Striped Sock Puppet

My six-year-old’s buddy had a birthday party today, and we wanted to make him something special.  Enter our friend Sock Puppet.  We’ve made a few of these before, but this time I thought I’d share the steps here, in case you’d like to make your own striped friend.  Eamonn chose all of the yarn colors and buttons from my stash, and I knit it up in a couple of days.

Notes

The I’ve assumed here that you are already familiar with loom-knitting.  If you need help with some of the specifics of sock-making (like short-row heels, shaped toes, and flat closed binding-off) see the following resources:

• Learn to Knit on Circle Looms (this is the book I used to learn those three techniques).
• This video shows a slightly different method than I used for short-row heels, but it would work just as well.
• Loom Knitting Help’s page on sock-making explains heels and toes in more detail.

Materials

• 1/2 skein worsted weight wool in blue
• 1/2 skein worsted weight wool in yellow
• 1/4 skein worsted weight wool in purple
• 2 matching red buttons
• 1 big focal button
• Small amount of yellow embroidery floss
• Small handful of pillow stuffing

Supplies

• 24-peg blue Knifty Knitter
• Loom hook
• Tapestry needle
• Embroidery needle

Directions

• Cast-on using the e-wrap method, with a double-strand of blue yarn.  (The entire sock will be knit with a double-strand.)
• Knit 6 rows in a rib pattern K2 P2.
• Switch to yellow, and knit 4 rows, entirely in knit stitch.
• Swtich back to blue, and knit 4 rows, entirely in knit stitch.
• Continue alternating four rows of yellow and blue until you have knit the fifth blue stripe.
• Switch to purple and add a short-row heel using pegs 1-12. (See Notes above)
• Switch to yellow and knit as before, alternating yellow and blue stripes of four rows each, until you have finished knitting the fourth yellow stripe.

• At this point, I find it easier to add the eyes, than to wait until the sock is closed up.  Sew the red buttons onto the next-to-last blue stripe, using the yellow embroidery floss.
• Switch to purple yarn and add the toe of the sock, adding shaping with pegs 1-12, and then with pegs 13-24. (See Notes)
• Using the embroidery floss, sew the big focal button onto the purple section to serve as the nose.
• Bind off using the flat closed method, and weave in the ends. (See Notes)
• Stick a small handful of pillow stuffing in the toe of the sock to give the puppet a nice bulbous nose.
• Your puppet is all done, and ready to be gifted to a friendly neighborhood kid!

This tutorial is now available as a handy take-it-with-you e-book. Download it for your mobile device, or just to show your support. Thanks!