The Marley’s Ghost Hand Puppet is a bit more detailed than most of my puppets, but such a fun project to tell a great story!
Marely was a fun concept for me. I wanted to make him cute but a little spooky too, as he comes to give Scrooge a dire warning of importance. Had Marley been the only ghost to appear to Ebenezer, would he have listened? Or do you think he still very much needed the guidance of the three spirits? I know Marley himself, would have scared me into acting right, and the rest could have cancelled their appearances! 🙂
If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the Marley’s Ghost 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 – for the ghost look you need 4 different yarns in a variety of shades of white, off-white, and light grays. Below are the yarns I found worked best!
Red Heart With Love – Aran (A) – approximately 43 yds
Red Heart With Love – Stone (B) – approximately 30 yds
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn – Dusty Gray (C) – approximately 45 yds
Red Heart With Love – Eggshell (D) – approximately 35 yds
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn – Charcoal (E) – small amount for chain
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn – Black (F) – small amount for cash boxes and eyes
Crochet Hook, H-5mm
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
tr – triple crochet
inc – increase, 2 sc sts in same st
dec – combine 2 sts together to make 1 st
BLO – back loop only
FLO – front 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.
- Insert hook into front loop only of next stitch, DO NOT yarn over.
- Insert hook into front loop of second stitch.
- Yarn over. Pull through 2 loops.
- Yarn over and pull through last 2 loops.
Dc bobble – double crochet bobble
- Yarn over, and insert hook into designated st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 2 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 3 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 4 loops on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over and pull through 2 loops, leaving 5 loops on hook.
- Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops.
picot –
- Ch 3
- Sk 2nd ch from hook
- Sl st into 3rd ch from hook
Notes:
The body of the Marley’s Ghost Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, tie knot, waistcoat, chin, nose, hair, and chains 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
Marley’s Ghost 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: sc in each st around; 24 sts
Attach Stone/Light Gray (B), and fasten off your skin color. Continue with B.
Rnd 17: (ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts, counting the chs
Rnd 18: (sc into each of the 7 chs, sc in next 8 sts)2x; 30 sts
Rnds 19-26: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Rnd 27: in FLO this rnd, sc in next 6 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, dc in next st, (tr, picot, tr) in next st, dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, hdc in next st, dc in next st, (tr, picot, tr) in next st, dc in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next 11 sts, sl st into first st to join, and fasten off; 32 sts
Rnd 27a: attach gray (C) into the first back loop, unworked from rnd 26, with a sc, and sc around in each BL, do not join, but work continuous rnds; 30 sts
Rnds 28-33: sc in each st around; 30 sts
Fasten off, and weave in ends.
Arms, Make 2
Begin in skin color (A).
Begin with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 st in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: (inc, sc in next st)3x; 9 sts
Rnds 3-4: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Rnd 5: dc bobble, sc in next 8 sts; 9 sts
Rnd 6: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Pull Gray (C) through to complete the last st of rnd 6, and fasten off skin color.
In C
Rnd 7: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Rnd 8: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x; 12 sts
Rnds 9-13: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Weave in all the ends inside the arm, and then use the long tail to sew onto the arm holes of the body. Weave in ends.
Tie Knot (it is only the knot of the tie, as though the rest is stuffed into the vest) in gray (C)
Ch 5
Row 1: turn and sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in next ch, hdc in next ch, dc in last ch; 4 sts
Row 2: ch 2 and turn, dc in first st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, loosely sl st into last st; 4 sts
Row 3: ch 1 and turn, loosely sl st into first st, sc in next st, hdc in next st, dc in last st; 4 sts
Row 4: ch 2 and turn, dc in first st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, sl st into last st and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing; 4 sts
Sew the tie with the ch-2 turning rows at rnd 17 of the puppet, and the sl sts toward the bottom of the tie, centered on the vest. Weave in ends. I put the waistcoat on first, (in picture below) just to see the fit and where the tie would be, but you can sew the tie on before making the waistcoat)
Waistcoat, in Gray – This is made without sleeves, as the sleeves are the grays of the arms already made.
Ch 27
Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in each ch across; 26 sts
Row 2: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 26 sts
Row 3: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 24 sts, inc; 28 sts
Row 4: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 28 sts
Row 5: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 26 sts, inc; 30 sts
Row 6: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 28 sts, inc; 32 sts
Row 7: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 30 sts, inc; 34 sts
Row 8: ch 1 and turn, sk 1st st, sc in next 31 sts, sk next st, sc in last st; 32 sts
Row 9: ch 1 and turn, sk 1st st, sc in next 29 sts, sk next st, sc in last st; 30 sts
Row 10: ch 1 and turn, sk 1st st, sc in next 27 sts, sk next st, sc in last st; 28 sts
Row 11: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 26 sts, inc; 30 sts
Row 12: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 28 sts, inc; 32 sts
Row 13: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 30 sts, inc; 34 sts
Row 14: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 32 sts, inc; 36 sts
Row 15: ch 1 and turn, sk 1st st, dec, sc in next 5 sts, ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 11 sts, ch 7, sk next 4 sts, sc in next 5 sts, dec, sk next st, sc in last st
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Pull the chains over each arm, and sew the waistcoat around the last row of the arms, pinning the points at the top of the coat down, pointing outward as well. I only sewed the top point down on each side, and around the arms, and let the rest of the coat fall where it may. Cut another 6-8 inch strand of gray to sew around the other arm. Weave in ends.
