)
K2TOG – knit 2 stitches together
SKPO – slip one stitch; knit one stitch, and pass slipped stitch over knit stitch.
M1 – make one stitch
If you enjoyed making the hand puppet, I’d love to see yours on Instagram, be sure to tag me @handylittleme.
If you are on Facebook, stop over to the handylittleme Facebook page and share a photo! I’d love to see your work!
Happy Knitting! xoxo
