Free Farm Animal Finger Puppets Pattern

Hello! It’s been far too long! For my niece’s birthday this year, I wanted to make her some adorable farm animal finger puppets, as her birthday party was at a petting zoo. I was able to make all the puppets from leftover yarn from other projects.

I was not originally planning to publish this pattern, because there are already so many patterns out there for animal finger puppets. But they’re cute, they’re easy, and I took notes to reuse the shapes for each animal, so it seemed natural to share the “pattern” with friends.

Instructions are provided below and as a PDF here.

If you use my patterns for your own creations or designs, please feel free to share some photos and link back to this pattern. If you have any questions about using my designs, please refer to the Patterns page.

Sizing

The finger puppets fit my medium-sized adult hands and my niece’s child-sized hands. You can adjust the sizing to fit larger fingers by using a larger hook or adding some stitches to the initial rounds.

Materials

• Scraps of DK or light worsted yarn. I made 4 animals with about half a skein of Knit Picks Cotlin yarn. Samples were made with scrap yarn of various brands and weights.
• 3.5 mm (large) and 3 mm (small) crochet hooks
• Yarn needle (for weaving in ends) and large pointed needle (for embroidering details)
• Scraps of black and pink yarn or embroidery floss for embroidering eyes and noses

Gauge

There is no specific gauge for this pattern. You can use a larger hook if the finger puppets are too small for your fingers. You may have to remove stitches if you wish to make them smaller.

Instructions

Please note that the instructions below are written using American crochet terminology. This pattern is designed to use both your scraps and your creativity! I am not providing detailed instructions for what to embroider, but I will include detailed face images for each animal, and suggested instructions for snouts, beaks and ears are provided. I also included some ideas for the horse’s mane and the chicken’s crest. I encourage you to experiment with different animals and do what you think maximizes the cuteness!

Special Techniques

In general, the instructions are written “amigurumi style”, where you do not join at the end of each round, and start working in the first stitch of the previous round. I like to mark the first stitch of each round with a crochet stitch marker. Snouts are worked in the round, but you join and chain at the end of each round. Beaks are worked back and forth in rows.

Magic circle: I will not provide separate instructions in the pattern, but you can find some great video or image instructions by searching for “crochet magic circle.” One example I found useful is provided here: https://www.gathered.how/knitting-and-crochet/crochet/how-to-make-a-crochet-magic-loop/

Crochet across back of a chain: Please see below for a set of instructions and images I created for my soap saver pattern.

Basic Animal (DK or Light Worsted)

Basic Animal (Thicker Yarn)

I only used this size animal for the sheep in the samples. If you are using scraps, this size can be used for thicker worsted or bulky yarns.

Head

Form magic circle

Round 1: Using large crochet hook, ch 1, 5 sc in magic circle, do not turn or join (5st)

Round 2: 2 sc in each sc of prior round (10 st)

I recommend you weave in the starting tail at this point.

Round 5- 7: sc around, do not cut yarn

Add any head decorations before moving on to the main body, as the puppet is too small to add them later. Make sure to weave in your ends as well before moving on.

Neck

Round 8: (sc2tog, sc) around to last st, sc in last st (7 st)

Round 9: (2sc in next st, 1 sc in each of next 2 sc) twice, 2sc in next st, sc in final st (10 st)

Body

Rounds 10-14: sc around (10 st) Sl st into first st of previous round. Weave in tail.

Snouts

Work in contrast color to body if desired. See picture on cover for color inspiration.

For all snouts:

Ch 4 with large crochet hook

Round 1: Switch to smaller hook. Sc in second ch from hook, sc, sc3 in final ch

Working across back of original chain, sc in next ch, 2 sc in last ch, join to starting sc with a sl st

For dog, cat, and pig, end leaving a long tail for sewing to the head. Embroider nostrils/nose details before sewing to body.

For cow, horse, and sheep:

Round 2: Ch1, Sc around, join in first sc of the round with a sl st

For cow and sheep, end leaving a long tail to sew to head. Embroider nostrils/nose details before sewing to body.

For horse:

Embroider nostrils. Switch to main body color. Repeat round 2 until snout is desired length, about 4 more rounds. Bind off leaving a long tail to sew to head.

Beak

Beak is worked in a contrast color for the chick and the chicken

Row 1: Ch 3 using the smaller hook, leaving an extra long tail for sewing to the head.

Row 2: Sc in second ch from hook, sc in last chain, ch1, turn

Row 3: 2 sc together

Finish off by chaining one, cutting thread and pulling through the loop. Leave an extra long tail for sewing to the head.

Sew to head using both ends, the turning point from row 2 is the “point” of the beak.

Chicken:

Row 1: After sewing the beak to the head, use red yarn to put two sc stitches under the beak onto the head. There is no set way to do this. Just pick up any loops on the head to make the 2 stitches. Ch 1 and turn.

Row 2: sc in each of the sc you made under the beak. Cut the yarn and weave in the ends of the red yarn.

Ears

Cat

Hint: the cat and pig ears are similar to the beak!

Row 1: Ch 4 using the smaller, leaving an extra long tail for sewing to the head.

Row 2: Sc in second ch from hook, sc in next 2 ch, ch1, turn

Row 3: Sc, sc2tog, ch1, turn

Row 4: sc2tog

Finish off by chaining one, cutting thread and pulling through the loop. Leave an extra long tail for sewing to the head.

Sew to head using both ends, the turning point from row 3 is the “point” of the ears

Pig (same as chicken beak)

Row 1: Ch 3 using the smaller hook, leaving an extra long tail for sewing to the head.

Row 2: Sc in second ch from hook, sc in last chain, ch1, turn

Row 3: 2 sc together

Finish off by chaining one, cutting thread and pulling through the loop. Leave an extra long tail for sewing to the head.

Sew to head using both ends, the turning point from row 2 is the “point” of the ears.

Horse, cow, sheep and dog

Form magic circle

Round 1: Using smaller crochet hook, ch 1, 5 sc in magic circle, do not turn or join (5st)

For horse, end off, leaving a long tail for sewing to the head. Weave in the starting yarn. Then pinch the circle together with the ending tail before sewing to the head.

For cow, sheep and dog:

Round 2: 2 sc in each sc of prior round (10 st)

For cow and sheep, end off, leaving a long tail for sewing to the head. Weave in the starting yarn. Then pinch the circle together with the ending tail before sewing to the head.

For dog, end off, leaving a long tail for sewing to the head. Weave in starting yarn. Do not pinch while sewing to the head. (Note that I made the dog ears slightly differently in the sample)

Other Details

The horse’s mane is made by picking up loops along the top of the head, and then attaching a contrast color in the same way you add fringe to a blanket. Great instructions are provided for fringe here: https://www.caabcrochet.com/how-to-add-fringe-crochet-project/

The chicken’s crest is made by crocheting into the stitches of the head in a line. I embroidered/attached all the other features first, then made line of stitches from front to back on the head. To give it height, crochet back and forth a few times, adding some hdc or dc stitches in the middle section.

The cow’s spots were embroidered on. I tried crocheting circles to attach, but they were too bulky. I recommend embroidering the spots as you go, as it is difficult to return to details on the head once the body has been constructed.

If you share finished items/WIPs on Instagram, be sure to tag @whatimadelastweekend or #whatimadelastweekend