Tuesday 20 November 2007

Gobble Gobble!

Sometime in the summer, I agreed to knit a turkey finger puppet for my friend, Julie. Actually, we had just met that night and totally bonded over several martinis and the fact that we were both left-handed Julies. Since then, we have become friends even while sober, and it was her birthday this month. So I thought it was high time I came through on my drunken turkey finger puppet promise: Turkey Finger Puppet (great pattern name, I know. I'm so imaginative, it hurts.) Materials: - set of 3.25 mm dpns - any kind of worsted weight yarn (this makes for a stiffer puppet, but that helps keep the tail upright. Sport weight could also be used, but will result in a floppier tail) in dark brown, beige, white, burgundy, and some yellow for embroidering the beak. Body: Cast on 17 stitches in dark brown. Join for knitting in the round. Knit in the round until the body is 3 inches long. Change to burgundy yarn for ribbing. In burgundy yarn, *k1, p1*, and at the same time, increase 4 stitches evenly in this round. Do 3 more rows of k1, p1 ribbing (4 rows total). Knit(knit all stitches) 5 more rounds. Decrease: *k2tog, k1*, repeat to end of round. Knit one round. K2tog all stitches, then thread remaining loops with a tapestry needle and sew up tight. Tail: In beige yarn, cast on 50 stitches. The tail will be worked flat on two of the dpns. *k2, p2* for three rows. Switch to dark brown yarn. *k2,p2* for 3 rows. Decrease: k2, p2tog, until end of row. Next row: p2, k1 until end of row. Change to white yarn. k2, p1 to end of row. Change to beige. p2, k1 to end of row. Decrease: k2 tog, p1 to end of row. Next row: p1, k1 to end. Change to dark brown. k1,p1 to end. Continue in dark brown, in pattern, for another 3rows. Decrease: *p2tog, k2tog* until last stitch. k1. Next row: p1, k1, to end. k1, p1 to end. Change to white, contiue in pattern for one row. Then cast off, in pattern. Here's a clear shot of the back of tail, for reference: Wings: (make 2) In white yarn, cast on 4 stitches. Change to beige. Purl one row. Knit one row. Purl one row. Change to dark brown, do four rows in the established stockinette. Cast off. Finishing: Weave in all ends (this takes longer than it does to knit the thing, I found). Taking a small amount of dark brown, make french knots for the eyes. The beak is nothing more than one straight stitch down the middle. The red waddle is done by making a loose loop in burgundy, and then keeping your finger in the loop as your pull it taut. While keeping the loop intact, remove finger, and make another (much smaller) straight stitch across the loop to secure it in place. As for the tail, I used the white to secure the cast off edge to the puppet, and the dark brown to sew the bottom dark brown portion to the back of the puppet as well. This seems to provide a stable tail. Sew on wings wherever you would like them. I liked doing the ribbing for the head, since I find that without some kind of head definition, some finger puppets look like condoms. But not this little guy! Rumor has it that American thanksgiving is coming up soon (this week? next week? I have no idea), so I guess it's seasonally appropriate! And if anyone finds any pattern problems, let me know.

21 comments:

Farrah said...

That thing is just so freaking cute I could scream. Thanksgiving is in 2 days...maybe I can find time in between the grocery shopping and cleaning my house and cooking the turkey to make myself a turkey! Thanks so much for the pattern!

Unknown said...

That turkey is wayyy too cute.

I love it!

And yeah, Thanksgiving is Thursday :) Mmmmm.

c h r i s t i n e said...

ADORABLE! Thanksgiving is this Thursday. I'm stretching my stomach muscles as I type.

Clumsy Knitter said...

wow! That is so imaginative! I bow to your knitting know-how.

My Canadian husband couldn't care less about American Thanksgiving (and doesn't see why it's a big deal), but he loves the long weekend!

erica-knits said...

That is actually halarious. I love it. Maybe next year, considering turkey day was last month here...

Anonymous said...

HA HA HA! I love you guys! So cute!

Sophie said...

Can't stop laughing... it's just to cool I will need to make one this winter !!!

Good work on this.

Adriana said...

Ahhh! It's adorable! I'm so impressed that you designed that yourself. I wouldn't even know where to begin.

Hilary said...

That might just be the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Farrah said...

You made the Craftzine blog! Congratulations!

Jackie said...

Thanks for the comment about my niece. All babies in handknits are adorable!

I like your turkey pattern. It would make a nice present for my niece for next Thanksgiving.

Vouray said...

Absolute Freak'in Knitting Genius

Shermanim said...

What!, no one else commented on the fact that it looks rather similar to...

Anonymous said...

Shermanim, I was thinking the same thing when I first saw this! Take off that tail, and you've got somebody very happy!

Cute turkey though - hee, hee!

Cynthia

Team Knit said...

LOL!!! Actually, I thought that too, but then decided I just had a dirty mind (and I'm usually guilty of that!)I guess you could change the colours and take the tail and wings off, and you'd have quite the replica!

-Julie

Jennifer Halm said...

That is hilarious and adorable!!!

Anonymous said...

Lovely turkey! I´ll try to make this puppet, and I´d like to dd a link to this post from my site, as I make finger puppets too.
Hope you don´t mind.
Bye, FrAn.

MaryMGlynn said...

This has got to be one of the cutest patterns since my grandmothers knitted chicks for easter! This will be a pattern to use for generations to come! Thank you for posting it and sharing!

Julie said...

This is my new favorite blog. My name is Julie, and I am a left-handed knitter. This is too freaky. And I love the pattern, can't wait to knit it1

Team Knit said...

That is a coincidence, Julie! Glad you all love it, it's a fun knit. And Kids love them.

-Julie

pringle said...

I live in Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech (I'm also a Tech alumna, class of never mind). Tech's mascot is a "Hokie Bird" and the school colors are orange and maroon. The Hokie Bird looks sort of like a turkey.

I wanted a project to make for a crafts sale our humane society has every fall. Anything related to Virginia Tech sells well, so I changed the colors in the pattern to orange, maroon, and white, and produced a Hokie bird finger puppet. I've made about a half dozen so far and I believe they are going to sell well at the next sale.

Thank you for a great pattern.