Would you like to be part of our project to knit hand-puppet Bible
figures for Seal School and Seal church Sunday school? These will not
only help teachers tell Bible stories, but also let children explore
the stories in play.
We
need a wide variety of figures – rich and poor, heroes and villains,
men and women, Old Testament and New Testament – so that we can tell
the whole gamut of wonderful stories the Bible contains.
The
basic pattern below is the same for all characters, but you can adapt
it in many different ways. The puppet should end up as slightly too
small for an adult hand so that children can comfortably use it. Use
smaller needles if you think your puppets are too large or decrease the
total number of stitches/rows to suit.
If
you want to turn the glove puppet temporarily into a free-standing
figure, just put it over a plastic cup so it stands up by itself.
If
you would like to knit these figures for Seal School or Seal Sunday
School, please either bring them to the church or send them to me.
If
you have other projects you knit for, or children or grandchildren who
you think might appreciate these puppets, please feel free to use these
patterns and ideas as you wish. This leaflet can also be downloaded as
a leaflet to print out.
Revd
Anne Le Bas,
BASIC
PATTERN 
FRONT:
Body:
Using
double knitting wool and 3.75 needles cast on 18 stitches.
Work
6 rows of knit 1, purl 1 rib.
Work
24 rows of stocking stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row).
Arms
Cast
on 10 stitches at the beginning of the next row (for the arm), knit
back along the cast on stitches and across the main body of the work to
the end of the row (28 stitches)
Turn
and cast on 10 stitches at the beginning of the next row for the other
arm. (38 stitches)
Knit
4 stitches, purl 30, knit the last 4 stitches.
Next
row: Knit
Work
8 rows in total for the arms, always knitting the first and last 4
stitches (for a “finger” effect)
Cast
off 12 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows.
Face
Join
on “flesh” coloured wool and work 10 rows in stocking stitch.
Hair/
Headdress
Join
on “hair” or “headdress” wool and work 2 rows (see note below about the
types of stitches to use for hair and headdresses)
Reduce
by one stitch at the beginning and end of next row (K1. Sl 1. psso,
knit to the end, K to tog.)
Purl
next row
Repeat
these two rows until 10 stitches remain, then reduce one stitch at each
end of every row until 2 stitches remain.
Cast
off.
BACK: Work as for front until you
reach the face. Then join “hair” or “headdress” coloured wool and work
the back of the head in this colour.
Embroider
features on face – it is probably better to keep them fairly neutral,
as a character in a story might go through lots of emotions! You can
embroider on any other embellishments you wish – crowns, belts, swords
– or you can knit these as you go if you prefer. Please make sure
anything sewn on is firmly attached!
Sew
the two pieces together and weave in any loose ends.
VARIATIONS
This
is where the fun begins! You can use your own imagination and ingenuity
for this, but here are some suggestions which Nicky and I have come up
with.
Hair and beards. Work in garter
stitch (every row knit) or reverse stocking stitch ( purl 1 row, knit 1
row, but with “knobby” side on the outside.)
Headresses. These can be one colour
or striped, or textured with the occasional purl row. You can knit
these as a part of the basic puppet, or you can knit a “cap” with
coloured wool from the point where the decrease for the head starts,
and then knit a separate rectangle of wool to attach at the back over
hair (see the photo of the back of the woman). Grey wool makes a
helmet, and “chin straps” can be embroidered.
Cloaks for kings etc. can be made
separately and sewn on. Knit a rectangle (cast on 14 or so stitches and
work to required length in whatever stitch you want to use to create
the effect you are after)
Flesh: can be any colour from pale
cream to dark brown.
CHARACTERS:
Generic men (inc. Jesus, disciples,
Joseph etc.): Plain “robes” with or without belts (either a
knitted stripe halfway up the body or a separate cord sewn on
afterwards). Bright colours suggest wealth (can also be striped,
include gold borders etc) Neutral colours suggest more ordinary people.
Grey/white hair for old men. Beards and long hair for Jewish men .
Romans tended to be clean shaven with short hair.
Generic women: plain robes (again colour signifies social
status). Headdress - either knitted in place of hair, perhaps with a
row or two of hair below headdress, or knitted separately and attached
at the back (See pic)
Kings: Bright colours. Cloaks.
Crowns. Glittery thread.
Mary: blue
robe and white headdress. She wouldn’t actually have worn these colours
of course – she was far too poor to be in such bright colours, but that
is how she is often portrayed in Christian art, so it makes her
instantly recognisable.
Beggar: Cast on in flesh colour and
then knit “ragged” border to robe in brown. Knit occasional
patches of other colours, and knit a few holes at random here and there!
Angel: Robe in white, silver or
gold. I knitted white wool and a thin gold thread together for angel’s
hair and wings.
Wings
– cast on 14 stitches. Work in garter stitch, decreasing 1 stitch at
each end of every 4th row till one stitch remains. Make two wings
and sow onto angel’s back (see picture).
Roman soldier: Work about
4 rows stocking stitch in flesh colour after the ribbing. Change to
“tunic” colour and work 6 rows. Change to grey (Armour). Work two rows
of garter stitch then continue in the following pattern
Rows
1-3 : K 3 P1 rib
Row
4 : Knit all stitches.
This
should give you the effect of plates of armour joined together (see
picture)
Continue
this pattern until arms.
Cast
on and work arms in flesh colour, but continue to knit armour on torso,
winding flesh and grey wool together at the join.
Helmet:
shape as for hair/headdress in basic pattern but after every three rows
of stocking stitch work a row of knit instead of purl, to give
impression of ridges on helmet.
Embroider
“sword” onto bottom of armour.
Pharaoh/Egyptians
White
or striped robe and headdress (can have glittery thread woven in.)
Black hair. Black eyes, outlined. Small black beard, made from small
square of stocking stitch, folded into a tube. Sew top of tube to face
and let the bottom end curl up naturally)
Joseph
This
figure (right) has a removable “coat of many colours”but you could knit
the body in stripes instead.
For
updates and more pictures of figures as we make them, please check on
the church
blog here.
…
and I am sure you can think of many more. Over to you…
Revd.
Anne Le Bas
The
Vicarage, Church Street, Seal, TN15 0AR.
priest@sealpeterandpaul.com
Figures
in this pattern have been knitted by Anne Le Bas and Nicky Harvey.
The
basic pattern is adapted from one developed by “Operation
Christmas Child.”
http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/knitting-patterns