Gingerbread Man Hand Puppet

One of my most favorite aspects of the holiday season is all the baking!! Really, if I am being honest, every special day from New Year’s Day through the following New Year’s Eve, revolves around a menu of some sort. However, Christmas time is extra special. There are so many fun cookies and treats to be made in a fun Christmas theme! By Thanksgiving, I typically have already mapped out when I will be making what. One of our family traditions, soon after the very first snow fall, is to make gingerbread hot cocoa, and gingerbread hot cocoa cookies, both recipes which can be found here on the blog! So it stands to reason, that after the snowman hand puppet, next up is my Gingerbread Man Hand Puppet!

If you’re interested in a printer-friendly PDF of the gingerbread man 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:

Bulky Weight 5 Yarn:

THE HOOK NOOK, YUMMY: Olive You (A) approximately 80 yds

THE HOOK NOOK, SMALL STUFF: Minimalist and Green Thumb 

• Small amounts for the eyes, mouth, frosting, and buttons

THE HOOK NOOK CROCHET HOOK, size H – 5mm

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

inc – increase, 2 sts in same st

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.

Notes: The body of the Gingerbread Hand Puppet is worked from the top down, in the rnd, with no joining. The arms, buttons and eyes, are made separately and sewn on. The “frosting,” along the bottom of the body, and on the arms, is made with a surface sl st. The mouth is sewn onto the face in an embroidery style with white yarn. There are also two videos on YouTube to help clarify the sewing of the mouth, as well as the surface sl st of the frosting edges. 

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

Gingerbread Man 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 18-24: sc in each st around; 30 sts 

Rnd 25: sc in next 2 sts, 3 invsc2tog, sc in next 9 sts, 3 invsc2tog, sc in next 7 sts; 24 sts

Rnd 26: sc in each st around; 24 sts

Rnd 27: sc in next 2 sts, 3 inc, sc in next 9 sts, 3 inc, sc in next 7 sts; 30 sts

Rnds 28-32: sc in each st around; 30 sts 

Fasten off and weave in ends. 

Frosting

With white yarn, use a surface sl st to st on the frosting to the bottom of the gingerbread body. Insert the hook through the last st of rnd 31, and pull the yarn through from the inside of the body. Do not sl st too tightly. Pull the yarn through a bit on the hook. Now insert the hook into a st above and to the side (rnd 29) of the beginning, and pull yarn through from the inside of the body again, through the body AND through the one loop as a sl st. Continue in this way, making small Vs from rnd 31 up to rnd 29 and back down to 31 again, all the way around, until you come back to the st where you began. Cut and fasten of the yarn, knotting inside the body, and weave in ends. Picture 2 shows how I weaved my one end around the other. Then you can use a light dab of fabric glue on the ends inside the body to help keep them from getting loose. 

Arms – Make 2 – in A

Begin with a magic ring.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts

Rnd 2: inc in each st around; 12 sts

Rnds 3-12: sc in each st around; 12 sts

Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Before sewing the arms onto the body, repeat the surface sl st around the arms around rnds 4 and 5, just as described from the body. Sew onto the arm holes in the body, and weave in all ends. 

Eyes in White, Make 2

Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts

Join with sl st to first st of the rnd and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. Sew onto the face, about rnds 8-10, with about 3 sts between them. Weave in ends. 

Buttons in Green, Make 2

Repeat the same instructions for the eyes. Sew these to the center of the body, approximately at rnds 20-21 and 26-27. Weave in ends. 

Mouth, in White 

The mouth is stitched on with white yarn, over rnds 13-15, in a curve. Use your tapestry needle to sew, inserting needle back in the center of the previous white line, and pulling it out a st ahead, constantly backtracking so that there aren’t any missing spots. 

I hope you have enjoyed making the gingerbread man hand puppet! If you love this design concept, be sure to check out some of my other hand puppets, always free on the blog! The first puppet of our Christmas Puppet Crochet-a-Long was the Snowman Hand puppet, found HERE. Follow me along on Instagram for more Christmas themed puppets to come!  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! Use the hashtag #12daysofChristmasCAL