Nose in A (skin color)
Ch 5
Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 3 chs; 4 sts
Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 2 sts, inc; 6 sts
Row 3: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 6 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the nose from the bottom of rnd 9 to rnd 14, with some shaping. Row 3 should be at rnd 14 of the face, pinched a bit. Sew down the first 2 sts of the row, and then pinch together the third and fourth sts, and then sew down the last 2 sts of row 3, and around the rest of the nose, pinching the beginning ch together a bit like the top of a triangle. Weave in ends.
Chin in B (skin color)
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
Rnd 4: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x; 12 sts
Rnd 5: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)4x; 16 sts
Rnd 6: sc in next 8 sts, sl st in next st and leave the rest unworked; 8 sts
Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew the chin onto the face, with rnd 6 on rnd 15 of the face, and the remaining sts underneath on rnd 16. Sew it down to the tie so it stays down, and weave in ends inside the puppet.
Eyes, using worsted black yarn
Using about an 8 inch strand for each eye, sew the eyes over rnd 9, above and to either side of the nose. Knot and weave in ends inside the puppet.
Hair, in Eggshell (D)
Ch 7
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and next 5 chs; 6 sts
Row 2: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 4 sts, inc; 8 sts
Row 3: ch 1 and turn, inc, sc in next 6 sts, inc; 10 sts
Rows 4-12: ch 1 and turn, sc in each st across; 10 sts
Row 13: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 6 sts, dec; 8 sts
Row 14: ch 1 and turn, dec, sc in next 4 sts, dec; 6 sts
Do not turn
Rnd 1: continue to work 38 sc evenly around the hair until you get back to where you started. This amounts to 13 sc down each side, and 6 sc across the bottom, and the top. Don’t turn or fasten off.
Continue on for his messy hair.
Rnd 2: sl st into 1st st, ch 5, turn and sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in next ch, hdc in next ch, dc in next ch, sl st into next st of rnd 1, (hdc, dc) in next st, 2 dc in next st, hdc in next st, sl st in next 2 sts, hdc in next st, 2 dc in next st, (dc, hdc) in next st, sl st in next st, (ch 5, turn and sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in next ch, hdc in next ch, dc in next ch, sl st into next st of rnd 1)2x, (ch 6, sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 2 chs, hdc in next ch, dc in next ch, sk next st of rnd 1, sl st in next st)2x, sc in next 5 sts, hdc in next st, dc in next st, ch 6, turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc in next 2 chs, dc in next 2 chs, work 2 dc into the side of the last dc under the ch, continuing on rnd 1, dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next 6 sts, (ch 6, sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 2 chs, hdc in next ch, dc in next ch, sk next st of rnd 1, sl st in next st)2x, ch 5, turn and sl st into 2nd ch from hook, sc in next ch, hdc in next ch, dc in next ch, sl st into the last st of rnd 1, and fasten off leaving a very long tail for sewing. Sew the hair around the head with the ponytail down the back, the curved bangs in the front, folded over, and the 4 strands on each side sticking out each side. Weave in ends.
Chain in charcoal gray (E)
Begin with a long tail and end with a long tail, for sewing to the puppet.
Ch 75 and fasten off. Make the cashboxes before attaching to puppet.
Cashboxes in black (F) – make 6
Ch 4
Row 1: turn and sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 2 chs; 3 sts
Row 2: ch 1 and turn, sc in first st, 2 hdc in next st, sc in last st; 4 sts
Fasten off, leaving tail for sewing. Weave the chain over each arm, and around the front, under the chin. Then place the boxes were you want them to be visible, and attach them to one or two of the chains in that area. Knot and weave in cash box ends.
Use the ends of the chain to gently sew down where it drapes over the waistcoat. Leave the bit dangling under the chin free to flop around. Weave in ends.
I hope you are enjoying my A Christmas Carol puppets! If you love this design, be sure to check out some of my other free patterns on the blog! Follow me along on Instagram for more sneak peeks and new pattern releases! If you loved making any of my patterns, and show them off on Instagram, please be sure to tag @ekaygdesigns to let me know, and I will share in my stories!